Description of car steering

The vehicle is equipped with a rack and pinion steering equipped with a hydraulic booster.

The steering consists of the following elements: a steering mechanism with steering rods, a steering column with a steering wheel and an intermediate shaft that transmits torque from the steering column to the steering mechanism. To reduce the effort applied by the driver to the steering wheel, a hydraulic booster is used.

The power steering consists of the following components: the power steering pump, the hydraulic fluid reservoir, and the hydraulic cylinder that is part of the steering gear.

The power steering pump is a vane pump that provides pressure in the hydraulic system, which, acting on the piston of the hydraulic cylinder, creates an additional force applied to the steering rack combined with the hydraulic cylinder. The pump is driven by a V-ribbed belt.

The power steering booster is controlled by a control valve, which, with a very small rotation of the steering shaft relative to the drive gear of the rack and pinion mechanism, directs the flow of working fluid into the desired cavity of the hydraulic cylinder until the driver stops the movement of the steering wheel, and the rack takes a predetermined position. This will eliminate the mismatch in the position of the steering shaft and the drive gear, and the valve will direct the fluid into the bypass channel.

This feature of the hydraulic system determines the need for the driver to ensure that the mechanism does not reach the stops in extreme positions, which will lead to peak loads on the steering rods and in the hydraulic system of the RP drive.