Bloodhoud steering rack challenge solved by Titan 22 October 2013

Steering racks specialist Titan has revealed the engineering behind its solution for the Bloodhound world land speed record breaking project, which aims to achieve 1,000 mph.

According to the company, the load requirements, environmental conditions and space constraints meant that an unconventional system was required.

"The steering requirements for the Bloodhound land speed record car are unusual, as we have a 30:1 steering ratio and a steering lock of five degrees, which required us to have a bespoke steering rack," explains Brian Coombs, engineering lead, mechanical design, for Bloodhound.

As co-operating closely with the project engineers was a necessity, Titan used its 3D CAD technology to develop and share design concepts online.

That involved, for example, finite element analysis for the design of the housing, rack bar and bracket, to ensure all components could handle the high loads.

Meanwhile, space limitations – due to the vehicle aerodynamics – were overcome by engineering a system that allows the pickup points for the track rods to be inboard of the ends of the rack bar, but forward of one of the bulkheads – while keeping the rack behind the bulkhead.

"Titan was the perfect company to help us with this design challenge, which they then manufactured and supplied to us very quickly," comments Coombs.

Bloodhound recently took the on-schedule delivery of the system for testing, ahead of a possible land speed world record attempt in 2015.

Author
Brian Tinham

Related Companies
Titan Motorsport & Automotive Engineering Ltd

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