Study Of A Vehicle Electric Power Steering System

An ideal steering system is not only easy to handle and more effective, but also provides the best steering feel to the driver. A conventional hydraulic power steering system uses power to supplement the force requirement to steer the wheel based on a fixed assist ratio of the driver's input. So a conventional hydraulic power steering system is capable of providing power-assisted steering, but it is difficult to supply the best steering feel. Electric power steering system (EPS) is more appropriate to realize an ideal steering than a conventional hydraulic power steering system, because it is easy to optimize the steering system characteristic by adjusting parameters of the system's controller.Electric power steering is a new structure with novel technique of power steering. The electric power steering brings new effects on the steering maneuvrability, steering returnability, etc.The evaluation of the conventional hydraulic power steering couldn't be applied for the electric power steering. It is necessary to establish a new system for steering performance evaluation of electric power steering. This paper analyzes the effect of electric power steering on the steering performance based on it s configuration feature and then the object evaluation of steering performance of electric power steering is studied. The new system of evaluation includes steering maneuvrability, steering returnability, once enter handling performance, steering wheel vibration, servomotion sensitivity and assist characteristic. The corresponding evaluation indexes are also discussed. This research can determine the assist control strategy, the basic parameters and steering perform standard of electric power steering.