Nonlinear dynamics analysis of the semiactive suspension system with magneto-rheological damper

Abstract

This paper examines dynamical behavior of a nonlinear oscillator which models a quarter-car forced by the road profile. The magneto-rheological (MR) suspension system has been established, by employing the modified Bouc-Wen force-velocity (F-v) model of magneto-rheological damper (MRD). The possibility of chaotic motions in MR suspension is discovered by employing the method of nonlinear stability analysis. With the bifurcation diagrams and corresponding Lyapunov exponent (LE) spectrum diagrams detected through numerical calculation, we can observe the complex dynamical behaviors and oscillating mechanism of alternating periodic oscillations, quasiperiodic oscillations, and chaotic oscillations with different profiles of road excitation, as well as the dynamical evolutions to chaos through period-doubling bifurcations, saddle-node bifurcations, and reverse period-doubling bifurcations.