An electric power steering (EPS or EPAS) is designed to provide assistance to the driver of a vehicle by way of reducing effort on the electric motor. Most of the power steering systems are designed to give variable assistance i.e. a higher support when the speed of a vehicle decreases and lower assistance when the vehicle takes a higher speed. An intricate balance of power and control is necessary to make this possible and recently the kind of functionality has been readily available to the manufacturers.
An EPS system is different from the HPS systems as it does not require a hydraulic pump that is belted into the engine. Here the electric motor gets its power from the vehicle’s alternator which is belted into the engine.
The biggest advantage of having an EPS system is that it is activated only when required. In fact with an EPS a vehicle can achieve up to 3 % improvement in fuel economy in comparison vehicle a vehicle equipped with a with conventional HPS system..
The main reason why automobiles have power steering systems is that they cause reduction in the input force needed to turn or steer a vehicle. The EPS mainly consists of a steering mechanism that is linked with a steering wheel via a steering shaft and detects a steering torque applied to the steering wheel with the help of torque sensor. There is a motor to assist operations of the steering mechanism.
The function of the torque sensor is to convert the torsional torque of the steering shaft to an analog signal and finally output it to the electronic control unit (ECU). The torque is generated by the steering of a steering that is linked to the steering shaft. The analog to digital circuit does the job of converting the analog signals to the corresponding digital values in the ECU. The motor is driven according to the steering torque that is detected by the sensor, thus reducing the steering force that the driver needs to apply.
Another important component of the system is the power-steering fluid that transmits the power in your car’s power steering system. Just like the other fluids in your car you need to service the power steering fluid that involves draining it and then add fresh fluid.
It is recommended you do not assess the value of the power steering fluids based on its cost. In fact it could be the cheapest among all the fluids that go into your car’s systems. However the fluid is very important for the safety of your car. It requires minimum maintenance too.
You must change it on schedule to improve the life of other power-steering components. This will definitely save a lot in on the maintenance of the power-steering pump and the power-steering rack.