The Basic Components of a Vehicle

Vehicle (pronounced vee-hik-ul) is a machine that can transport people or things. This includes wheeled, tracked or railed vehicles such as cars, buses and trucks as well as boats, trains and aircraft.

방문운전연수

A car is a common vehicle for family transportation. It’s important that the vehicle you buy takes safety seriously.

Wheels

Whether you call them wheels, rims, or those round things at each corner of your car, they are one of the most important components of your vehicle. Everything from the comfort of your ride to its suspension and fuel economy depend on those four circular pieces of metal.

They transfer power from the hub assembly and axles to the tires that grip the ground. The wheels also provide a smoother, more efficient ride by reducing friction against the road. 방문운전연수

Wheels are made of a durable material like steel or alloy to support the load, and they have a center bore that fits over the hub assembly. The lug holes are then screwed into place with a wheel nut or bolt. The size of the axle hole, and the bolt pattern or bolt circle diameter, are important measurements when selecting wheels to fit your vehicle.

Engine

An engine is a machine that turns energy from fuel into mechanical force or motion. Engines used in cars, trains, airplanes, and ships get their energy from burning gasoline or diesel fuel. But there are also engines that convert electricity into mechanical energy, such as electric motors in fans and power tools.

The most common vehicle engine has pistons that move up and down inside metal tubes called 방문운전연수 cylinders. The pistons connect via rods (like your shins) to a crankshaft, which spins the car’s drive wheels. The more the pistons pump, the faster the wheels turn. The engine’s power is measured by its displacement, which equals the volume of the cylinders when the piston is at its lowest point — the bottom dead center.

Most land vehicles make noise due to friction between tires and road surfaces, and air flowing past the engine at high speeds. Some of this friction can be reduced by streamlined design features.

Transmission

The transmission gets the power from your engine to the wheels. It is one of the most important parts of your car. Without it, your vehicle would stall.

How it works:

When fuel ignites in your engine, the miniature explosions turn into mechanical energy that spins your crankshaft. The transmission adapts this energy to run your wheels and control the speed of your engine. It’s a complex system, but it makes your car work smoothly and efficiently.

Brakes

Brakes are the mechanism for converting the kinetic energy of moving objects into heat energy that slows and stops them. Today’s brake systems employ a range of technologies to achieve this, but in the end they’re all about friction.

Leverage and hydraulic force multiplication

The force you put on the pedal is transmitted through a system of levers, with the master cylinder doubling and quadrupling it at different points along the line. This works because the longer side of the lever is pulling against a smaller piston than the shorter one, so it produces a greater force.

The force passes through the fluid lines to the wheel cylinders, which press brake shoes against the brake drums to slow and stop your vehicle. Disc brakes use friction between the brake pads and the disc to reduce the speed of the wheels, while drum brakes employ a wedging and jamming action.

Tires

The tire is where the force from your engine and brakes come into contact with the road. The rubber grips the metal rim of your wheel to transmit this power and absorb the shock of bumps, potholes or other irregularities in the road surface. It also flexes to cushion the impact of driving over obstacles and to absorb the stresses created by changing directions.

The casing – or carcass – of a tire is constructed from layers, or plies, of varying proportions of different rubber compounds reinforced with steel wire or synthetic and carbon fibres. The density of this reinforcement and its angle of application (measured in ‘threads-per-inch’, or TPI) determine the behavior of the tire in terms of its ability to respond to sideways forces and harshness.

Different recipes or precise mixes of these ingredients produce tires that offer specific properties. Fillers such as carbon black and silica, elastomeric materials such as rubber and nitrile, fabrics, antiozonants and curing agents make up the rest of the mix.

Chassis

A chassis is an essential part of any vehicle, no matter the type. It supports the entire weight of the vehicle, including its components and passengers. It also helps protect them from any accidents or sudden braking that may happen on the road.

A modern vehicle’s chassis can be made from either aluminum or steel plate sheets. It can also be monocoque or a tubular style. Monocoque chassis are the most common. They are made of one piece of bodywork and one piece of chassis that is connected together. Tubular styles have a backbone that connects the front and rear suspension areas. These are often found in trucks and commercial vehicles.

A ladder-style body-on-frame chassis looks like a ladder with two heavy beams and shorter ones in between. It’s used in classic cars and some light pickup trucks. Most modern passenger cars, however, use a unibody chassis instead.