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Unsprung mass is a consideration in the design of a vehicle's suspension and the materials chosen for its components. Beam axle suspensions, in which wheels on opposite sides are connected as a rigid unit, generally have greater unsprung mass than independent suspension systems, in which the wheels are suspended and allowed to move separately.
Sprung and unsprung mass are shown. Sprung mass (or sprung weight), in a vehicle with a suspension, such as an automobile, motorcycle, or a tank, is the portion of the vehicle's total mass that is supported by the suspension, including in most applications approximately half of the weight of the suspension itself.
Independent suspension typically offers better ride quality and handling characteristics, due to lower unsprung weight and the ability of each wheel to address the road undisturbed by activities of the other wheel on the vehicle. Independent suspension requires additional engineering effort and expense in development versus a beam or live axle ...
The mass of the beam is part of the unsprung weight of the vehicle, hurting ride quality. The need for lateral location devices such as a Panhard rod or Watt's linkage adds more unsprung weight and partially offsets the beam axle's advantages in terms of simplicity, space efficiency, and cost.
Ignoring the flexing of other components, a car can be modeled as the sprung weight, carried by the springs, carried by the unsprung weight, carried by the tires, carried by the road. Unsprung weight is more properly regarded as a mass which has its own inherent inertia separate from the rest of the vehicle. When a wheel is pushed upwards by a ...
One advantage for a comfortable ride was the reduction in unsprung weight, as the kingpins and steering gear were inboard of the suspension, and not thus counted as sprung mass. This in turn led to 'synchronous' behaviour in many cars with this suspension, where the natural frequency of the front wheel suspension, unusually for the time ...
This is an especially severe problem when a swing axle is used in a rear-engine design, because of the greater side-g forces on the rear wheels from the mass of the engine. Camber changes during deceleration can increase the severity of lift-off oversteer. 1964 Corvair swing-axle rear suspension with transverse leaf spring
Weight transfer occurs as the vehicle's CoM shifts during automotive maneuvers. Acceleration causes the sprung mass to rotate about a geometric axis resulting in relocation of the CoM. Front-back weight transfer is proportional to the change in the longitudinal location of the CoM to the vehicle's wheelbase, and side-to-side weight transfer ...