Investigation about High-Strengthening of Rack & Pinion for Electric Power Steering (EPS)(Machine Elements and Manufacturing)

In conjunction with recent trends in vehicles getting larger and tires gaining larger footprints, the EPS rack thrust force has been required increased considerably. In a pinion assist type EPS system, the rack and pinion, which are steering gears, have loaded the rack force from the tires. Therefore, high strength rack and pinion have been required to be installed into the EPS system. To address the issue, the authors examined fundamental factors that cause the deterioration of the rack and pinion from the standpoint of the working of the gears. As a result, the significant issue with mesh of the gears has been found by means of static analysis of rack rotating and examination of the working of rack and pinion. And it has got possible to create a solution to address the issue based on a static model with mesh of rack gear, which leads to a new design method for high strength rack and pinion.