A Dynamic Response Analysis of Vehicle Suspension System

Abstract

Automotive engineering is a very important branch of design and development in mechanical engineering devoted to vehicle manufacturing. It demands solid knowledge focusing on the kinematics and dynamics of mechanical systems, either using structural analysis or modelling techniques. In this manuscript, a model based on the application of the fundamentals of the static and dynamic behaviour of the suspension system of a bus vehicle is developed. Therefore, a set of mathematical equations is expanded following the structural dynamic formulations to obtain an analytical solution on natural frequencies and the displacement under an external load. The problem is also solved using the Finite Element Method (FEM) to confirm the analytical results. Equivalent material parameters and boundary conditions were used for the FEM simulation. This work aims to propose a methodology based on modal analysis with a simplified model to predict the dynamic response of an automotive structure.