Re: Chassis Dynamics help

On Tue, 23 Sep 2003, Otis wrote:

> I was reading a couple of race car chassis book and reviewing some of the
> mathmatics for calculating sprin rate at the wheel etc.  Often the books
> referrer to the centerline of the chassis.  Is that reference to the center
> of the trackwidth, the center based on weight distribution or the suspension
> geometric center established by the locating links?

You can use any of the above choices for a reference, for a symmetric car
they might be all the same (or very nearly the same).  For circle track
cars this is an ongoing problem that does not (to my knowledge) have a
definitive answer--every analyst does it in their own way.

Often the choice is based on the reference system used by the car builder. 
If the car builder doesn't have a reference, then one needs to be
established. 

-- Doug Milliken
   www.millikenresearch.com/rcvdpae.html  <-- new book