Steering wheel torque and energy consumption of an electric microbus electro-hydraulic power steering.

A study was conducted to evaluate an electro-hydraulic power steering (EHPS) system installed on an electric microbus. The test consists of treating and measuring the vehicle's EHPS system. An artificial steering wheel turner was used to rotate the steering wheel shaft according to the set steering cycle. The data acquisition is for measuring the energy consumption of the EHPS motor and also steering wheel torque. The sensors for the measurement are torque, angle, voltage, and electric current. The result shows that the steering wheel angle to time between the EHPS OFF and ON are in the same consistency. The steering wheel torque increase as the steering angle increases to about 60 Nm when the EHPS is OFF. Contrarily, the steering wheel torque shows a constant value at about 5 Nm when the EHPS is ON. The EHPS system can provide steering torque support even at the maximum turning angles. The energy consumption released during the EHPS ON test is around 110 Wh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]