Performance evaluation and parameter sensitivity of energy-harvesting shock absorbers on different vehicles

Traditional shock absorbers provide favourable ride comfort and road handling by dissipating the suspension vibration energy into heat waste. In order to harvest this dissipated energy and improve the vehicle fuel efficiency, many energy-harvesting shock absorbers (EHSAs) have been proposed in recent years. Among them, two types of EHSAs have attracted much attention. One is a traditional EHSA which converts the oscillatory vibration into bidirectional rotation using rack-pinion, ball-screw or other mechanisms. The other EHSA is equipped with a mechanical motion rectifier (MMR) that transforms the bidirectional vibration into unidirectional rotation. Hereinafter, they are referred to as NonMMR-EHSA and MMR-EHSA, respectively. This paper compares their performances with the corresponding traditional shock absorber by using closed-form analysis and numerical simulations on various types of vehicles, including passenger cars, buses and trucks. Results suggest that MMR-EHSA provides better ride performances than NonMMR-EHSA, and that MMR-EHSA is able to improve both the ride comfort and road handling simultaneously over the traditional shock absorber when installed on light-damped, heavy-duty vehicles. Additionally, the optimal parameters of MMR-EHSA are obtained for ride comfort. The optimal solutions (‘Pareto-optimal solutions’) are also obtained by considering the trade-off between ride comfort and road handling.     

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.     

松软路面突变性对车辆垂向振动的影响

为了在越野行驶车辆平顺性仿真系统中实时动态反映车辆的振动特性,提出了基于小波变换的松软越野路面突变性描述方法并分析突变性对车辆垂向振动的影响。通过小波变换对路面奇异点进行测定和定位,把越野车辆平顺性仿真系统看作是在有限时间内受到随机载荷激励的动力系统,分析其受路面突变载荷的车辆的垂直振动响应方差。结果表明,小波变换能较准确地判定路面奇异点并对其定位,可为越野车辆平顺性虚拟测试系统提供路面随机输入。     

轮毂电机驱动电动汽车3种构型的平顺性分析

针对轮毂电机驱动电动汽车3种构型,对其平顺性问题展开研究。分别采用滤波白噪声方法和三角形凸块描述随机路面激励和脉冲路面激励。建立了轮毂电机驱动电动汽车3种构型的振动模型,确定了相应的平顺性评价指标。在随机路面和脉冲路面下,采用Matlab/Simulink仿真了轮毂电机驱动电动汽车3种构型的平顺性。研究结果表明,具有吸振结构的构型2和具有悬置结构的构型3与传统悬架的构型1相比,降低了轮毂电机驱动电动汽车随机路面和脉冲路面的平顺性评价指标。     

货车平顺性预测与优化

本文介绍了货车15个自由度振动模拟模型,以及平顺性预测与优化的方法。利用ARPO软件对某货车的平顺性进行了模拟分析,计算值与道路试验值比较吻合。ARPO软件可用于分析汽车结构参数对平顺性的影响,预测和优化汽车的平顺性。     

Experimental Study of System Optimization for Suppression of Vehicle Vibration

The improvements of ride comfort and vehicle maneuverability in the vehicle design can be achieved by using an active suspension. However, the problems in such a control are the complex control logic because of the control laws incompatible with the improvements of ride comfort and maneuverability, and the cost increase because of various sensors to be attached. Therefore, we examined the control abilities of ride comfort and maneuverability on a unique control law using frequency shaped LQ, and controlled the characteristic of the contact between tire and road without a road displacement sensor     

The Development and Implementation of Adaptive Semi-Active Suspension Control*

Using adjustable shock absorbers within vehicle suspension systems, it is possible to improve ride comfort significantly when a control strategy is applied based on the so-called skyhook principle. However, the drawback is a poorly damped wheel-hop mode which makes the road holding ability worse. Using adaptive semi-active suspension control based on the tire load variations as introduced in this paper, the trade-off between road holding and ride comfort can be relaxed. Implementation of adaptive skyhook control requires the determination of a number of important and difficult to measure states of the vehicle. This can either be accomplished by several sensors and filters or by a state estimator in combination with less sensors and an internal model of the vehicle. Both methods are discussed. Finally some preliminary test results are discussed.     

载货汽车驾驶室乘坐舒适性研究

通过计算机仿真模拟了在路面随机输入下驾驶室底板的振动响应;利用Nastran软件对车身的有限元模型进行模态抽取,建立了刚弹耦合模型;对多刚体模型、刚弹耦合振动模型的计算结果与试验进行了对比,验证了模型的正确性;以驾驶室悬置的弹簧刚度、减振器阻尼为影响因素,通过虚拟DOE正交试验分析,显著改善了驾驶室的乘坐舒适性。     

基于柔性模型的多轴汽车平顺性的仿真研究

基于弹性梁弯曲振动理论和模态分析法建立了多轴汽车平顺性分析的柔性模型。按照汽车行驶平顺性评价方法，运用建立的柔性模型，分析了车速、路面等级、悬挂质量的分布、车架刚度以及悬架系统的刚度和阻尼对多轴汽车平顺性的影响。分析结果表明：悬挂质量的弯曲振动是影响多轴汽车行驶平顺性的一个不可忽略的重要因素；常用的刚体模型不能准确地描述多轴汽车的平顺性，不适合用于多轴汽车平顺性的分析。     

汽车发动机主动隔振系统自适应控制

对压电作动器与液阻悬置组成的主动控制悬置进行了研究，采用前馈自适应控制对汽车发动机主动隔振系统进行了仿真。结果表明，相对于目前轿车上普遍采用的液阻悬置，主动控制悬置可以大大降低发动机在高速运转时向车身的振动传递，减小车内噪声，提高乘坐舒适性。     

铰接式自卸车橡胶弹簧悬架系统试验研究

采用模拟随机输入路面谱激励室内台架试验的方法,对装有新型橡胶弹簧悬架系统的某型号铰接式自卸车进行台架试验研究,以评价橡胶弹簧悬架系统的减振性能和整车行驶平顺性。试验结果表明由于橡胶弹簧悬架系统某些参数匹配不合理导致该车行驶平顺性很不理想,通过优化悬架及座椅的刚度和阻尼参数,可提高整车行驶平顺性,并给出了座椅弹簧的优化结果。     

Experimental Study of System Optimization for Suppression of Vehicle Vibration

SUMMARY

The improvements of ride comfort and vehicle maneuverability in the vehicle design can be achieved by using an active suspension. However, the problems in such a control are the complex control logic because of the control laws incompatible with the improvements of ride comfort and maneuverability, and the cost increase because of various sensors to be attached. Therefore, we examined the control abilities of ride comfort and maneuverability on a unique control law using frequency shaped LQ, and controlled the characteristic of the contact between tire and road without a road displacement sensor     

铰接式自卸车悬架系统动力学建模与仿真

建立了一个铰接式自卸车9自由度线性动力学模型，并用Matlab语言编写了基于Simpson算法的仿真程序，来仿真它对路面随机输入的响应，用以计算数种工况下座椅总加权加速度均方根值。仿真结果表明，所建模型能较好地吻合座椅的实际振动，不仅可以正确评估系统的平顺性性能，还可为新型铰接车辆悬架系统、橡胶弹簧的优化设计提供理论和方法支持。     

基于行驶舒适性的路桥过渡段差异沉降控制标准

从人车路相互作用出发,建立了人车路系统振动方程和路桥过渡段路面不平整模型,并通过编制的RCBP程序分析了车辆行驶舒适性的影响因素,最后确定了基于行驶舒适性的路桥过渡段差异沉降控制标准。结果不仅可以用于路桥过渡段差异沉降控制标准的相关规范,也可用于一般路基差异沉降标准的制定,对桥头跳车问题的处治和路桥过渡段路面的养护维修提供了科学决策依据。     

脉冲路面下轮毂电机偏心对电动汽车平顺性影响

为了分析脉冲路面下轮毂电机偏心对电动汽车平顺性的影响,给出了脉冲路面车轮激励和开关磁阻电机激励的表示。建立了考虑轮毂电机质量和轮毂电机激励的电动汽车平面4自由度振动模型,推导出相应的状态方程和输出向量,确定了脉冲路面平顺性评价指标。实现了脉冲路面车轮激励和轮毂电机激励的仿真,在脉冲路面下进行了4种工况的平顺性仿真和比较。结果表明,脉冲路面下轮毂电机偏心对电动汽车平顺性有着不可忽视的影响,设计电动汽车时需要考虑轮毂电机偏心带来的负效应。     

Optimisation of active suspension control inputs for improved vehicle handling performance

Active suspension is commonly considered under the framework of vertical vehicle dynamics control aimed at improvements in ride comfort. This paper uses a collocation-type control variable optimisation tool to investigate to which extent the fully active suspension (FAS) application can be broaden to the task of vehicle handling/cornering control. The optimisation approach is firstly applied to solely FAS actuator configurations and three types of double lane-change manoeuvres. The obtained optimisation results are used to gain insights into different control mechanisms that are used by FAS to improve the handling performance in terms of path following error reduction. For the same manoeuvres the FAS performance is compared with the performance of different active steering and active differential actuators. The optimisation study is finally extended to combined FAS and active front- and/or rear-steering configurations to investigate if they can use their complementary control authorities (over the vertical and lateral vehicle dynamics, respectively) to further improve the handling performance.     

Development of an experimental methodology to evaluate the influence of a bamboo frame on the bicycle ride comfort

In the current environment of increased emphasis on sustainable transport, there is manifold increase in the use of bicycles for urban transport. One concern which might restrict the use is the ride comfort and fatigue. There has been limited research in addressing the difficulty in bicycle ride comfort quantification. The current study aims to develop a methodology to quantify bicycle discomfort so that performance of bicycles constructed from bamboo and aluminium alloy can be compared. Experimentally obtained frequency response functions are used to establish a relation between the road input and the seat and rider response. A bicycle track input profile based on standard road profiles is created so as to estimate the acceleration responses. The whole-body-vibration frequency weighting is applied to quantify the perception of vibration intensity so that eventual discomfort ranking can be obtained. The measured frequency response functions provide an insight into the effect of frame dynamics on the overall resonant behaviour of the bicycles. The beneficial effect of frame compliance and damping on lower modes of vibration is very clear in the case of bamboo frame, in turn affecting seat and rider response. In the bamboo frame, because of multiple resonances, the frequency response of the handlebar is smaller at higher frequencies suggesting effective isolation. Further improvements may have come from the joints made from natural composites. Overall, based on the comparative analysis and the methodology developed, bamboo frame shows significant improvement in ride comfort performance compared with the aluminium frame.     

Influence of tyre–road contact model on vehicle vibration response

The influence of the tyre–road contact model on the simulated vertical vibration response was analysed. Three contact models were compared: tyre–road point contact model, moving averaged profile and tyre-enveloping model. In total, 1600 real asphalt concrete and Portland cement concrete longitudinal road profiles were processed. The linear planar model of automobile with 12 degrees of freedom (DOF) was used. Five vibration responses as the measures of ride comfort, ride safety and dynamic load of cargo were investigated. The results were calculated as a function of vibration response, vehicle velocity, road quality and road surface type. The marked differences in the dynamic tyre forces and the negligible differences in the ride comfort quantities were observed among the tyre–road contact models. The seat acceleration response for three contact models and 331 DOF multibody model of the truck semi-trailer was compared with the measured response for a known profile of test section.     

The Development and Implementation of Adaptive Semi-Active Suspension Control*

SUMMARY

Using adjustable shock absorbers within vehicle suspension systems, it is possible to improve ride comfort significantly when a control strategy is applied based on the so-called skyhook principle. However, the drawback is a poorly damped wheel-hop mode which makes the road holding ability worse. Using adaptive semi-active suspension control based on the tire load variations as introduced in this paper, the trade-off between road holding and ride comfort can be relaxed. Implementation of adaptive skyhook control requires the determination of a number of important and difficult to measure states of the vehicle. This can either be accomplished by several sensors and filters or by a state estimator in combination with less sensors and an internal model of the vehicle. Both methods are discussed. Finally some preliminary test results are discussed.     

车身板件结构对汽车行车舒适性的影响

采用有限元与多体动力学相结合的方法分析了车身板件对振动的影响,改变车身板件局部结构,在对振动影响最大的前后地板上增加加强筋后对整车进行振动响应模拟,揭示了车身板件结构对汽车在路面激励下行车舒适性的影响。分析表明,在地板上增加加强筋可以极大地提高汽车的行车舒适性。