Design of the steering system of a FSAE race car

Abstract

In this document it is presented the design of a new steering system for the IIT FSAE race car developed each year at the Illinois Institute of Technology. In order to design a good racing car, the conditions which the car will be exposed at has to be taken into account. At the same time the steering system is able to withstand the external requirements, the design of it has to deal with the rules and the designs of other parts of the car. The objective is to improve the actual steering system, which is a direct transmission with a steel tube. There are several things to improve of that design, such as ergonomics, security, weight… It is really important for the driver to be comfortable with the steering system because in some dynamic events he may have to drive the car during half an hour. Once the different alternatives have been contemplated and chose the best one, the whole system will be designed in CAD and calculated in ABAQUS. This will let us choose the materials we will use in order to optimize the weight. This document also includes a budget of the whole steering system including the price of the different parts as well as the price of the process needed to manufacture its components.