Development of a Rocker Link for a Mountain Bike Rear Suspension System - RH4

Description A mountain bike suspension system must be able to provide the rider with support and comfort over a wide variety of terrain and obstacles from small and frequent obstacles such as roots and rocks to large impacts caused by landing from jumps and drops. One way engineers approach this problem is to design a suspension system that has a variable leverage ratio as the rear wheel displaces upwards. By designing a system with a higher leverage ratio at the start of the rear wheel displacement compared to the end, the suspension can be soft enough at the start of the travel to soak up small bumps whilst also being firm enough at the end to soak up large impacts without bottoming out. Key Objectives Using the “Linkage X3” Kinematic software various characteristics of the current suspension such as leverage ratio will be determined. Using the “Linkage X3” Kinematic software the geometry of the suspension and rocker link will be varied to increase the leverage ratio. Various FEA techniques will be applied to design and optimise and link to ensure that it would be strong enough to sustain the forces that would be encountered during typical use.