SusProg3D -
Suspension by Design.
===================
Thanks to all of those who made comments and suggestions.
In no particular order.
 | Added a stand alone spring calculator. Available in the Tools menu. Handy for those times when you have a spring and just need to know the rate. |
| If the Antirollbar Correlation Factor was zero, this caused the
antirollbar calculations to fail. It now defaults to 1.0 Thanks to Gavin for this one. |
 | Added an option to the wheel alignment settings to allow for specifying
the toe in degrees. Typically, laser toe gauges have a resolution of 1/60th
of a degree, approx 0.02 degrees.
|
| Updated the registration algorithm for Vista.
|
| Added "double ball joints" to the CMM tool for struts. Thanks to Mark for this one. |
| Added the upright coordinates referenced back to the chassis datum. This
is makes it easier to position suspension component in the correct place
when the chassis is in the chassis jig. Thanks to Tim for this one. |
Version 4.86 has a number of enhancements.
Thanks to all of those who made comments and suggestions.
| Updated driveshaft configuration. For those suspension types that use the driveshaft as a suspension link it is now possible to specify the driveshaft as "Fixed length driveshaft (top lateral link)" or as "Variable (splined) or "Variable (plunging joint)". When the driveshaft is specified as "Fixed length driveshaft (top lateral link)" the driveshaft will act as the top lateral link. This is the typical arrangement for Jaguar and Corvette rear suspensions. When the driveshaft is specified as "Variable (splined) or "Variable (plunging joint)" then the driveshaft will not take suspension loads, and a separate top lateral link is required. Thanks to Toni and the Finnish Corvette community for this one. |
| Upright camber shims and steering When upright camber shims are used, and they also adjust the steering arm, then this is now noted in the steering results. Thanks to Jan for this one. |
| Dynamic parameters The dynamic parameters now include a Vehicle or Custom option to determine the input data. This provides a clearer distinction between using the current vehicle parameters, and bespoke "what if" parameters. Thanks to Rupert for this one |
| Undertray Fixed up the names on the undertray input. Thanks to Ian for this one. |
| Wheel spacer Added a wheel spacer. Thanks to Roy for this one. |
In no particular order.
Version 4.85 has a number of enhancements.
Thanks to all of those who made comments and suggestions.
In no particular order.
|
Added an anti-roll bar
configuration to suit live axle with leading arms. TThanks to Pratap for this one. |
|
Corrected the motion ratio
calculations for the fully floating shock and bellcrank setup. Sometimes the spring data displayed the wrong units. Updated the help file with additional notes about naming ranges for front and rear sheets. Thanks to Rupert for these. |
===================
Version 4.84 has a number of
enhancements.
Thanks to all of those who made comments and suggestions.
In no particular order.
|
A new VCalc button has been
added. This operates similar to the current ECalc, but will do the complete vehicle. |
|
A new graphical pitch centre
calculator has been added. Under the Dynamic tab there are two new items PitchData - this is where the suspension travel data is specified PitchGraphic - this is where the data is cycled through, calculated and displayed Thanks to Ian for this one. |
|
As an aid to visualizing the
vehicle movement in the graphic pitch calculator, the vehicle undertray
can now be specified. Thanks to Gary for this one. |
|
The existing pitch centre
calculator will be deprecated. It will be removed shortly. |
Thanks to all of those who made comments
and suggestions.
In no particular order.
|
The dynamic calculations can
now be done over a combination of front roll centre, rear roll centre
and lateral acceleration. |
|
The dynamic calculation
results can now be exported to Excel to enable a better analysis of
when calculating over a range of roll centre positions and lateral
accelerations. |
|
Added an option to allow for a pushrod bellcrank to actuate from the top wishbone |
===================
Version 4.82 adds support for Microsoft Vista.
Thanks to all of those who made comments and suggestions.
In no particular order.
|
SusProg3D is now
supported on Windows Vista. This has required several changes to the SusProg3D installation, and to the help file. Vista has greatly increased security relating to User Access Control (UAC) and imposes more restrictions on data file locations. This has required changes to the install procedure. This also affects installs on all other Windows versions. Also, with Vista, Microsoft have dropped support for the traditional WinHelp format, and now only support the CHM (Compiled HTML) format. To support Vista, the SusProg3D help file has been converted from WinHelp to CHM help. When upgrading older versions which used WinHelp the patch files will include the new CHM help. How do I know what style of Help I have? Start SusProg3D and then go to Help -> Contents.  If the help displayed looks like this, it is WinHelp  If the help displayed looks like this, it is CHM help. |
|
I have added a "Correlation
factor" to the antirollbar rate calculations. Use this to factor to adjust the calculated rate to match the actual rate. Thanks to Norm for this suggestion |
V4.81A
(Build 593.0)
SusProg3D Licence Server Phase 1
Driveline data added to Excel exports.
V4.80A
(Build 586.0)
The basic geometry for a three-wheel configuration has been added.
The currently supported configuration allows for two front wheels
(wishbones or strut) and a single rear wheel on a trailing arm
(essentially the same as a motorcycle rear suspension).
Thanks to Gary for this one.
A
tool to calculate the wheel camber change over the range of upright
shims has been added.
Thanks to Oscar for this one.
For
those who usually work on the same data file, the last used data file
will automatically load when SusProg3D is opened.
Go to Settings |Settings and tick "Start with last working file".
The "toe out in turn" calculations have been extended to
calculate caster trail and kingpin offset.
If you are exporting "toe out in turn" to Excel, then increase the
Excel range with an extra four columns (a total of 21 is now required)
to include the caster trail and kingpin radius data.
If
you do not increase the Excel range, the "toe out in turn" data will
still export OK, just the caster trail and kingpin radius data will not
be included.
Thanks to Daniel for this one.
The roll and bump results now include caster trail and kingpin
offset.
Thanks to Daniel for this one.
Version
4.78
Added graphic display print function.
Increased the steer angle in toe out in turn calculations.
Increased the suspension travel for trailing arm suspensions
(especially for off-road vehicles).
Clarified the exporting of brake and acceleration "anti" values to
Excel.
Version
4.74
When
drawing the steering arm, also draw the king pin axis.
Added an "ungrounded" toe control link to
the rear A-arm suspension types. This is where the toe control link
attaches to the A-arm instead of the chassis.
Thanks to Peter Davies for this one.
Fixed
the Mumford bellcrank axis offset dimensions so they always refer to
the bellcrank axis (and not the lever axis).
Add dual rate coil-over springs.
Thanks to Ted Mitchell for this one.
There
is now a graphic display of the spring rate with the bump and droop
travel positions marked. This is especially applicable to the new dual
rate springs and hopefully will make the design and selection of spring
rates easier. The calculations are a bit complicated, and tend to
require an iterative approach.
For metric users, spring and wheel rate
calculations have been brought in line with SAE J916 “Rules for use of
SI (metric) units”. This means that spring and wheel rates will now be
shown in N/mm rather than kg/cm, and spring loads will be shown in N
(Newtons). There is only a 2% difference between N/mm and kg/cm, with
the N/mm value being slightly smaller than the kg/cm value for the same
rate. The results will continue to show rates in both N/mm and lb/in,
and loads in N, kg and lbs. Vehicle “weights” will remain in kg. For
imperial users there is no difference. Rates will be in lb/in, loads
and weights in lb.
Removed some code that was specifically
for Windows 95 and added a note to the FAQ describing the required fix.
Added the necessary changes to support
Windows 64-bit operating systems.
Thanks to the V8 Supercar team for their patience and help on this one.
Added an “Update Reminder”. This will pop
up a box when the installed version is 90 days old, and then once every
30 days, reminding you to check the web site for program updates.
Added a camber adjustment shim option for
uprights.
Thanks to James Morrison for this one.
Added the functionality to set page
margins for hard copy printouts.
Thanks to Jan Hoel for this one.
Extended the “toe out in turn”
calculations to do both turn directions at the same time. Also included
the actual “toe out in turn” angle and the caster data.
Thanks to Paul Yaw for this one.
Added the extended “toe out in turn” data
to the Excel exports.
Thanks to Rob Palermo for this one.
When doing a geometry calculation with
the front wheels steered, the steer direction is now independent of the
chassis roll direction. Previously the turn direction determined both
the chassis roll direction and the steering direction. The “straight
ahead” wheel alignment toe settings are used to return the steering to
the straight ahead position, and to ensure that subsequent calculations
always start from the “known position”. When doing a steered
calculation, the wheel alignment dialog box will always show the
steered wheel alignment.
Added a graphical isometric
representation to the upright dialog. And when you click on a pivot
point, the name of the point and the co-ordinates will display.
Added extra calculated info to the mass dialog. It now calculates the
left and right mass distributions as well as the percentage splits for
the individual wheels.
Added extra calculated info to the centre of gravity dialog. SusProg
will now calculate the sprung mass (ie the chassis) centre of gravity
location relative to the front axle centreline and the ground. SusProg
will also calculate the sprung mass centre of gravity location relative
to the chassis datum. This will now mean that any changes to ride
height (amongst others) will automatically “back calculate” the new
vehicle centre of gravity.
Thanks to Duncan Grant for this one.
Added a dialog to enable the setting of
the display grid colours and spacings. The grid will only display when
the view is “axis aligned”. Added a “show me the co-ordinate” function
to the display. If you click (left mouse button) anywhere on the
graphic it will report back the vehicle co-ordinates of that point.
This only works when the view is “axis aligned”.
Another from Duncan.
Added a “centre of rotation” function to
the graphic display. In previous versions, the graphic was always
centered on a point on the axle hub centreline. Whenever the graphic
was zoomed in or out, or rotated, the location of the centre point did
not change. Now there is a function to change this “centre of
rotation”. It is only active when the view is “axis aligned” and will
move the graphic to be centred about the “click” point. Hold down the
Control key and click (left mouse button). The graphic will redraw with
the “clicked point” now at the centre of the display. Note that this
does not change the position of the “centre of rotation” in the
direction of the “aligned axis”. To do that, you will need to flip the
view 90 degrees and click a second time. If you have defined a “centre
of rotation” that causes the graphic to rotate “off screen” you can
reset everything back using the “Reset” button on the “Display” tabs.
The options to show the graphic as lines or in full, to show or hide
the grid, and to hold or reset the orientation are now on the “Display”
tabs.
Changed the way the graphic calculates the initial scaling to use the
complete vehicle (instead of the end being shown). Now when you flip
between front and rear the scale and grid will remain the same.
Version
4.73
Additional Excel exports.
Rigid (non-driving) axle added. Typical for the rear axle of FWD
vehicles.
Additional spring data added to results.
Added function to copy graphic display to clipboard.
Version
4.72
Additional
Excel exports
Version
4.71
Added
Mumford linkage option for twin trailing arm rear suspension
Version
4.70
Front
live axle added.
Two configurations, 3 or 4 leading link + Panhard rod, and twin leading
arms + Panhard rod.
Drag link steering.
Transfer box and front propshaft.
