Introduction and Background - AS

Hello and welcome to my ME 350R project report! While working with my friend to modify the steering on his car, I noticed the usage of a drag link mechanism in the steering system (also known as a double crank or crank crank mechanism). Intrigued, I did some digging to learn more about how and why it was chosen. In the case of a car, it transforms the rotary motion from a crank arm to a second bellcrank. It is commonly used to connect the pitman arm (or drop arm) on the steering box to a steering arm. An image has been provided below (courtesy of Wikipedia).

The objectives of my project were the following:

• To understand how and why a drag link behaves the way it does.
• To apply classroom knowledge to design an effective mechanism.
• To mathematically analyze the mechanism's behavior.
• To have fun!