Novel empirical model of rubber bushing in automotive suspension system

Abstract

It is very important to establish appropriate dynamical model of rubber bushing for the suspension vibration reduction, vehicle noise refinement and vehicle maneuverability enhancement. This paper aims to present a novel empirical modeling method of rubber bushing used in double wishbone suspension system. Firstly, the mathematical equations of both Berg and Dzierzek models are derived, and the theoretical methods employed to identify parameters are discussed. Secondly, static and dynamical characteristics of the rubber bushing were tested and the prediction precisions of the both models are analyzed with the parameters identified from the experimental data. Based on the detailed analysis of dynamical stiffness and damping, a novel empirical model is established, taking advantage of both Berg and Dzierzek models. The novel model can gain reasonable compromise between prediction accuracy, identification difficulty and computational effort, and it can be suitable tool for automotive chassis dynamics simulation and analysis.