Abstract

A vehicle suspension system is a complex vibration system having multiple degrees of freedom . The
purpose of the suspension system is to isolate the vehicle body from the road inputs. This paper focuses
on the design, development and analysis of vehicle suspension system. As we know that the simplest
model representing a system is always linear but when nonlinear problem arises which requires
considerable analytical and computational effort for systems with more than two degrees of freedom.
MATLAB Simulink model is developed to study the dynamic behavior of suspension system for a
lightweight vehicle. The Simulink model is based on the two degrees of freedom system quarter car
model. This model can be extended to full vehicle model

Introduction

Suspension is an arrangement of tires, tire air, springs, shock absorbers and linkages that connects a vehicle
to its wheels and allows relative motion between them [1]. In general, a suspension system consists of four
suspensions in four-wheel vehicles, where a suspension is equipped at a wheel. Within the available suspension
travel, aims of a vehicular suspension are: (a) to isolate the vehicle body from external disturbances coming from
irregular road surfaces and internal disturbances created by cornering, acceleration, or deceleration, in order to have
ride comfort; (b) to carry the weight of the vehicle body; (c) to react to variations in load, which are whether
generated by changes in the number of passengers and luggage, or from internal disturbances; and (d) to keep a firm
contact between the road and the tires, in order to have good handling performance that means drive safety. It can be
seen that safety and ride comfort characteristics of a vehicle mainly depend on the suspension system [2][3].
There are basically three types of suspension systems passive, semi-active and active suspension system. In this
paper passive and semi active suspension system are analyzed. Passive suspension system consists of spring and
damper coefficient. Damper acts as an energy dissipating element while spring acts as an energy-storing element.
Since these two elements do not add energy to the system this kind of suspension systems are called passive.
Parameters are generally fixed in passive suspension system [4,5,6].

Most of the numerical analysis studies related to vehicle vibration were based on mass-spring-damper
systems. Generally, the studies were done by adopting parameters of ready-made systems and
necessary modification is done to existing systems to overcome the problems. This approach is limited
because of the complexity of the system. However, the use of simulation software to analyse vibration
characteristics for structures has enabled designers to analyse and determine the components and
suitable parameters that are able to overcome the vibration problems[7].

the governing differential equations of motions using Lagrange’s

The purpose of this dtudy is to derive
equations and also obtain the natural frequencies of the system and the corresponding mode
shapes using MATLAB. Above obtained result can be verified using SIMULINK model of the
system.