A new solution for two-bag air suspension system with leaf spring for heavy-duty vehicle

The design problem of a two-bag air suspension system for heavy-duty vehicles is formulated as a two-level (suspension system level and component level) optimization problem. At the suspension system level, optimal stiffness matrix of leaf spring, characteristics of damper and upper rod layout are determined by solving a multi-objective constrained optimization problem with response surface. At the component level, shape and thickness of the leaf spring are formed using cubic-spline curves to make the stiffness matrix as close to the target values cascaded from suspension system level as possible. Simulations using a vehicle model described by multi-body model and FEM of the novel leaf spring validate the suspension system thus derived.