Abstract
Following previous work aimed at determining the relative performances of automobile suspension systems of passive, active and semi-active types by calculation, similar theoretical methods are applied here to evaluate a class of semi-active system that contains a passive spring of fixed stifness in parallel with the active damper. The static attitude control of the vehicle derives from the springs and in the cases considered the spring stiffness is adequate from this point of view. Systems based on two alternative forms of control law are studied. Results which show the best systems to offer particularly good performance for rough road conditions are presented. By adaptation of the damper control law using continuously updated information some capacity to obtain good performance under moderate conditions is shown to exist, but performance comparable with that obtainable from a purpose designed or fully adaptive system on average main road and motorway conditions is not possible.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.