A parametric study of the dynamics for the shudderless tripode joint

Front-wheel drive cars rely upon tripode joints, well known and widely used spatial mechanisms. This research has been prompted by the appearance on the market of a shudderless tripode joint. By means of a parametric model, based on the application of a multibody dynamics technique, it has been investigated the influence of geometric variables and angular speed on the amount of constraint forces and torque fluctuations. The numerical examples presented provide practical guidelines for a rational choice of such parameters.