Active suspension closeup pics

[manchild]

I remembered that many people asked for pics of suspension which are very rare so I thought that posting them here would be ok.

[alleyoop]

great pics, thanks!

[Carbon]

Fantastic pics, thanks.

Good, bad or indifferent, looking at the first pic (showing off a small piece of the rear sidepod), you can really appreciate the complexity of today's aerodynamic add-ons!

[countersteer]

Looking at the 4th picture down, second of the front suspension...

It appears there is a spring behind a hydraulic ram which operates through the bellcrank to the pushrod.

Was the purpose of the active suspension to vary ride height while the springs (and their functions) remained traditional? Or am I missing something.

Thanks...

[Conceptual]

GREAT PICS!

So, is it electronic, pneumatic or hydraulic?

[Ian P.]

The answer to your question is ....conceptually speaking.... yes.
The system would be hydraulic (damping and force transmission), electrically monitored and controlled and pneumatic when the driver goes.....whooooeeeee that was fast.....

Great pictures. So that is what a real race car looks like.??

All this talk about F1 advancing the state of road cars is smoke and mirrors. This is the kind of technology that is getting into road cars while getting pulled out of F1. Look to NASCAR if you want to see the future.

Ian P.

[bar555]

Are there any illustrations (technical drawings ) of Williams active suspension available Thanks in advance .

[manchild]

Looking at the 4th picture down, second of the front suspension....

4th pic shows supension from either FW13 from 1990 or FW14 from 1991. The 3rd pic shows FW15C from 1993 while 6th pic is FW14B from 1992. I'm not absolutely sure though.

[Cobra Ball]

IMHO the purpose of the active suspension is constantly adjust the camber to keep the tires (tyres) perpendicular to the racing surface. This is not difficult when going straight which requires no camber change.

The sixth picture down and on the right side shows an adjustment device to change the camber by moving the bottom of the spindle in or out, thus keeping the wheel contact surface flat as possible whether turning left or right.

I doubt if you will ever see ANY plans for any parts of a modern F1. Those plans are worth millions. Each time they change specifications on engines, suspension, aero parts, you will not see them for sale on race-cars dot com. Old technology will be sold be nothing recent.

[zac510]

IMHO the purpose of the active suspension is constantly adjust the camber to keep the tires (tyres) perpendicular to the racing surface. This is not difficult when going straight which requires no camber change.

The sixth picture down and on the right side shows an adjustment device to change the camber by moving the bottom of the spindle in or out, thus keeping the wheel contact surface flat as possible whether turning left or right.

Just to adjust camber??
What about all regular suspension movements like bump and rebound, chassis control like pitch, roll, yaw, ride height adjustment?
You don't need to have an 'IMHO' on active suspension. Its purpose, use and application is well out in the public domain. There are no secrets to this 20 year old suspension technology anymore.

I think what you are looking at in the 6th picture is either a steering rack or just the front actuator itself.

[scarbs]

IMHO the purpose of the active suspension is constantly adjust the camber to keep the tires (tyres) perpendicular to the racing surface. This is not difficult when going straight which requires no camber change.

The sixth picture down and on the right side shows an adjustment device to change the camber by moving the bottom of the spindle in or out, thus keeping the wheel contact surface flat as possible whether turning left or right.

I doubt if you will ever see ANY plans for any parts of a modern F1. Those plans are worth millions. Each time they change specifications on engines, suspension, aero parts, you will not see them for sale on race-cars dot com. Old technology will be sold be nothing recent.

Active suspension was never used for camber adjustment, The part you refer to was the pushrod to adjust the ride height. Active suspension in the latter years (Williams system rather than lotus) was for controlling the ride height of the floor and diffuser to improve aero, it was never about mechanical grip.

More info....http://scarbsf1.com/williams_active/Wil ... YSTEMS.htm

[MrT]

Scarbs is right, the systems used in f1 were for ride height and roll control, and damping optimisation - not camber.

However active camber control has been developed outside f1. Renault f1 also devised a mechanical camber optimisation geometry, although it was complex and never made it onto the cars.

[Belatti]

This afternoon was weird. I flying thought came to my mind with no apparent reason. Now I am particularly interested in active suspension.

I´ll give you these links and together with the very interesting one that scarbs posted, I would like to see if we can put interesting thoughts and facts up on the table...

http://www.gglotus.org/ggtech/activesus ... esuspn.htm

http://www-control.eng.cam.ac.uk/gww/wh ... ctive.html

[Conceptual]

I'm trying to get my head around how a monoshock suspension could be applied with active/reactive principles. I am specifically talking about the monoshock as described in "Competition Car Suspension" that includes a sliding rocker with one large spring/damper, and cone washers that spring the roll of the vehicle.

Any thoughts as to how that system could be integrated with A/R components?

[Jersey Tom]

Currently I'm not a fan of monoshocks.

If I were to design a simple active suspension it would be with 1 "element" per corner at the pushrod (a la the Williams design). There are two major things I'd be interested in controlling...

What 'interesting facts' etc are we aiming toward here?