Vehicle Suspension System with a Biodynamic model and a Passenger Comfort Oriented Controller

Abstract

Ensuring passenger comfort in automobiles is one of the most relevant and valued performance indicators. Regarding suspensions, which ensure passenger comfort by isolating the cabin from disturbances coming from the road profile, it is important to accurately measure the vertical dynamics of the passenger to improve comfort with an automatic control strategy. The contribution of this research is the generation of a mathematical model of 7 degrees of freedom (7DOF) from the connection of the 4DOF biodynamic model reported by Bai et al. (2017) and a 3DOF seat-chassis-tire model, limited to the vertical dynamics of a one-quarter vehicle (QoV). This proposal allows a more detailed analysis of the effects of disturbances on passengers and improves comfort through a semi-active suspension, e.g., a Skyhook control aimed at improving the passenger’s sense of comfort. Simulation results are presented in the time and frequency domains. The findings motivate the use of this biodynamic model in more advanced studies involving improvements in suspensions and/or the extension of the study to a half or full vehicle.