A new multi-objective optimization method for full-vehicle suspension systems

The conventional approach in vehicle suspension optimization based on the ride comfort and the handling performance requires decomposition of the multi-performance targets, followed by lengthy iteration processes. Suspension tuning is a time-consuming process, which often requires the benchmarking of competitors’ vehicles to define the performance targets of the desired vehicle by experimental techniques. Optimum targets are difficult to derive from benchmark vehicles as each vehicle has its own unique vehicle set-up. A new method is proposed to simplify this process and to reduce significantly the development process. These design objectives are formulated into a multi-objective optimization problem together with the suspension packaging dimensions as the design constraints. This is in order to produce a Pareto front of an optimized vehicle at the early stages of design. These objectives are minimized using a multi-objective optimization workflow, which involves a sampling technique, and a regularity-model-based multi-objective estimation of the distribution algorithm to solve greater than 100-dimensional spaces of the design parameters by the software-in-the-loop optimization process. The methodology showed promising results in optimizing a full-vehicle suspension design based on the ride comfort and the handling performance, in comparison with the conventional approach.