1. Description
To improve driving comfort, most modern automobiles have wide, lowpressure tires which increase the tire-to-road surface contact area. As a result of this, more steering effort is required. Steering effort can be decreased by increasing the gear ratio of the steering gear. However, this will cause a larger rotary motion of the steering wheel when the vehicle is turning, making sharp turns impossible. Therefore, to keep the steering agile and, at the same time the steering effort small, some sort of a steering assist device became necessary. In other words, power steering, which had been chiefly used on larger vehicles, is now also used on compact passenger cars.
2. Type of power steering
There are hydraulic type and electric type power steering. Currently, hydraulic power steering is used on almost all models. The three main components of hydraulic power steering are the vane pump, control valve, and power cylinder.
3. Operation of hydraulic power steering
The power steering system uses the power of the engine to drive the vane pump that generates the hydraulic pressure. When the steering wheel is turned, an oil circuit is switched at the control valve. As oil pressure is applied to the power piston in the power cylinder, the power needed to operate the steering wheel is reduced. It is necessary to inspect for leakage of power steering fluid periodically.
Vane Pump
Power steering is a type of hydraulic device requiring a very high pressure. It uses the power of the engine to drive the vane pump uses that generates this hydraulic pressure. Vanes are used in this pump, so this name is used for this type of power steering.