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Energy Procedia 17 (2012) 145 – 151

2012 International Conference on Future Electrical Power and Energy Systems

Research of Simulation on the Effect of Suspension Damping

on Vehicle Ride
XueMei Suna, Yaxu Chub ,Jiuchen Fana,Qiuxiao Yanga
a
College of Mechanical Engineering, Beihua University ,Jilin, Jilin Province, China
b
College of Traffic Architecture Engineering, Beihua University ,Jilin, Jilin Province, China

Abstract

The mathematical model of four degrees of freedom vehicle suspension was established, based on that, built the
vibration differential equation and road excitation matrix; the frequency response function and root mean square
value which could evaluate response variable were derived; in the case of constant pavement condition and running
speed, the simulation in time domain was carried out, the effect tendency of variation of suspension damping to three
evaluating indexes of suspension control was obtained, it provided basis for both suspension damping matching with
shock absorber damping and research on vehicle ride.

© 2012
2011Published
Publishedby by
Elsevier Ltd. Selection
Elsevier and/or peer-review
Ltd. Selection under responsibility
and/or peer-review of Hainan University.
under responsibility of [name organizer]

Keyword:vehicle engineering; suspension damping; shock absorber; ride comfort

1.Introduction

Because of the parameters of the flexible elements and the dampening elements used by the
traditional car suspension are not changed by driving cycle, the improving of traffic smooth and
comfort is limited. Therefore, the research of semi-active suspension which the dampening is
adjustable becomes hotspots at home and aboard. The effect of Suspension damping on vehicle ride
is the key point to define the scope of the adjustable damping of shock absorber. Based on the
mathematical model of 4-DOF vehicle suspension, which was established in this paper, the
simulation block diagram was built up, this paper analyzed the effect tendency of suspension
damping to three evaluating indexes of suspension control with the application of
MATLAB/SIMULINK software.

2.Mathematical Model of Vehicle Suspension

Because the vehicle ride comfort is proposed in the view of straight driving condition, Vehicle

1876-6102 © 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of Hainan University.
doi:10.1016/j.egypro.2012.02.075
146 XueMei Sun et al. / Energy Procedia 17 (2012) 145 – 151

dynamics model was built up under that condition.

It is assumed that the sprung mass was regarded as the rigid body, the under spring mass of
vehicle front axle and rear axle supported on the ground, using two linear springs instead of tire, the
tire damping is neglected. The vehicle is bilateral symmetric and the road excitation of the both sides
of the tire are the same, the transverse vibration and the horizontal vibration are ignored, just
investigate the vertical vibration and the pitching vibration which are the influencing factors of vehicle
ride. Figure 1 is the 4-DOF vehicle dynamic model:
In the graph, m1ǃm2 (kg) were under spring mass of front axle and rear axle; m3 (kg) was sprung
mass; m4 (kg.m2) was moment of inertia of sprung mass around its mass center. k1ǃk2 (N/m) were front
tire stiffness and rear tire stiffness, k3ǃk4 (N/m) were front suspension stiffness and rear suspension
stiffness. c3ǃc4 (1ˊs/m) were damping coefficient of front shock absorber and rear shock absorber. aǃ
b (m) were horizontal distance of mass center of front tire and rear tire to mass center of sprung mass.
q1ǃq2 (m) were displacement of front wheel and rear wheel in vertical direction. z1ǃz2 (m) were
response of vertical displacement of front wheel and rear wheel. z3 (m) was response of vertical
displacement of sprung mass around its mass center. z4 (radian) was response of angular displacement of
sprung mass around its mass center.

Figure 1. The 4-DOF vehicle dynamic model

Based on Lagrange equation, vibration differential equation was derived below:

> M @^Z`  >C @^Z`  > K @^Z` Kt ^Y ` > @ (1)
ª m1 0 0 0 º
«0 m2 0 0 »
In which,
> M @ «« 0 »;
0 m3 0»
« »
¬0 0 0 m4 ¼
ª k1  k 3 0  k3 ak 3 º
« 0 k  k4  k4  bk 4 »»
>K @ « 2

«  k3  k4 k3  k 4  ak 3  bk 4 »
« »
¬ ak  bk 4  ak 3  bk 4 a 2 k3  b 2 k 4 ¼
3
;
T
ª k1 0 0 0º
> Kt @ «0 k 0 0 »¼
;
¬ 2
 XueMei Sun et al. / Energy Procedia 17 (2012) 145 – 151 147

^Z ` > z1 z2 z3 z4 @ ; ^Y ` >q1 q2 @ .
T

3.Response of Suspension to Pavement Input

1) Road excitation
When the vehicle is driving on the pavement in the speed of v, the pavement power spectral density is:
Gq ( w) Gq ( w0 )( w / w0 ) W
(2)
In which, w 2Svn ;
w0 2Svn0 ;
Gq (n0 )
Gq ( w0 )
2Sv
For the 4-DOF system showed in Figure 1, the incentive was expressed in the form of matrix, as
ª 1 e jwL / v º
>G q1.q 2 ( w) @ Gq ( w) « jwL / v »
¬e 1 ¼
In which, Lüwheel base (m)
Vüspeed (m/s)
2) Frequency response function and root mean square value of response variable
Frequency response matrix of Basic response variable z1üz4 to incentive q1üq4:
ª H11 ( w) H12 ( w) º
« H ( w) H ( w)»
[ H ( w)] >G @1>K t @ « 21 22 »
« H 31 ( w) H 32 ( w) »
« »
¬ H 41( w) H 42 ( w)¼ (4)
In which: G
> @ 2
 w M  jw C  K > @ > @ > @
3) Evaluation index
In this paper, frequency response function and root mean square value of vertical acceleration of
vehicle body, relative dynamic load of tire and dynamic deflection of suspension are concerned.
Acceleration of vehicle body’s mass center:
d 2 z3
z3
dt 2 ˄
>H z3 ( w) @  w 2 >H 31 ( w) H 32 ( w)@
(6)
V z
3 wa
w1
> *
@>
( ³ H ( w) Gq .q2 ( w) H z3 ( w) dw)
z3 @> @
T

(7)
Dynamic load of front wheel:
Pfd k1 ( z1  q1 )
(8)
Relative dynamic load of front wheel:
Pfd k1
K fd ( z1  q1 )
Gf Gf
(9)
148 XueMei Sun et al. / Energy Procedia 17 (2012) 145 – 151

Gf
in which, is static load of front wheel (N)

>H K fd ( w) @ k1
Gf
>H11 ( w)  1 H12 ( w)@
(10)
VK fd
w1
> *
@> @>
( ³ H K fd ( w) Gq .q2 ( w) H K fd ( w) dw)
wa
@
T 1/ 2

(11)
Dynamic load of rear wheel:
Prd k 2 ( z 2  q2 ) (12)
Relative dynamic load of rear wheel:
Prd k2
K rd ( z 2  q2 )
Gr Gr (13)
in which, Gr is static load of rear wheel (N)
k2
>H K rd ( w) @ Gr
>H 21 ( w) H 22 ( w)  1@
(14)
VK rd
w1
> *
@>
( ³ HK rd ( w) Gq .q2 ( w) HK rd ( w) dw)
wa
@> @
T

(15)
Dynamic deflection of front suspension:
Ff z3  z4  az
(16)
T
ª H 31 (Z )  H11 (Z )  aH 41 (Z ) º
ª H F (Z ) º « H (Z )  H (Z )  aH (Z ) » (17)
¬ f ¼
¬ 32 12 42 ¼
VF f
w1
> @>
( ³ H F* f ( w) Gq .q2 ( w) H F f ( w) dw)
wa
@> @
T

(18)
Dynamic deflection of rear wheel:
Fr z3  z2  bz4 (19)
T
ª H 31 (Z )  H 21 (Z )  bH 41 (Z ) º
ª¬ H Fr (Z ) º¼ « H (Z )  H (Z )  bH (Z ) » (20)
¬ 32 12 42 ¼
VF r
w1
> @>
( ³ H F*r ( w) Gq .q2 ( w) H Fr ( w) dw)
wa
@> @
T

(21)

4.Simulation and Analysis

In this paper, the research object is a certain kind of vehicle. When the vehicle is driving straightly, the
parameters of road excitation and running speed are changing mainly. In China, the class B and class C
pavement are mainly existed, for simplification, the average equivalent pavement is chose as basic
calculation pavement, and the vehicle is driving in medium speed. In this paper, MATLAB/SIMULINK
toolbox is used, the simulation condition is average pavement of class B and class C, vehicle’s running
speed is 80km/h, and the time of simulation is ten seconds, as shown in Figure 2
 XueMei Sun et al. / Energy Procedia 17 (2012) 145 – 151 149

Figure2.suspension system simulation flow chart

For linear running conditionˈthe key is that the vehicle has a good ride. There are three indicators
which evaluate the suspension system[7-8]˖The body’s vertical acceleration’s square root valueˈ
suspension’s dynamic deflection’s square root value and tire’s dynamic load’s square root value. Figure
2ˈchoose body’s vertical accelerationǃfront and back suspension’s dynamic deflectionsǃfront and back
suspension’s dynamic loads and pitching angle acceleration as the outputs to be simulated.
When the suspension damper coefficient c3=2100N.s/Mˈc4=1900N.s/Mˈthe suspension simulation
curve is shown in Figure 3,4,5,6.

Figure 3. Body’s vertical acceleration simulation curve

150 XueMei Sun et al. / Energy Procedia 17 (2012) 145 – 151

Figure4. Front suspension’s dynamic deflection’s simulation curve

Figure5. Front suspension’s dynamic load’s simulation curve

Figure 6. Pitching angle acceleration’s simulation curve

 XueMei Sun et al. / Energy Procedia 17 (2012) 145 – 151 151

According to the time domain simulation resultsˈwhen suspension damper coefficients have
different valuesˈfront suspension’s three evaluation index’s square root values are different. When
the damping coefficient change between 1000 Ns/m-3600 Ns/mˈthe evaluation index’s square root
values will change accordingly to different degrees. When the damping coefficient become higherˈ
the body’s vertical acceleration’s square root value become lowerˈand the smooth become betterˈ
when the suspension damping coefficient goes beyond 3600Ns/mˈits value becomes higherˈthe
smooth gets worse. The maneuverability becomes bad when dynamic deflection’s square root value
become low. The probability that suspension hits the frame becomes low. Pitching angle
acceleration’s square root value gets lower, and this is good to get down the vehicle’s tilting
lengthwise and sidewise.

5.Conclusions

Based on the mathematics model of a car in a certain conditionsˈthrough the research and simulation
of 3 evaluation indexes consisting of body’s vertical accelerationǃsuspension dynamic deflection and tire
dynamic load, we know the matching of suspension system has influence on stability and maneuverability
of vehicle. To make the semi-active suspension damper adjustable, the shock absorber’s soft damping
coefficient can be determined according to the simulation resultˈ providing the basis of adjustable shock
absorber's damping optimization design.

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