Comparison of passenger cars with passive and semi-active suspension systems based on a friction controlled damper

Abstract

The fundamental purpose of suspension system in various kinds of vehicles is the improvement of the ride comfort and reduction of dynamic road-tyre forces leading to better ride comfort and handling properties. In this paper the ride comfort and dynamic road-tyre forces of a passenger car (segment D) with passive suspension system are compared to the same passenger car with semi-active suspension system based on a friction controlled damper. The passenger car is modelled in the general multi-body design program CarSim. For creating the control system of the semi-active friction damper another general program Matlab/Simulink was used. The control strategy is based on the reduced feedback. Parameters of the control algorithm of the semi-active friction damper were optimized for a given road profile using genetic algorithms. The results of numerical simulations show that implementation of the semi-active friction dampers could produce a significant improvement of the ride comfort and handling properties of passenger cars. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010.