Heavy-Duty Truck Suspensions

Heavy-DutyTruckSuspensionsE.R.SternbergWhiteMotorCorp.SP-402TheTwenty-secondL.RayBuckendaleLectureLicensedtoUniversityofMichiganLicensedfromtheSAEDigitalLibraryCopyright2009SAEInternationalE-mailing,copyingandinternetpostingareprohibitedDownloadedSaturday,June20,200912:51:40PMAuthor:Gilligan-SID:1178-GUID:20821215-141.213.232.87Heavy-DutyTruckSuspensionsTheL.RayBuckendaleLectures,inauguratedin1954,commemoratethecontributionsofthe1946SAEPresidentasadeveloperofthelatentabilitiesofyoungmenandasanauthorityinthetheoryandpracticeofgearing,particularlyasappliedtoautomotivevehicles.Acashawardandcertificateareprovidedforanannuallectureandmonographbyadistinguishedauthorityinthetechnicalareasofcommercialormilitarygroundvehcilesforeitheron-oroff-roadoperation.TheLecturesaredirectedtowardfillingtheneedsofyoungengineersandstudentsforup-to-datepracticalknowl-edge.Sponsorshipofthelectureseriesisrotatedamongcom-panieswithinthecommercialvehicleindustry.ThisLecturehasbeenmadepossiblebyfundsprovidedbyRockwellInternational.ThelectureseriesisadministeredbySAEinaccordancewithaPlanforAdministrationapprovedbytheSAEBoardofDirectors.TheL.RayBuckendaleCommitteeofSAEwelcomesnominationsforfutureLecturesandsuggestionsforsubjectmatterrelatedtothebasicobjectiveoftheprogram.Nomi-nationsandsuggestionsmaybeaddressedto:Secretary.L.RayBuckendaleCommitteeatSAEHeadquarters.PublishedFebruary1976byTHESOCIETYOFAUTOMOTIVEENGINEERS.INC.400CommonwealthDrive,Warrendale,Pa.15096Copyright©SocietyofAutomotiveEngineers,Inc.1976Allrightsreserved.LicensedtoUniversityofMichiganLicensedfromtheSAEDigitalLibraryCopyright2009SAEInternationalE-mailing,copyingandinternetpostingareprohibitedDownloadedSaturday,June20,200912:51:40PMAuthor:Gilligan-SID:1178-GUID:20821215-141.213.232.87E.R.SternbergERNESTR.STERNBERGispresentlyEngineeringConsultanttotheTruckGroup,WhiteMotorCorp.Priortohisretirementinearly1975,hewasDirectorofEngineeringoftheTruckGroup.Mr.SternbergjoinedtheSterlingMotorTruckCo.,Inc.,in1934,andhehasservedasSalesEngineer,DirectorofMaterials,DirectorofEngineering,andVicePresident.In1951,Mr.SternbergbecameGeneralManageroftheSterlingDivisionoftheWhiteMotorCo.andsubsequentlywastransferredtothehomeofficeoftheWhiteMotorCo.inCleveland,asAssistanttoVicePresidentofProduction.In1957,hewasplacedinchargeofTruckEngineeringfortheAutocarDivisionatExton,Pennsylvania,andreturnedtoClevelandin1959tobecomeChiefEngineerandthenVicePresidentofEngineeringoftheWhiteTruckDivision.Inearly1970,Mr.SternbergwasassignedtotheCorporateEngineeringStaff,buthethenbecameDirectorofEngineeringoftheTruckGroupoftheWhiteMotorCorp.in1972.AnSAEmembersince1940,Mr.SternbergservedontheTechnicalBoardandtheAutomotiveCouncilandalsoservedtwotermsontheGeneralStandardsCouncilofwhichhewasthe1965Chairman.HeholdsaBachelorofScienceDegreeinMechanicalEngineeringfromtheUniversityofSouthernCaliforniaandaMaster'sDesreeinMechanicalEngineeringfromtheUniversityofWisconsin.LicensedtoUniversityofMichiganLicensedfromtheSAEDigitalLibraryCopyright2009SAEInternationalE-mailing,copyingandinternetpostingareprohibitedDownloadedSaturday,June20,200912:51:40PMAuthor:Gilligan-SID:1178-GUID:20821215-141.213.232.87760369THEPURPOSEOFTHISBUCKENDALELECTUREistoprovideinformationonthesuspensionscur-rentlyusedinheavy-dutytrucks.Whileconsiderableinformationhasbeenpublishedwithrespecttosuspensionsofvarioustypesfromtimetotime,thereisnosinglesourceofinformationwhichprovidesrelativelycom-pletedataonthesuspensionscurrentlyinuse.TheBuckendaleLectureCommitteethere-foreselectedthesubjectofHeavy-DutyTruckSuspensionstoprovidereferencematerialwhichwouldbeofparticularvaluetoyoungengineersandstudentsinkeepingwiththepurposeoftheBuckendaleLectureseries.Itisparticularlyfittingthatthissubjectwaschosenatthistimebecauseoftheincreasedemphasisbeingplacedon:1.Productsafety2.Productreliability3.Improvementinridingqualities.Thesubjectofvehiclesuspensionsisnotanewone,asthefirstreferencetothespring-borneframeinEnglishliteratureapparentlywasgiveninPepy'sDiaryunderdateofMay1,1665.(l)*ThefollowingstatementwasincludedHeavy-DutyTruckSuspensionsE.R.SternbergWhiteMotorCorp.inthisDiary:Wentafterdinnertothetryallofsomeexperimentsaboutmakingcoacheseasy.Andseveralwetried;butonedidprovemightyeasy(nothereformetodescribe,butthewholebodyofthecoachliesupononelongspring)andweall,oneafteranother,ridinit;anditisveryfine,andlikelytotake.Theellipticspringusedonlighthorsedrawnvehiclesoftheluxurytypewaspat-entedin1804byObadiahElliott(l)*andprovidedarevolutioninspringdesign.Earlyautomotivevehiclesusedfourellipticspringsforthetwoaxlesprovidedinsuchvehiclesandweresubsequentlyreplacedbysemiellipticspringswhichstillrepresentthemostcommonlyusedmeansofsuspensionforheavycommericalvehicles.Untilthelate1920'sandtheearly1930's,relativelyfewimprovementsweremadeinheavy-dutytrucksuspensions.Speedswererelativeylimitedandinmostcases,solidtireswereemployed,withtheresultthat*Numbersinparenthesesdesignatereferencesatendofpaper.ABSTRACTTrucksuspensionsforheavy-dutytrucksparticulartypesofsuspensionsinuseareperfor