AN INVESTIGATION OF A TWO-STAGE ASYMMETRIC DAMPER’ EFFECT ON THE RIDE COMFORT OF AN INNER-CITY BUS BY USING 3-DOFS VEHICLE MODEL SUBJECTED TO RANDOM ROAD PROFILES

Abstract

The effect of the asymmetric damper on the vertical acceleration of the driver’s body, suspension deflection and tire dynamic load were studied thoroughly in order to provide suggestions for choosing damping parameters while building a bus’s suspension system. The vehicle model with three DOFs exposed to random road profiles was employed to investigate the dynamic responses for both two cases of linear symmetric and two-stage asymmetric dampers. The investigation was carried out in the time domain by simulation, then the root-mean-square of oscillatory parameters was calculated and examined by using a program made in the MATLAB software. The results of the analysis show that a two-stage asymmetric damper ensures good oscillatory comfort of the driver but provides less handling stability of the bus when compared to a linear symmetric one.