Abstract
Steering axis of suspensions is an important factor that affects ride and handling quality in the vehicle chassis development. Macpherson strut and double wishbone's steering axis are defined geometrically, but multi-link suspensions can not be geometrically analyzed. In this case instant axis theory is commonly used to find a steering axis. Since the steering axis is moving with varying caster and kingpin inclination angle, this method approximately corresponds with exact solution. In this paper, we propose a velocity analysis method to find a pure rotational axis of the wheel relative to suspension arms, that is exact solution of the steering axis. This paper extends the method to analyze the steering axis of multi-link suspensions with bushing compliance. The analysis results applied to double wishbone and multi-link suspensions demonstrate validity and accuracy of the proposed method.