What Is Rack And Pinion Steering Mechanism? | How Rack And Pinion Steering System Works? STEERING SYSTEM | WORKING and COMPONENTS Working of Four Wheel Steering System in Hindi | Advantages, and Disadvantages of 4-Wheel Steering How Power Steering System Works?

1. What Is Rack And Pinion Steering
Mechanism? | How Rack And Pinion
Steering System Works?
The Rack and Pinion is a type of steering mechanism with a pair of gears which convert the rotary motion into the
linear motion.This system consists ofa circular gear called pinion engages with the teeth on the linear gear shaft
called the rack. The rotary motion applied to the pinion causes itto turn while it moves rack sideways.
This mechanism is simple and driver-friendly.It is the mosteffective and hence; widelyused steering system bycar
manufacturers around the world.It is universallyaccepted that it is the bestsystem to use.The mechanism consists
of a pinion at the end of the steering column thatmeshes with the rack. The pinion is fixed to the steeri ng column at
its end. It meshes with the rack which moves either to the left or the right side depending upon the movementofthe
pinion.In this steering mechanism,rack acts as the center section of the three piece rod. The rack has ball joints at
each end that allow the up & down movementof the wheels.Also,there is a spring loaded pad underside the rack
which reduces the backlash between the gears.The rack engages with the pinion mounted on the steering shaft.
Furthermore,the ball joints further connect to the stub axles thru' tie rods.The rotary motion ofthe steering wheel
directly conveys to the wheels thru'the sideways movementofthe rack. In case of mostof the steering gears,on a
right-hand drive car, the far-side wheel is steered directlywhile the near side wheel is driven thru’ the linkage.In case
of light sports cars,this type of steering gear has significantlylower gear reduction.The rack always connects to
either side of the steering wheel arms.The moving rack moves the wheel in either one or other way. The movements
are usuallypartof a simple mechanism.The rotation of the steering shaft,thru' either hand or by a motor, converts
rotary motion into linear motion.The load of the rack is usuallyminimal.However,it requires some torque because
the gear ratio is low.
STEERING SYSTEM | WORKING and
COMPONENTS
The steering system converts the rotation of the steering wheel into a swivelling movementofthe road wheels in such
a way that the steering-wheel rim turns a long way to move the road wheels a shortway. The system allows a driver
to use only light forces to steer a heavy car. The rim of a 15 in. (380 mm) diameter steering wheel moving four turns
from full left lock to full right lock travels nearly 16 ft (5 m), while the edge of a road wheel moves a distance of only
slightlymore than 12 in. (300 mm).If the driver swivelled the road wheel directly, he or she would have to push nearly
16 times as hard.The steering effort passes to the wheels through a system ofpivoted joints.These are designed to
allow the wheels to move up and down with the suspension withoutchanging the steering angle.They also ensure
that when cornering,the inner front wheel - which has to travel round a tighter curve than the outer one - becomes
more sharplyangled.The joints mustbe adjusted very precisely,and even a little looseness in them makes the
steering dangerouslysloppyand inaccurate.There are two steering systems in common use - the rack and pinion
and the steering box. On large cars, either system maybe power assisted to reduce further the effort needed to move
it, especiallywhen the car is moving slowly.

2. Working of Four Wheel Steering System in
Hindi | Advantages and Disadvantages of 4-
Wheel Steering
A four-wheel steering system (or all wheel steering) allows the driver to turn the rear wheels leftor right along with the
front wheels.Do not confuse a four-wheel steering system with a four-wheel drive vehicle because they’re two
different things.Four-wheel drive simplymeans that all four wheels are getting power from the engine.A four-wheel
steering system means you can actually turn all four wheels with the steering wheel.Here we are going to focus on
the pros and cons of the rear wheel steering system.The main purpose ofall-wheel steering is to increase the agility
and stability of a vehicle. At low speeds (usuallyunder 30 or 40 MPH), the rear wheels turn slightlyin the opposite
direction as the front wheels.This is known as “counter-phase steering” and allows the vehicle to have a smaller
turning radius for better agility. At higher speeds (usuallyover 30 or 40 MPH), the rear wheel turn slightlyin the same
direction as the front wheels.This is known as “in-phase steering and allows the vehicle to be more stable during high
speed corning.The vehicle actually leans less in and outof a corner since both axles share the turning forces instead
of justthe front. Top 5 Advantages of Four-Wheel Steering :
1) Smaller Turning Radius Afour-wheel steering system gives you the ability to make tighter turns in a smaller radius
because the rear wheels are able to turn in a different direction than the front wheels.This makes iteasier for you to
maneuver your vehicle in a tight parking,parallel park,or complete u-turns in areas some cars can’t.
2) Better Stability If you want a smooth driving experience,then it always helps to have stabilityin your vehicle. A
four-wheel steering system makes iteasier for you to control your vehicle and keep it stable,especiallywhen you’re
traveling at higher speeds with lots ofturns.
3) Quicker Steering Response There is nothing worse than a steering wheel thatdoesn’trespond immediatelyto the
turns that you make with it. A four-wheel steering system gives your steering wheel a much fas ter response than a
standard two-wheel steering system.You’ll be able to be more precise in the direction that you’re traveling in.
4) Faster Lane Changes If you’re someone who regularlydrives on the freeway and you constantlyfind yourself
changing lanes or passing other vehicles,then a four-wheel steering system will help you do this fastand efficiently.
You’ll be able to move into and out of another lane quicker and smoother than mostother vehicles.
5) Better Safety Not every car “rides on rails” like a Mazda Miata or Chevy Corvette. If you ever find yourselfgo too
fast for a corner that you misjudged,rear-wheel steering will cause less bodyroll and may justsave you from going
off the road or into another vehicle. Top 2 Disadvantages ofFour-Wheel Steering :
1) Higher Risk of Malfunction A four-wheel steering system is comprised ofmanyelectronic components and parts.
All it would take is for one componentto malfunction and then the entire system would malfunction.As a result,you
will likely need to perform additional maintenance on a four-wheel steering system justto keep it operational for use.
This not only means spending more time and moneyon it, but it also means thatyou’re more at risk of experiencing
problems with the system as you’re driving too.
2) Pricey A car that has a four-wheel steering system is going to costa lot more moneythan a car with justa two-
wheel steering system.This is due to the four-wheel steering system being more expensive to manufacture and
develop, since itcontains more sophisticated components than a two-wheel steering system.All-wheel steering is
often a standard feature with manyhigh end sports cars butmanyother vehicles,it’s simplyan optional feature so
you at leasthave the choice of deciding whether the extra costis worth it.

3. How Power Steering System Works?
A steering system ofan automobile is an integral partof vehicle dynamics of a vehicle in which a series of
mechanical components having certain importantangles comes together to steer the front wheels ofthe vehicle
according to inputprovided by the driver through steering wheel.The power steering system is the advanced steering
system in which the effort required to steer the front wheels ofthe vehicle side to side is reduced by using
intermediate electric or hydraulic devices that multiplies the force applied by the driver through steering wheel in order
to achieve smooth and quick directional change ofthe vehicle. ImportantComponents ofPower Steering System -
1. Steering mechanism- Usuallyrack and pinion steering mechanism is used in power steering in which the rotational
motion of the steering wheel is converted into the transverse motion ofthe wheels by a setof constantlymeshed
worm gears called rack that provide transverse motion and a pinion that provides rotational motion.
2. Linkages – They are the mechanical constraints thatprovide relative motion between 2 components,the type of
linkages used in power steering is the tie-roads thatconnects the rack to the knuckle of the wheel in order to transfer
the transverse motion ofthe rack to the wheels.
3. Power device- A force multiplying device (either hydraulic or hybrid or electric) is used to multiplythe steering
wheel force in order to reduce steering efforts.This device is attached with the pinion of the rack and pinio n
mechanism.
4. Steering wheel- A round steering wheel is used inside a cockpit(operated by the driver) that provides the
rotational steering inputto the further steering devices in order to steer the vehicle. Working of Power Steering
System:
1. Hydraulic Power Steering System In this type of power steering system,the hydraulic force is used to multiplythe
steering inputforce in order to smoothen the steering ofthe front wheels,this hydraulic force is generated by a series
of components thatincludes hydraulic cylinder,rotator hydraulic pump,hydraulic lines,highlycompressed hydraulic
fluid and a coupling mechanism thatcan couple this hydraulic system with rack of the steering system.When the
driver provides inputby rotating the steering wheel,the hydraulic pump driven by the engine starts pumping the
highly compressed hydraulic fluid through lines.The hydraulic pressure produced bythe pump enters the hydraulic
cylinder which in turn applies pressure over the cylinder’s piston.The piston which is under high pressure starts
moving from one end to the another which in turn pushes the further fluid through lines,with this movementof piston
the inputforce applied by the driver is multiplied several times.This high pressure fluid sentby the hydraulic cylinder
then applies the pressure to the attached pinion through the coupling mechanism which in turn applies high force to
the rack gear and the steering action in the front wheels takes place.
2. Hybrid or Semi Hydraulic Power Steering System In this type of power steering system the hydraulic pump driven
by the engine from the hydraulic power steering system is replaced with electric pump which makes itmore reliable,
this is the only modification made restthe working of this system is same as the hydraulic power steering system
mentioned above.
3. Electric Power Steering System This system is latestof all the steering system mentioned above in this type of
steering system as we have already discussed the force multiplication is the function ofthe electric motor instead of
hydraulic fluid and the working of this system is as follows - When the driver gives inputthrough the steering wheel the
electronic sensors attached to the steering column reads the inputand sentthem to the electric control unit of the
vehicle. The ECU of the vehicle analyses these inputs and sentthe voltage signal to the electric motor placed at the
end of the steering column whose gear is in constantmesh with the pinion gear.Due to these voltage signals se ntby
the ECU the motor which is driven by the battery of the vehicle starts and provides the particular torque according to
the value of the voltage signals received After the motor starts the gear which is in constantmesh with the pinion gear
starts transmitting the multiplied torque to the pinion gear which in turn applies this torque to the rack through which it
is attached. With this torque applied by the pinion over rack , rack moves which in turn steer the front wheels (with the
help of the tie rods attached) as per the requirement.