Caster–Camber Relationship in Vehicles

Abstract

A variation in the camber of an automotive wheel is desired to compensate a side-slip force reduction owing to transversely normal load shift when the car is cornering. The camber of a steered wheel can be varied by adjusting caster or/and lean angles which are the representations of steering axis orientation. Thus, adjustable camber can be created by variable caster or/and lean angle. Choosing which parameter among the two angles to be the main source of camber generation is a key starting point and dependent on its different effects. Here, homogeneous transformation is employed to establish camber as a function of caster, lean angle, and steering angle in the general case. A comparison between caster and lean angle based on different criteria is made. The comparison shows that a variable caster is more effective than a variable lean angle in generating a smart camber.