International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, Volume 2, Issue 8, August 2012)

417

Performance & Value Analysis of Power Steering System
Bhushan Akhare
1
, Sanjeev S Chouhan
2

1
Bhushan Akhare M.Tech Mechanical Engineering Student & JIT Borava Khargaon M.P.,India
2
Sanjeev S Chouhan Prof Mechanical engineering Dept. & JIT Borava Khargaon M.P.,India

Abstract Advancement in the automobile technology
reduces lots of human efforts to drive a four wheeler vehicle.
The mathematical and logical calculation implementation in a
research will increase the performance and efficiency of a
design that may be use to get an optimized output from the
system. Here in this research paper we are trying to represent
the performance analysis of power steering system and its
value analysis at various stages for achieving a perfect error
free and effortless driving. Power steering system follows
various terms to a control and drive the given input to the
vehicle. Here in this paper we will discuss all those points that
will help us to understand the whole system and the efforts
that can be increase the efficiency of the power steering
system.
KeywordsPower Steering, CAN, CPU, EPHS, PSI, RPM,
AI
I. INTRODUCTION
The power steering system is system that used to drive
or turn the four, six wheeler vehicles with very less human
efforts so that the driver can drive, turn & control his
vehicle for a long time with good accuracy.The power
steering system mainly contains a steering wheel that wheel
is connected with the shaft this shaft is then connect with
the electronics system this system works according to
position and torque sensor activity, this output will used to
turn the vehicle in a preferred direction using a dc motor.
Here in this system we are using CAN bus, Microprocessor
system and lots of AI (artificial intelligence) algorithms to
achieve a perfect and hard real time output without delay,
for that the power steering system uses various types of
high sensitive sensors to process the given input and take
the proper action. The turning direction is decided
according to the given input at steering wheel is decide by
the position and torque sensor in nanoseconds and this
information is transmitted toward the CPU(central
processing unit) of the system using the CAN(control area
network) bus.
The CAN bus is a system bus that is used to connect
various electronic component of power steering system.
This bus will continuously check the all the connected
sensors and microprocessor for any given signal.

Advance steering system main helps to drive steer
vehicles by human steering effort to the steering wheel.
There are basically some actuator assemblies that may
hydraulic or electrical which will add controlled energy to
the mechanism. So there is very less human efforts is
required for driving or turning the car steering. Power
steering provides feedback of forces acting on the front
wheels to give an ongoing sense of according to the wheels
is interacting with the road. Power steering system can be
controlled using an hydraulic actuator which is a part of
servo system .[1]These system have some direct mechanism
have mechanical connection between the steering wheel
and contact between steers wheel known as linkage that
steers the wheels. The power steering system failure will
switch to manual mode. Power steering system have a wire
connection that means there is no direct mechanical
connection to steering linkage this is called drive by wire
this all assembly is drive by electricity which contains
power data and feedback signals.
The Power Steering Model that we have studied for
advance car is a combination of both types hydraulic and
electrical power steering .This combination will provide
highly precise output with less effort so that the driver
should make lots of effort to drive the vehicle or turn it.
This model uses lots of sensors and Microprocessors (CPU)
to control this whole unit from a centralize point.
Most new vehicles now have power steering, owing to
the trends toward front wheel drive, greater vehicle mass,
and wider tires, which all increase the required steering
effort. Heavier vehicles as common in some countries
would be extremely difficult to maneuver at low speeds,
while vehicles of lighter weight may not need power
assisted steering at all.
II. TECHNOLOGY ADVANCEMENT
Technology development in the field of steering system
is been held from April 3, 1900 for the first four wheel
drive system, this is the first system which uses a steering
assembly but efforts reduction technique called power
steering system technology is start from year 1925 and the
first practical power steering system is been developed in

International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, Volume 2, Issue 8, August 2012)
418

year 1926 & this technology is adopted by general motors
and then company were start working for the development
of hydraulic & electronics power steering system[2].At
initial stage of power steering development the system was
only developed for the military services like tanks and
other heavy vehicles because of high cost. As technology
grown the cost of the power steering technology reduces so
that the lots of research is possible in this field .In the time
between year 1970 to 1990 the power steering field is
divided into two type Electronics power steering system
and Hydraulic power steering system. These both type of
power steering system is mainly used to reduce the human
efforts as well as provide a high accuracy and precise
output. A fail safe circuit is been researched and
implemented into the power steering system after the year
1990, this system provides the safety and if the main
system fail then this system were jump to the manual mode.
When the development goes in the field of electronics and
microprocessor the accuracy possibility at low cost is
possible and concept of real time is achieved.
There lots of things is use in the power steering system like

(a)Power Steering Servo Value:-These servo values are
mainly used in the steering column or directly into rack and
pinion. [3]
Servo value is developed after the year 1990 these
are available in three types (light, medium, and heavy) can
be tuned to suit the drivers preference by means of a
system of interchangeable torsion bars. The bars control the
sensitivity of the power steering response and can be
switched in the field without disassembly of the servo. A
second revolutionary feature allows external adjustment of
the left-to-right balance of the power steering.

(b)Power Steering Pumps:-This feature allows the
mechanic to fine-tune the pump volume to match the
quickness of the steering. Power steering pumps are made
to precision tolerances and will produce a remarkably
constant volume over the entire RPM range of the engine.

(c) Hydraulic Assist Cylinders:-since 1989 and continually
improved since, these lightweight double-acting cylinders
bolt rigidly to the rack housing with four symmetrically
located sockets head cap screws. The thrust is absorbed
independently of the bolts by a 9/16 dowel. A thick non-
metallic piston prevents metal-to-metal contact in the bore
and contributes to the very long useful life of these parts.
These cylinders are tested to 1800 PSI in both directions.

(d)Worm gear:-The worm gear is located in an aluminium
gear case where the electric motor is also mounted. A
worm on the motor shaft meshes with the gear on the
steering shaft. The gear ratio is 22:1. The gear body and the
worm are made of metal. The gear ring is manufactured
from plastic to reduce mechanical noise.

(e) Steering column electronics control unit:-This control
unit is mounted in a frame which is bolted to the housing of
the worm drive. Five non-interchangeable connectors are
attached to the terminal strip of the control unit by clips.
The control unit calculates the steering assistance required
from the data from the sensors, making allowance for road
speed.

(f) Electro-mechanical power steering motor:-This motor is
bolted to the housing of the worm gear by means of rubber
buffers so that no vibrations can be transmitted between the
motor and steering column. The motor shaft is connected to
the worm shaft via a flexible rubber coupling in such a way
that motor starting torque is transmitted softly to the worm
gear. The motor itself has a maximum power consumption
of 720 W and develops 2 Nm of torque. It has an extremely
short response time which allows it to assist steering wheel
movements quickly.

(g) Restart protection:-The EPHS Electrically Powered
Hydraulic Steering features a restart protection after a fault,
failure or crash. The restart protection, if activated because
of a crash, can only be deactivated with a diagnostic tool. If
other faults exist, the restart protection can be cancelled by
switching the ignition off and starting the engine again. It
may be necessary to wait about 15 minutes in order to
allow the engine pump assembly to cool down after having
overheated.[4] If, after this waiting period, it is still not
possible to override the restart protection by starting the
engine, this indicates there is a fault in the vehicle electrical
system or the engine pump assembly is faulty. In such
cases, it is necessary to conduct a self-diagnosis and, if the
engine pump assembly is faulty, to replace it.
III. PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS
Power Steering hydraulic system:-
The fluid pump is directly driven by the engine through a
belt. The fluid flow is maintained almost constant
regardless of change in the engine speed by the function of
the flow control valve. The flow-regulated fluid is
delivered to the control valve through hose A. When the
steering wheel is turned, the rotary control valve connected
to the pinion shaft opens the hydraulic circuit
corresponding to the direction in which the steering wheel
is turned.

International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, Volume 2, Issue 8, August 2012)
419

The fluid then flows into chamber A or B via pipe A or B.
The fluid pressure in chamber A or B acts on the rack
piston in the same direction as that in which the rack shaft
is moved by rotation of the steering wheel. This helps
reduce the effort required of the driver to operate the
steering wheel. Movement of the rack piston causes the
fluid in the other chamber to return to the reservoir tank via
pipe A or B, control valve, and hose B.As the steering shaft
is connected to the pinion shaft mechanically via the rotary
control valve, the steering system can operate as a manual
system even if the hydraulic system becomes inoperative.
To control the maximum fluid pressure, a relief valve is
built into the fluid pump to prevent build up of an excessive
fluid pressure.[6]

Fig 1:- Power steering hydraulic system [6]

(1) Power cylinder (2) Rack piston (3) Rack shaft

(4) Pinion shaft (5) Chamber A (6) Chamber B

(7) Pipe A (8) Pipe B (9) Control valve (10) Steering shaft

(11) Steering wheel (12) Tank (13) Vane pump

(14) Relief valve (15) Hose A (16) Hose B

(17) Pump control valve (18) Fluid pump (19) Engine




Rotary control valve:-
The rotary control valve consists of a rotor (which rotates
together with the steering shaft), a pinion (which is
connected to the rotor and torsion bar), and a sleeve (which
rotates together with the pinion). The rotor and sleeve have
grooves C and D, respectively, which form fluid passages
V1 through V4.The pinion is in mesh with the rotor with
adequate clearance, which enable the rack to be moved
manually by rotating the steering shaft (fail-safe feature).




Fig 2:-Rotary valve Internal design [6]
When the torsion bar is twisted by a rotational force
applied to the steering wheel, the relative position between
the rotor and sleeve changes. This changes the cross-
sectional area of fluid passages V1, V2, V3 and V4. The
fluid passages are thus switched and the fluid pressure is
controlled in accordance with the operation of the steering
wheel. When no steering force is applied: The rotor and
sleeve are held at the neutral position. Fluid passages V1,
V2, V3 and V4, which are formed by grooves C and D are
open equally. Under this condition, the fluid from the pump
returns to the reservoir tank so that neither fluid pressure
builds up nor the rack piston moves in the power
cylinder.[6]

International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, Volume 2, Issue 8, August 2012)
420


Fig 3:-Power Steering Piston Movements [6]
IV. VALUE ANALYSIS
An electro-mechanical power steering system and a
hydraulic system have totally different modes of value
analysis
By comparison:
The specifications emphasis the difference.
Hydraulics Electro-
mechanical
system
Weight 16.3 kg 11.3 k
Power
consumption
Urban cycle
Motorway cycle
400 W 25 W
800 - 1000 W 10 W
Additional
consumption
compared
to mechanical
steering
gear in litres per
100 km
0.1l * 0.01 **
* referred to 44
KW SDI engine
** referred to
Lupo 3L with
1.2l TDI engine

Here in the figure 4 we saw a comparative graph
steering wheel torque and lateral acceleration here an
exponential change in the sensitivity of steering wheel
torque increase with increase in the acceleration this means
that as the speed of vehicle increases less amount of toque
is required this graph value is set with the processor of
providing exact and accurate output according to input.

Figure 4:-Steering wheel torque as a function of lateral
acceleration.[5]

Here in the figure 5 we saw the performance graph and
its value and pressure or load on the power steering at
different driving points, as shown in the graph during the
parking the power steering requires more load and less load
on highway driving.

Figure 5:-Boost Curve with different working areas
depending on the driving envelope.[5]
V. CONCLUSION
The world of automobile turns around by means of
power steering.
The value and performance analysis in this paper will
help to understand the error as well as this data can be use
to increase the efficiency of power steering .

International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, Volume 2, Issue 8, August 2012)
421

There are still lots of possibility to make steering system
more easy and effortless and this paper will help to provide
a helpful thinking in that way. Power steering systems have
been a proven technology for decades; there are still
problems to be solved, most concerning quality issues. In
this thesis, two predominant problems have been studied,
hydraulic lag and the chattering phenomena.
Power steering made vehicle driver smooth and
effective driving in this paper we consider the part of
automobile i.e. steering and how it works in terms of
performance and values.
REFERENCES

[1] Introduced industry first power steering Magazine
[2] www.time.com/time/magazine/article
[3] power steering system components by wood-ward precision power
steering
[4] www.volkspage.net/technik/ssp/ssp/SSP_225.pdf self study program
259
[5] Power steering system design by marcus rosth
[6] W1860B E.book on power steering system