Automotive How to calculate body roll on a car as a torque?

AI Thread Summary
When a car turns, centripetal force at the tires and chassis acceleration create a torque that causes body roll about the roll center. A calculated torque of 1292Nm was deemed large but reasonable, considering typical centripetal forces and distances involved. For a car weighing around 1000kg, a centripetal acceleration of 1m/s² results in a torque of approximately 1000Nm. At a speed of 36km/h on a 10-meter radius turn, the acceleration reaches about 1g, indicating significant forces at play. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for assessing vehicle stability and handling during turns.
Webbd050
Messages
35
Reaction score
4
When a car turns there is a centripetal force acting at the tyres to get it round the bend. There is also an acceleration of the chassis away from the bend acting at the centre of gravity. These combine to create a torque which causes the chassis to roll about the roll centre. Is this correct? I've calculated this torque as 1292Nm which seems very large to me. What would a typical value be? Thanks
 
Engineering news on Phys.org
Let's see... a car can mass on the order of a metric ton =1000kg assume a 1/10th g acceleration is typical for centripetal acceleration say 1m/s/s so 1000 Newtons is not unheard of as the centripetal force. Then assume COM and tires are on order of 1 meter apart and you get a 1000Nm torque about COM (or tires or roll center since centripetal force and tire force act as a couple.)

Your number seems reasonable to me.

Traveling 36km/h = .6 km/min = 10m/sec and making a 10 meter radius circle you'd have an acceleration of 100/10 = 10 m/s/s or about 1 "gee" and 10 time my calculated torque. We can agree that a turn requiring a 45deg bank probably would threaten to roll the car if on the flat (assuming it's traction held otherwise).
 
Thanks that's great :)
 
Posted June 2024 - 15 years after starting this class. I have learned a whole lot. To get to the short course on making your stock car, late model, hobby stock E-mod handle, look at the index below. Read all posts on Roll Center, Jacking effect and Why does car drive straight to the wall when I gas it? Also read You really have two race cars. This will cover 90% of problems you have. Simply put, the car pushes going in and is loose coming out. You do not have enuff downforce on the right...
I'm trying to decide what size and type of galvanized steel I need for 2 cantilever extensions. The cantilever is 5 ft. The space between the two cantilever arms is a 17 ft Gap the center 7 ft of the 17 ft Gap we'll need to Bear approximately 17,000 lb spread evenly from the front of the cantilever to the back of the cantilever over 5 ft. I will put support beams across these cantilever arms to support the load evenly
Thread 'Physics of Stretch: What pressure does a band apply on a cylinder?'
Scenario 1 (figure 1) A continuous loop of elastic material is stretched around two metal bars. The top bar is attached to a load cell that reads force. The lower bar can be moved downwards to stretch the elastic material. The lower bar is moved downwards until the two bars are 1190mm apart, stretching the elastic material. The bars are 5mm thick, so the total internal loop length is 1200mm (1190mm + 5mm + 5mm). At this level of stretch, the load cell reads 45N tensile force. Key numbers...

Similar threads

Replies
4
Views
3K
Replies
34
Views
3K
Replies
7
Views
7K
Replies
5
Views
5K
Replies
1
Views
2K
Replies
6
Views
4K
Replies
5
Views
2K
Back
Top