Automotive active suspensions Part 2: Practical considerations

Abstract

Part 1 of the paper demonstrated the compromises required in suspension design brought about by the conflicting demands of ride and handling, and the constraints applied by the need to minimize body acceleration within a limited suspension travel. It then went on to show how a state feedback controller can be used to provide improvements in ride which are not achievable with standard passive components.

This second part discusses the hardware employed, which ranges from simple switched dampers, through semi-active dampers, and low-bandwidth/soft active suspensions, to high-bandwidth/stiff active suspensions. The benefits to be derived from each of the technologies is assessed, together with the practical implications.

Keywords

active control dampers dynamics hydraulics ride suspension adaptive semi-active

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