Linear Electromagnetic Actuators for a Vehicle

Suspension System
Group 2: Adalberto Lazo Castro (250480019), Shubham Yadav (251117553) and
Parampreet Singh (251077118)

December 6th, 2019.

MME 9624a – Actuator Principles, Integration and Control
Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Western University, London, Canada

Abstract
This paper focuses on actuators used in an automobile suspension system. There are three main types of suspensions: passive,
semi-active (or adaptive) and active. Due to the unpredictability of various road and driving conditions that a vehicle can
face, suspension systems and the types of actuators used are a very important topic. In this paper, active suspension systems
are investigated, specifically, electromagnetic suspensions. Electromagnetic suspension systems are fully active suspension
systems that eliminate sensations felt from road irregularities by performing active roll and pitch control. These systems use
electromagnetic actuators which have fast response capabilities. Therefore, it can provide a higher ride quality than the more
conventional suspensions. In this paper, linear electromagnetic actuators are analysed, known as Tubular Permanent Magnet
Actuators (TPMA). This paper exemplifies the modelling and design of such electromagnetic actuators. The application to a
BMW530i car suspension has shown effective results in terms of size, weight and performance.

Keywords: Electromagnetic suspension system, active suspension system, Tubular Permanent Magnet Actuator (TPMA),
BMW 530i, Halbach magnet array.

1. Introduction movement of the suspension completely depends on the road

An automotive suspension system connects the vehicle to its
wheels allowing for relative motion between the two. It
isolates the body from road shocks and vibrations by means
of shock absorbers. The suspension system is a very
important part of a vehicle since it is needed for handling,
safety and comfort felt by the passenger [1].
There are various types of shock absorbers used in vehicles
and are classified into three different types of suspension
systems: passive, semi-active and active [1].
1.1 Passive Suspension Systems
A passive suspension is a mechanical system that contains a
set of springs and shock absorbers (dampers). The shock
absorber is typically filled with a hydraulic fluid or
pneumatic. The spring stores vibrational energy and the
damper dissipates the energy due to the compression created
over the fluid [1]. Most vehicles today use passive hydraulic
suspension systems. Although this system has a simple and
firm structure, low weight, low cost and highly reliable, it is
quite difficult for this suspension system to achieve ride
comfort and good handling performance simultaneously, due
to the damping characteristics [1]. Additionally, the
surfaces and cannot be adjusted accordingly. When the
vibration frequency of the suspension is less than 0.7 Hz [1],
passengers will feel motion sickness.
1.2 Semi-Active Suspension Systems
Alternatively, semi-active or adaptive suspension systems,
although the mechanical design is identical to a passive
suspension, can be switched from soft to stiff, electrically. In
other words, there is some control of the damping coefficient
and can be changed continuously or discontinuously. This
technique is used to stiffen the suspension during
acceleration, braking and cornering in order to reduce the
low frequency response to inertial forces associated with roll
and pitch [1]. Additionally, semi-active suspensions have
low weight, relatively low costs and consume less energy.
However, roll and pitch elimination is not possible since no
active force can be applied.
1.3 Active Suspension Systems
An active suspension system consists of an actuator,
mechanical spring and a damper. It is a fully automatic
system in which the movement of the suspension can be
controlled in accordance to the road surfaces experienced by

1
the vehicle. An onboard computer system (Electrical Control suspensions). As shown in figure 1 (B and C), There are two
Unit (ECU)) is installed within the vehicle which helps to different types of linear electromagnetic actuators. The first
automatically sense the road conditions and adjust this is an active interior-magnet Tubular Permanent Magnet
movement of the suspension and height of the chassis. It is Actuator (TPMA) where the coils are stationary, and the
capable of fully controlling all critical parameters such as the magnets are movable. The second is called an active exterior-
thrust force, damping force and stroke length of the piston. magnet TPMA. The latter type will be investigated.
Therefore, they can eliminate the vibrations felt on a vehicle
body, as opposed to a conventional passive suspension
system. The actuator of the active suspension system can be
of four main types: hydraulic, pneumatic, electromagnetic or
hybrid.

1.3.1 Hydraulic/Pneumatic Active Suspension Systems

A hydraulic or pneumatic active suspension system is

controlled by electric drives, where electric power is supplied
from a battery source or a conventional internal combustion
engine of the vehicle. It has the capability of effectively
eliminating roll motions, they have a high force density, an
Figure 1 - Tubular Permanent Magnet Actuator (TPMA) [2]
ease of control and design, are reliable and various parts are
readily available. However, there is an increase in costs 2. Technical Requirements Specification
compared to other suspensions, hose leaks and ruptures can
lead to the environmental pollution of toxic hydraulic fluids 2.1 BMW 530i
and there is no energy regeneration due to the actuator’s
irreversibility [1].
BMW 5-series is a German car recognized for its agility
1.3.2 Electromagnetic Active Suspension Systems and luxury [3]. It is offered as a two-litre four-cylinder
engine and up to a five-litre V10 engine. A BMW 530i,
Conversely, there is the electromagnetic active suspension having a six-cylinder engine, will be examined. It has near
system. In this system, magnetic repulsion is used to absorb perfect front to rear weight distribution 50.9/49.1 due to its
shocks felt on a vehicle’s body. It consists of coiled springs aluminium engine, bonnet and front quarter panels [4]. The
and an electromagnetic actuator. The actuator operates with suspension of the car uses a MacPherson strut, shown in
an electric supply provided by embedded control systems. It figure 2, which will be modified into an active suspension.
is capable of fully suppressing roll and pitch motions, absorb
road shocks rapidly, leading to improved safety and comfort In the MacPherson system, the hub is connected to two
for passengers. Also, no fluids are used, it generally contains suspension arms, providing lateral and longitudinal fixation
relatively high bandwidth, there is no need for continuous to the wheel. The spring and damper are arranged in parallel
power and energy regeneration is possible [1]. However, the and located on the upper portion of the hub on the suspension
drawbacks to these types of actuators is an increase in strut. It also uses a recoil spring within the damper to reduce
volume and weight, as well as costs. Due to the the spring stiffness during rebound.
electromagnetic actuator’s simple structure, its ability to
achieve high bandwidths to counteract the effects felt on the
vehicle body from road irregularities and its fast response
capabilities, it can provide a very high ride quality in terms
of safety and comfort as opposed to the more conventional
passive and semi-active suspensions. Therefore, the
electromagnetic suspension system will be the focus of this
paper.

More specifically, a linear electromagnetic actuator will be

investigated, which uses the traditional hydraulic or
pneumatic actuator as the base. In this way, the actuator will
Figure 2 - MacPherson Suspension System [1]
contain the best of both worlds (passive and active

2

Measurements performed on the MacPherson suspension
strut are shown in figure 3 [4]. It is observed that the rebound
spring has an effect at an approximate -0.015 metre stroke.
Damper force achieves irregular value in bump and rebound
region. Minor damping potential is required while in
compression, so that vehicle is capable of riveting bumps.
Suspension travel is limited because of kinematic limitations
and need an explicit quantity of damping. Usually for
preventing “abruptness” additional rebound damping is
employed within the suspension [5]. 
Tire stiffness in the vertical direction and during cornering is
non-linear in nature. Vertical stiffness measurements are
performed on the Dunlop SP Sport 225/50R17 94W tires on
a flat plank tire tester [6]. Therefore, given nominal
operational conditions, the tire stiffness varies between 3.1e5
and 3.7e5 N/m. This parameter, along with other automobile
parameters is summarized in table 1 [6].
Figure 3 - Spring and Damping characterstics [8]
Table 1. Technical data of BMW 530i [8]
2.2 Electromagnetic Actuator
3
An electromagnetic actuator has been designed, shown in
figure 4, to be able to produce a force for suspension control
[7]. This actuator has been retrofitted for the BMW 530i
MacPherson front suspension strut. Measurements were
calculated on a test track in Germany and performance
specifications were able to be derived. It was found that a
peak and root mean square (RMS) force of 4000 N and 2000
N, respectively, was required to eliminate the vehicle roll
angle. However, it has been stated that these driving
conditions are quite rare and therefore, a duty cycle of 50% is
chosen resulting in an RMS force of 1000 N [8].
Figure 4. Electromagnetic Actuator Cross Section
3. Actuator and Sensors Selection Justification
3.1 Actuator Selection
A three-phase Tubular Permanent Magnet Actuator (TPMA)
is a type of electromagnetic actuator will be employed in this
paper [9]. A detailed cross-sectional view of the actuator is
shown in figure 4. The actuator consists of a quasi-Halbach
array, as shown in figure 5. This magnet arrangement
strengthens the magnetic field inside the actuator, resulting in
an increase in the force density. To increase the strength of
the magnetic field within the cylinder of the actuator, an
active exterior-magnet TPMA has been chosen. Aluminum
rings are fitted within the piston which produces eddy
currents when the actuator is in motion. This generates a
passive damping effect in the suspension.
Since the circumference of coil in the design is relatively
smaller, it helps in reducing copper losses. Additionally,
positioning it on the sprung mass, it ensues the lack of
moving wire. Angular coils are arranged in a way which is in
accordance to Lorentz’s equation (3.1) and an axial force is
generated.
(3.1)
No constant power is required to raise the vehicle, since the
spring placed in parallel with the actuator counterbalances its
weight.
(3.4)
(3.5)
where, z =zs−zu is the displacement of the actuator
(suspension travel), τp the pole pitch, î the amplitude of the
current and φ, the speed dependent commutation. The EMF
Ei is defined as,
(3.6)
where kEi is the EMF gain and v = v s −vu is the speed of the
actuator. With the assumption that î and v are independent,
the force provided by the actuator is defined as,

(3.7)
where ki is the force gain and d is the damping coefficient.
The calculated force as a function of current is shown in
figure 7. In the same figure is a linear estimate of this
measured force given by
Figure 5 - Electromagnetic Actuator - Detailed view of three
phases. (3.8) [8]

This estimation is acceptable up to 2000 N meaning ki can be

The actuator stroke length is chosen to be of equal value to
used in simulations. The amplifier is used for confirming this
the conventional passive suspension strut. Installed over the
force generation by using a 2 kHz current control loop [8].
complete length of the magnet array is a linear sliding
bearing is installed to support the stator. Relevant parameters
of actuator are given in table 2 [8].

Figure 6 - Electric Motor Model

Table 2 - Actuator Parameters [8]

Shown in figure 6 is the electric motor circuit consisting of a

voltage source (Vi), resistor (Ri), inductor (Li) and back-EMF
(Ei). The differential equation that defines this model is
expressed as

(3.2)
where the subscript i represents phases a, b or c. Also, R i
represents the resistance per phase and Li is the inductance.
The current in each phase is given by Figure 7 - Actuator Force vs Current Graph (Ki = 115 N/A)
[8]
(3.3)

4
3.2 Sensors Selection
As shown in figure 4, the electromagnetic actuator has three
sensors installed on it [10]. First is the piezoelectric sensor
located on the sprung mass, which provides the acceleration
value of the vehicle body. Its location is important since it
provides the measurement for the ride smoothness and also
determines and controls the ride quality. The second sensor is
a laser sensor located on the unsprung mass, which measures
the travel distance between the sprung and unsprung mass.
This is important as the commutation of the actuator is a
direct measure of the suspension travel, thus it is crucial that
the measure of the distance is precise. It provides a real-time
measure for the suspension position and checks for its limit.
Corrective actions are processed if the suspension reaches
close to its limits. Lastly, there is a 50 g acceleration sensor
that measures the acceleration of the unsprung mass. Since it
is impossible to measure the absolute compression of a tire
over a road surface, which tends to be unpredictable in
nature, this measurement is the most convenient way to
determine the state of the tire.
Taking a brick and carton of milk is a great example for
explaining the unpredictable nature of the tire stiffness. The
sensor will treat both of them as solids, but the carton of milk
will be compressed easily by the tire while the brick might
cause damage. Measurements done by the use of sensors are
affected by the noise level during measurement. When using
only acceleration sensors, the measurement of suspension
travel can be done by integration, but considering the
posssible sensor drift and accuracy required for the
commutation, the suspension travel is measured directly.
vehicle mass. As previously mentioned, against the cylinder
walls is a sliding bearing. This bearing allows the piston to
move linearly up and down. Its tubular structure gives the
actuator the ability to deliver large direct drive forces in a
small volume. To improve comfort and handling, its
bandwidth is very high (hundreds of hertz),
The strong magnetic field due to the Halbach array is
concentrated within the cylinder walls of the actuator, over
the three-phase winding arrangement. The sensors are used
to determine the intensity of the current required according to
the condition and location of the sprung and unsprung mass.
The input from the sensors are computed with the help of a
microcomputer onboard, which processes the command for
current required inside the winding. Due to the current, a
magnetic field is generated around the coils, which reacts
with the Halbach magnetization inside the actuator. Since a
three-phase current is provided, each coil has alternate poles,
which responds with alternating Halbach magnets and
produces a force proportional to the current induced. This in
turn allows for the elimination of the vibrations felt on the
vehicle body from road irregularities.
5. Actuator Design
A quarter car model, which represents one corner of the
vehicle, will be analyzed. The quarter car model has been
proven to most accurately predict comfort and handling of
the vehicle. Thus, it will be considered for the actuator
design and only the vertical dynamics will be examined.

4. Actuator Principle of Operation

4.1 Halbach Magnet Array

The Halbach magnet array is a special type of arrangement of

magnets which intensifies the magnetic field on one side
while weakening the magnetic field on the opposite side. The
rotating pattern of the magnetic poles by 90 0 in each adjacent
side causes the components of magnetization to be in a π/2
phase with each other, resulting in a stronger magnetic field
on one side and minimal field on other side. Using this
property, the magnetic field is strengthened within the
actuator.
Figure 8 – Quarter Car Model
4.2 Linear Electromagnetic Actuator Working Principle
Equations of motion for the above system are formulated as:
The linear electromagnetic actuator consists of a cylinder and
a piston, similar to a hydraulic actuator as shown in figure 4.
This actuator is in parallel with a coil spring to support the

5
 (5.8)
(5.1)
The wheel hop frequency refers to when the tire starts to
(5.2) wobble and become unstable. By relating the suspension
travel to the sprung motion, equation 5.6 can be rewritten as:
, , and are displacement, speed and acceleration
of the sprung mass, ms, respectively. Tire and spring stiffness
(5.9)
are given by kt and ks , respectively. Damping is ds and the
actuator force in the model is Fact. Displacement, speed and
From this equation, the rattle space frequency, which cannot
acceleration for the unpsrung mass, which consists of tire,
change due to the actuator force, can be defined as:
rim, brake and suspension are defined as , and
, respectively. The degrees of freedom, in this case is two,
which comes from the displacement of the sprung and (5.10)
unsprung masses. The vertical acceleration, , will be
used for estimating car comfort and hence the weighting
criterion, ISO 2631-I, will be used [11]. For handling, the tire
compression, , will be considered.

5.1 Control Objective

The objective for ride comfort is defined by equation 5.3:

(5.3)

The ISO2631[11]weighting filter is given by equation 5.4:

(5.4)

While designing the controller, the RMS force will have the
following constraint (equation 5.5):

(5.5)

The above constraint will be used for limiting the parameters

of the design which is independent of the chosen topology.

Considering equations 5.1 and 5.2 and converting them into

the Laplace domain: Figure 9 – Limiting Points in Suspension Travel and Sprung
Acceleration
(5.6)
Figure 9 shows the limiting frequency of the system. In
Thus, the formulated transfer function relating the input, relation with sprung acceleration, wheel hop frequency is
, to the output is: considered, which will be used as a limit when designing a
comfort-focused controller, while in relation with suspension
travel, rattle space frequency is considered, which will be the
limiting factor for handling-focused controller. Lastly,
(5.7) dynamic tire compression provides the state of road input
which is used in both handling and comfort focused ride.
If s = jω, wheel hop frequency becomes:

6
In this section, important parameters, limits and constraints
of the suspension were defined, which has need be taken into
consideration when designing the controller of the system.
5.2 Linear Quadratic control
In this control method, only constant parameters are to be
used with no deviation. Estimation will be made for the
spring mass, as a load of two average passengers with half a
tank of gas, distributed evenly over the four tires. Other
parameters are shown in table 3 below.
With the derived constraints, values and limits of the system,
the linear quadratic and robust controls were used to develop
controllers with varying comfort and handling level. In
comfort focused controller, the acceleration of sprung mass
was minimized by means of the tire compression while in
handling focused controller, tire compression was controlled.
Both control approaches were used to simulate varying
comfort and handling settings.
6.1 Linear Quadratic Control
Among the various control settings, it was found that the
comfort can be increased by 35% as opposed to the passive
system, while handling can be improved by 48.5% at the cost
of 23% comfort[8].

Table 3 – Parameters for LQ Control [8]

The objective function formulated for this type of control is:

(5.11)

where comfort (ζ) or handling (1-ζ) are the points of

emphasis, depending on the choice of ζ. For optimization,
suspension travel and actuator force are used as constraints.

relates to the performance of the BMW vehicle.

5.3 Robust Control

For the robust control approach, various deviations from the

mean value of various parameters, listed in table 4, were
considered for more control accuracy. The sprung mass, tire
stiffness and damping are able to deviate from their constant
value. Using weighting filters, the controller can be designed
for either comfort or handling priority. In comfort
suspension, travel is the constraint while in handling, it is the
RMS actuator force[11]. The controller monitors three
inputs: sprung acceleration, unsprung acceleration and
suspension travel. From these three inputs, one output and
the weighting filters, a state-space controller with a minimum
order of twelve is designed.
Figure 10 – Possible Controller Settings with LQ control
As shown in figure 10, the optimal comfort setting is limited
by suspension travel, while optimal handling setting is
limited by the actuator force. The time domain plot of sprung
acceleration, suspension travel and dynamic tire compression
for maximum handling and comfort LQ controller on a rough
is shown in figure 11.

Table 4 – Uncertainties for Quarter Car Model

6. Actuator Simulation and Results

7

Figure 11 - Time Domain Plot of Handling and Comfort LQ
Controller
6.2 Robust control
With robust control, comfort can be improved by 48% while
for handling control, the controller provides 17.7% of
handling improvement [8]. There are 11 controllers in the
robust control starting from comfort optimal settings to
handling optimization.
Figure 10 – Possible Controller Settings with Robust
Control
Observations from figure 10 shows that with an improvement
of 40%, controller 2 has the highest comfort setting, although
it results in deterioration of the dynamic tire compression.
8
Meanwhile, controller 11 achieved the most optimal handling
improvement of 25.5%, sacrificing comfort levels by 6%.
Weighting filters are used for designing all 11 controllers
with distinct settings for handling and comfort. In controller
1, comfort is maximum priority. Furthermore, comfort
decreases by 10%, while handling increases by 10% as
controller 11 is approached.
The bar graph shown in figure 11 represents the performance
of each controller for parameters such as sprung acceleration,
tire compression, actuator power generated etc. Each bar
represents 1 controller of subsequent numbers. Controller 5
has 50% comfort and 50% handling priority. The simulated
and measured values agree with each other.
Figure 11 - Measured Data for Robust Controllers 1-11
7. Conclusion
Suspensions in a vehicle are systems that have become a very
important mechanism. Electromagnetic suspension systems
have been found to be able to maintain the required stability,
comfort and safety for passengers in a vehicle, due to its fast
response to road irregularities as opposed to the more
traditional hydraulic suspension system used in many
vehicles today.
The BMW 530i has been presented as the base vehicle. The
Tubular Permanent Magnet Actuator (TPMA), a linear
electromagnetic actuator, is the actuator chosen, due to its
capability of offering the highest force density, among other
aspects. A traditional MacPherson strut is used as the base.
The actuator is in parallel with a passive spring to support the
vehicle weight. Furthermore, as a passive fail-safe, aluminum
rings are fitted to eddy current damping.
Simulation results show how the actuator performs on a
generic terrain with the parameters given in this paper. A
quarter-car model was used to evaluate the improvements in
suspension.
The two approaches used for designing a controller was
tested on a quarter car model and it has been found that the
robust control approach outperforms the linear quadratic
control (LQR) approach. In robust control, there was an
improvement in comfort by 60.7 %, which means that sprung
mass experienced 60.7% less acceleration than the passive
system. This comfort setting deteriorates the dynamic tire
compression by 125.7%. Similarly, for handling focused
controller, improvement of 21.2% in handling is achieved by
comprimising 41.8% of comfort. Improvements in the
simulation results are limited by suspension travel and
actuator force, in comfort and handling-focused controllers,
respectively.
[5] D. Bastow, G. Howard, and J. Whitehead, Car Suspension and
Handling. Professional Engineering Publishing, 2004.
[6] Blom RE, Vissers JP, Merkx LL, Pinxteren M. Flat plank tyre
tester, user’s manual. Technical report, Eindhoven University of
Technology; 2009 Oct.
[7] Gysen BL, Janssen JL, Paulides JJ, Lomonova EA. Design
aspects of an active electromagnetic suspension system for
automotive applications. IEEE transactions on industry
applications. 2009 Jul 14;45(5):1589-97.
[8] Van der Sande TP. Control of an automotive electromagnetic
suspension system. Master's thesis, Eindhoven University of
Technology. 2011
[9] Gysen BLJ, Paulides JJH, Encica L, Lomonova E. Slotted
tubular permanent magnet actuator for active suspension
systems. In Proc. 7th International Symposium on Linear Drives
for Industry Applications (LDIA), Incheon, South Korea.
Incheon: LDIA. 2009. p. 1-2
[10] Van De Wal M, Philips P, De Jager B. Actuator and
sensor selection for an active vehicle suspension aimed at
robust performance. International Journal of Control.
1998 Jan 1;70(5):703-20.
[11] Okunribido OO, Magnusson M, Pope MH. The role of
whole body vibration, posture and manual materials
handling as risk factors for low back pain in occupational
drivers. Ergonomics. 2008 Mar 1;51(3):308-29.

As 11 robust controllers were designed, it is possible to

switch between them according to the comfort or handling
requirements. However, the electromagnetic actuator has not
yet been proven or has not yet been used in a vehicle in real-
life environmental conditions. Implementing this actuator in
a vehicle can allow for switching between comfort or
handling requirements with minimal switching time.
However, it can increase the instability of the response
during switching.

For improvements, all dynamic motions such as pitch, roll

and yaw can be taken into account for more intensive and
accurate research. In this study, only two degrees of freedom
were considered. Additionally, the RMS force is too small
for actuator performance on rough roads. Finally, taking
damping as a known variable during the robust controller
design would improve the robust controller performance.

References
[1] Mulla AA, Unaune DR. Active suspensions future trend of
automotive suspensions. InInternational Conference on
Emerging Trends in Technology 2013 Mar (pp. 1-9).
[2] drshifahn (2019). Electromagnetic suspension system. [online]
Slideshare.net Available at:
https://www.slideshare.net/drshifahn/electromagnetic-
suspension-system [Accessed 1 Oct. 2019].
[3] BMW, “BMW 5-series catalogue,” 2010.
[4] Janssen JL. Design of active suspension using electromagnetic
devices.