Performance Benefits in Passive Vehicle Suspensions Employing Inerters

A new ideal mechanical one-port network element named the inerter was recently introduced, and shown to be realisable, with the property that the applied force is proportional to the relative acceleration across the element. This paper makes a comparative study of several simple passive suspension struts, each containing at most one damper and inerter as a preliminary investigation into the potential performance advantages of the element. Improved performance for several different measures in a quarter-car model is demonstrated here in comparison with a conventional passive suspension strut. A study of a full-car model is also undertaken where performance improvements are also shown in comparison to conventional passive suspension struts. A prototype inerter has been built and tested. Experimental results are presented which demonstrate a characteristic phase advance property which cannot be achieved with conventional passive struts consisting of springs and dampers only.     

The performance improvements of train suspension systems with mechanical networks employing inerters

This paper investigates the performance benefits of train suspension systems employing a new mechanical network element called an inerter. An inerter is a true mechanical two-terminal element with the applied force proportional to the relative acceleration across the terminals. Until now, ideal inerters have been applied to car and motorcycle suspension systems, for which a significant performance improvement was reported. In this paper, we discuss the performance benefits of train suspension systems employing inerters. The study was carried out in three phases. First, fixed suspension structures were applied to train suspension systems, and optimised for two performance measures. Secondly, this optimisation was further carried out using linear matrix inequality approaches to discuss the achievable performance of passive networks. The resulting networks can then be realised by synthesis methods, such as the Brune and Bott–Duffin realisation. Finally, the nonlinear properties of inerter models and their impact on system performance were discussed. From the results, the inerter was deemed effective in improving the performance of train suspension systems.     

Performance investigation of vehicle suspension system with nonlinear ball-screw inerter

This paper investigates the influence of ball-screw inerter nonlinearities on the vibration isolation performance of the vehicle suspension system. That is achieved by building a nonlinear mechanics model of the ball-screw inerter with friction in ball-screw assembly and elastic effect of screw. The parameters of the nonlinear mechanics model are identified using recursive least squares algorithm based on test data. Then, the nonlinear ball-screw inerter is applied to vehicle suspension analysis of the half-car model with three passive suspension layouts. The performance of the vehicle suspension system with the nonlinear ball-screw inerter is compared with that with the linear inerter. It is demonstrated from the results that the vibration isolation performance of the vehicle suspension system is slightly influenced by considering the ball-screw inerter nonlinearities in general. The influence of the ball-screw inerter nonlinearities on every performance indicator for different suspension layouts is discussed finally.     

Impact of inerter nonlinearities on vehicle suspension control

This paper discusses the nonlinear properties of inerters and their impact on vehicle suspension control. The inerter was recently introduced as an ideal mechanical two-terminal element, which is a substitute for the mass element, where the applied force is proportional to the relative acceleration across the terminals. Until now, ideal inerters have been applied to vehicle, motorcycle and train suspension systems, in which significant performance improvement was achieved. However, due to the mechanical construction, some nonlinear properties of the existing mechanical models of inerters are noted. This paper investigates the inerter nonlinearities, including friction, backlash and the elastic effect, and their influence on vehicle suspension performance. A testing platform is also built to verify the nonlinear properties of the inerter model.     

The lateral stability of train suspension systems employing inerters

This paper investigates the benefits of lateral stability of train suspension systems employing a newly developed mechanical network element known as an inerter. An inerter was proposed as an ideal mechanical two-port element to substitute for the mass element in the mechanical/electrical analogy. As of now, inerters have been successfully applied to car and motorcycle suspension systems, for which significant performance benefits were reported. This paper discusses the improvements on lateral stability of train suspension systems employing inerters. The study was carried out in three parts. First, an existing 12 degrees-of-freedom (DOF) train model was built and verified by a multi-body-builder, AutoSim^TM. Second, inerters were applied to the train suspension system to increase the critical speed. Finally, the discussion was extended to a 16-DOF model to demonstrate the performance improvement by inerters. From the results, inerters were deemed effective in improving the lateral stability of train suspension systems.     

State of the art survey: active and semi-active suspension control

This survey paper aims to provide some insight into the design of suspension control system within the context of existing literature and share observations on current hardware implementation of active and semi-active suspension systems. It reviews the performance envelop of active, semi-active, and passive suspensions with a focus on linear quadratic-based optimisation including a specific example. The paper further discusses various design aspects including other design techniques, the decoupling of load and road disturbances, the decoupling of pitch and heave modes, the use of an inerter as an additional design element, and the application of preview. Various production and near production suspension systems were examined and described according to the features they offer, including self-levelling, variable damping, variable geometry, and anti-roll damping and stiffness. The lessons learned from these analytical insights and related hardware implementations are valuable and can be applied towards future active or semi-active suspension design.     

Vehicle suspensions with a mechatronic network strut

This paper applies a novel mechatronic network strut to vehicle suspensions and discusses the benefits of system performance. The proposed mechatronic strut consists of a ball-screw inerter and permanent magnet electric machinery, such that the system impedance can be realised through a combination of mechanical and electrical networks. Applying the mechatronic strut to vehicle suspensions, we evaluate the improvement of system performance using passive electrical networks. Furthermore, a prototype mechatronic strut is constructed for properties verification. Finally, nonlinearities of the mechatronic strut are taken into account to modify the suspension design. From the simulation and experimental results, the proposed mechatronic network strut is shown to be effective.     

Theoretical Limitations in Active Vehicle Suspensions

Vehicle suspensions in which forces are generated in response to feedback signals by active elements obviously offer increased design flexibility compared to conventional suspensions using passive elements such as springs and dampers. It is often assumed that if practical difficulties are neglected, active systems could in principle produce arbitrary ideal, behavior. It is shown, using a simple linear two degree-of-freedom suspension system, model that even using complete state feed back and in the case of in which the system is controllable in the control theory sense, there still are limitations to suspension performance in the fully active case. If the ideal suspension performance is defined based on low-pass filtering of roadway unevenness inputs, an active suspension may not offer much better performance than a partially active or adaptive passive suspension depending upon the values of certain vehicle parameters.     

Theoretical Limitations in Active Vehicle Suspensions

SUMMARY

Vehicle suspensions in which forces are generated in response to feedback signals by active elements obviously offer increased design flexibility compared to conventional suspensions using passive elements such as springs and dampers. It is often assumed that if practical difficulties are neglected, active systems could in principle produce arbitrary ideal, behavior. It is shown, using a simple linear two degree-of-freedom suspension system, model that even using complete state feed back and in the case of in which the system is controllable in the control theory sense, there still are limitations to suspension performance in the fully active case. If the ideal suspension performance is defined based on low-pass filtering of roadway unevenness inputs, an active suspension may not offer much better performance than a partially active or adaptive passive suspension depending upon the values of certain vehicle parameters.     

Comparative stability of bogie vehicles with passive and active guidance as influenced by friction and traction

The stability of four bogie configurations is considered for a range of friction coefficients and traction ratios. The basis of comparison is the vehicle with conventional solid-axle railway wheelsets mounted in bogies with relatively stiff plan-view suspension. As improved performance of the wheelset in guidance can be achieved with various forms of passive and active guidance, bogies with yaw relaxation, with conventional wheelsets and active stabilisation and with independent wheels and active guidance are considered. Stability of each of these configurations is studied using a full nonlinear solution of the equations of motion. It is shown that the stability of the passive bogie configurations is very robust in the presence of traction and braking and variations of friction and that this is also true for an actively guided bogie with independent wheels. However, for a bogie with conventional wheelsets and active stabilisation, creep saturation effects can reduce stability significantly.     

Roll and pitch independently tuned interconnected suspension: modelling and dynamic analysis

In this paper, a roll and pitch independently tuned hydraulically interconnected passive suspension is presented. Due to decoupling of vibration modes and the improved lateral and longitudinal stability, the stiffness of individual suspension spring can be reduced for improving ride comfort and road grip. A generalised 14 degree-of-freedom nonlinear vehicle model with anti-roll bars is established to investigate the vehicle ride and handling dynamic responses. The nonlinear fluidic model of the hydraulically interconnected suspension is developed and integrated with the full vehicle model to investigate the anti-roll and anti-pitch characteristics. Time domain analysis of the vehicle model with the proposed suspension is conducted under different road excitations and steering/braking manoeuvres. The dynamic responses are compared with conventional suspensions to demonstrate the potential of enhanced ride and handling performance. The results illustrate the model-decoupling property of the hydraulically interconnected system. The anti-roll and anti-pitch performance could be tuned independently by the interconnected systems. With the improved anti-roll and anti-pitch characteristics, the bounce stiffness and ride damping can be optimised for better ride comfort and tyre grip.     

Experimental Verification of Resistance Control, Semi-Active Damping

Electronically controlled vehicle suspensions offer substantial improvements in performance over conventional, passive suspensions but with the price of power, complexity, and actuating bandwidth. Low-bandwidth, semi-active damping addresses the problems of power and bandwidth by using low power modulation of controllable dampers at the frequency of the isolated mass. Resistance controlled, semi-active damping is experimentally verified to better sprung mass isolation while reducing suspension stroke, something that a passive system cannot do. It is also shown to compare reasonably well with computer simulation results. The experimental implementation is a 1/30 scale, two degree-of-freedom test bed that represents the standard quarter vehicle model.     

Design of passive vehicle suspensions for maximal least damping ratio

This paper studies the use of the least damping ratio among system poles as a performance metric in passive vehicle suspensions. Methods are developed which allow optimal solutions to be computed in terms of non-dimensional quantities in a quarter-car vehicle model. Solutions are provided in graphical form for convenient use across vehicle types. Three suspension arrangements are studied: the standard suspension involving a parallel spring and damper and two further suspension arrangements involving an inerter. The key parameters for the optimal solutions are the ratios of unsprung mass to sprung mass and suspension static stiffness to tyre vertical stiffness. A discussion is provided of performance trends in terms of the key parameters. A comparison is made with the optimisation of ride comfort and tyre grip metrics for various vehicle types.     

Active Damping in Road Vehicle Suspension Systems

Low order, linearized dynamic models of road vehicle suspension systems are analyzed to provide insight into the benefits of suspensions incorporating generalized velocity feedback compared with conventional passive suspensions. Damping forces from passive dampers are supplemented by forces generated by an active element requiring a power supply. A simple criterion is developed which indicates whether or not the introduction of activedamping forces will result in significant benefit for pneumatic tired vehicles.

An extended active suspension concept involving a high-gain load leveler as well as active damping is analyzed. The realization of active or semi-active damping forces through electrical or hydraulic means is briefly discussed.     

Ride quality evaluation of a vehicle with a planar suspension system

The longitudinal connection between a chassis and a wheel in a conventional vehicle suspension system is commonly very stiff than the vertical connection. Such a mechanism can efficiently isolate vibrations and absorb shocks in the vertical direction but cannot sufficiently attenuate the impact in the longitudinal direction. In order to overcome such a limitation, a planar suspension system (PSS) with spring–damper struts in both the longitudinal and vertical directions is proposed so that the vibration along any direction in the wheel rotation plane can be isolated. In this paper, the dynamic responses of a vehicle with PSS due to a single bump and random road unevenness are investigated. The ride quality of the vehicle with PSS is evaluated in accordance with ISO 2631. A comparison with that of a similar conventional vehicle is conducted to demonstrate the promising potentials of the PSS in improving the vehicle ride quality.     

Analytical solutions for optimal ride comfort and tyre grip for passive vehicle suspensions

The paper derives analytical solutions for the global optimum of the ride comfort and tyre grip performance measures for a quarter-car vehicle model optimised both individually and in combination. The solutions are derived for six simple suspension networks comprising one or two springs, one damper and possibly one inerter. The solutions are functions of four vehicle parameters: the sprung mass, the unsprung mass, the tyre stiffness and the static stiffness, of the suspension.     

Optimal Performance of Variable Component Suspensions

Most vehicle suspension systems use fixed passive components that offer a compromise in performance between sprung mass isolation, suspension travel, and tireroad contact force. Recently, systems with discretely adjustable dampers and air springs been added to production vehicles. Active and semi-active damping concepts for vehicle suspensions have also been studied theoretically and with physical prototypes. This paper examines the optimal performance comparisons of variable component suspensions, including active damping and full-state feedback, for “quartercar” heave models. Two and three dimensional optimizations are computed using performance indicators to find the component parameters (control gains) that provide “optimal” performance for statistically described roadway inputs. The effects of performance weighting and feedback configuration are examined. Active damping is shown to be mainly important for vehicle isolation. A passive vehicle suspension can control suspension travel and tire contact force nearly as well as a full state feedback control strategy.     

Optimal Performance of Variable Component Suspensions

SUMMARY

Most vehicle suspension systems use fixed passive components that offer a compromise in performance between sprung mass isolation, suspension travel, and tireroad contact force. Recently, systems with discretely adjustable dampers and air springs been added to production vehicles. Active and semi-active damping concepts for vehicle suspensions have also been studied theoretically and with physical prototypes. This paper examines the optimal performance comparisons of variable component suspensions, including active damping and full-state feedback, for “quartercar” heave models. Two and three dimensional optimizations are computed using performance indicators to find the component parameters (control gains) that provide “optimal” performance for statistically described roadway inputs. The effects of performance weighting and feedback configuration are examined. Active damping is shown to be mainly important for vehicle isolation. A passive vehicle suspension can control suspension travel and tire contact force nearly as well as a full state feedback control strategy.     

基于串联型模糊神经网络的汽车半主动悬架的研究

本文建立了五自由度汽车半主动悬架系统模型，提出一种用于汽车悬 半主动振动控制系统的模糊神经网络方法，对半主动悬架 计算机仿真和结果分析，并通过与被动悬架相比较，证明半主动悬架系统在减少振动，提高汽车平一方面要优于被动悬架。     

Semi-active control of tracked vehicle suspension incorporating magnetorheological dampers

In past years, the application of magnetorheological (MR) and electrorheological dampers in vehicle suspension has been widely studied, mainly for the purpose of vibration control. This paper presents theoretical study to identify an appropriate semi-active control method for MR-tracked vehicle suspension. Three representative control algorithms are simulated including the skyhook, hybrid and fuzzy-hybrid controllers. A seven degrees-of-freedom tracked vehicle suspension model incorporating MR dampers has been adopted for comparison between the performance of the three controllers. The model differential equations are derived based on Newton's second law of motion and the proposed control methods are developed. The performance of each control method under bump and sinusoidal road profiles for different vehicle speeds is simulated and compared with the performance of the conventional suspension system in time and frequency domains. The results show that the performance of tracked vehicle suspension with MR dampers is substantially improved. Moreover, the fuzzy-hybrid controller offers an excellent integrated performance in reducing the body accelerations as well as wheel bounce responses compared with the classical skyhook and hybrid controllers.