Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical

Engineers, Part D: Journal of Automobile

Engineering
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The Relative Performance Capabilities of Passive, Active and Semi-Active Car Suspension Systems
R S Sharp and S A Hassan
Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part D: Journal of Automobile Engineering 1986 200: 219
DOI: 10.1243/PIME_PROC_1986_200_183_02

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 219

The relative performance capabilities of passive,

active and semi-active car suspension systems
R S Sharp, BSc, MSc, CEng, MIMechE and S A Hassan, BSc, MSc
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Leeds

Based on the well-known quarter car representation of the automobile suspension design problem, p d o m n c e parameters relating to
passenger discomfort, working space and tyre load variability are generated for passive, active and semi-active suspension systems.
Active systems of two types having different hardware implications are considered, and linear optimal control theory is used in each
case to derive a good set o control law parameters. The semi-active systems studied have control laws based on the fully active systems,
df
but are capable only of issipating energy, so that where the corresponding active system would be acting as an energy supply, the
semi-active system switches off Practically realizable switching dynamics are assumed in the calculations. Results for all the systems,
for one road surface roughness and vehicle speed, are generated in a form which allows comparison between systems of diffient types
which have equal suspension working space requirements. The wider implications of the results are discussed, and far-reaching
conclusions about the relative capabilities and design features of passive, active and semi-active systems are drawn.

NOTATION work concerned with active systems, reviewed in a

C passive damper coefficient
D discomfort parameter, the root mean square
value of the I S 0 2631 weighted vertical body
acceleration
f frequency (Hz)
k passive spring stiffness
kl, kfz ,k,, , kf4 full-state feedback system gains
kll, k12, k,, , k,, limited-state feedback system gains
L dynamic tyre load parameter, the root mean
general ground vehicle context by Hedrick and
Wormley (3) and by Goodall and Kortum (4), a clear
picture of how much can be gained by using active
elements does not appear to have emerged. Thompson
(5), however, does suggest substantial performance
gains, having derived his control laws by application of
a form of stochastic linear optimal control theory.
Semi-active system behaviour has been studied by
Crosby and Karnopp (a), Karnopp et al. (9, Karnopp
~

(8), Margolis (9, 10) and Sireteanu (11). In references (6)

square value of the tyre load variation from the
mean value
S mean square spectral density function
U actuator control force
U vehicle speed
W suspension working space parameter, the root
mean square value of variation in wheel-to-
body displacement from the mean value
XO absolute vertical displacement of road surface
input
x1, -% absolute vertical displacement and velocity of
wheel
x2, i 2 absolute vertical displacement and velocity of
body
6 damping as a proportion of critical of passive
suspension system (as a decoupled single
degree of freedom system)
U road surface roughness coefficient
V wave number
1 INTRODUCTION
Passive and active suspension systems for automobiles
have been studied extensively, while a few predictions of
the capabilities of dissipative semi-active systems have
been made. The results of Ryba (1) and of the present
authors (2) indicate, as far as simple models can reveal,
the performance capabilities and design choices avail-
able with passive systems. In spite of the volume of
The MS was received on 4 June 1985 and was acceptedjor publication on 20
January 1986.
106/86 Q IMechE 1986
to (lo), the semi-active device is a variable-rate damper
which is considered to provide a force equal to that
which a fully active system with a good control law
would give, except that when the active system acts as
an energy supplier, the semi-active system switches off.
As long as the vehicle model contains no wheel mass (6,
7, 9), a good control law involves the actuator provid-
ing force proportional to absolute body velocity, but
this law can be improved upon considerably when the
system has more than one degree of freedom. In refer-
ence (ll),the damper is supposed to give a force which
is high for low relative velocities, and conversely, and to
switch off if it is moving away from its centre position.
The effectiveness of this type of damper appears to
depend on the forcing being sinusoidal.
It is indisputable that the capital cost of an active
vehicle suspension system will be considerably greater
than that of a conventional passive arrangement, and
the active system may also involve significant running
costs since energy supply is, in general, necessary. To
determine the commercial viability of an active system,
we need to quantify its performance advantages as well
as its cost disadvantages. This applies, too, to semi-
active systems, which clearly carry most of the measure-
ment implications of active systems but which allow the
replacement of hydraulic pumps and accumulators, high
performance filters, pipework, actuators and servo-
valves by rapidly adjustable dampers.
The primary purpose of this paper, then, is to quan-
tify the performance properties of passive, active and
semi-active systems in such a way that they can be com-
0265-1904/86 $2.00 + .05 Proc Instn Me& Engrs Vol 200 No D3

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220
pared with each other. It is of course a requirement that
the active and semi-active systems have well-designed
control laws, and it is desirable that individual per-
formance properties are considered in the comparisons.
The assessmemt made is based on theoretical results
obtained from a quarter car representation of the
problem. This representation has been widely con-
sidered appropriate to the study of many general issues
in automotive suspension design, and it has been justi-
fied by fundamental argument in (2). The assessment is
also based on the assumption that the road surface has
a displacement spectral density function S(v)= x/v2.’
m3/cycle, with K = 3.14 x representing a poorer-
than-average (European) quality principal road or
better-than-average minor road (12), and results are
generated for a vehicle speed of 20 m/s. These condi-
tions were employed in (2),*so that the passive system
results obtained there apply. Results for other vehicle
speeds and road surface roughnesses can be deduced
from those presented, provided the wave number depen-
dence of the road surface spectral density is not altered.
In each case passenger discomfort, suspension
working space and dynamic tyre load parameters are
calculated, the discomfort parameter involving I S 0 fre-
quency weighting as in (1)and (2);comparisons between
systems are facilitated by choosing those with equal
working space parameters as in (2), recognizing that
passenger comfort can always be increased if greater
working space can be made available (1,2).The signifi-
cance of passenger discomfort and suspension working
space as suspension system performance measures is
clear, while that of the dynamic tyre load is associated
with the reduction in a tyre’s ability to generate shear
forces if the load on it is fluctuating substantially about
the mean value (13, 14). A relatively low value of the
dynamic tyre load implies relatively little impairment of
shear force generation and hence vehicle manoeuvra-
Thc road surface spcetral dcasity used in (2) is wrongly rccorded there.
q v ) = 3.14 x 10-6/v2.5 is tbc correct description. The factor is Zn.
a wheelmass --
Fig. 1
Roc inrtn Mcch Engrs Vol200 No D3
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R S SHARP AND S A HASSAN
bility due to road roughness-a particularly desirable
characteristic of sports and racing cars.
2 SYSTEM MODELS AND CALCULATIONS
Passive and active system models are depicted in Fig. 1.
The equations of motion of the passive system can be
written down by inspection of Fig. 1, and finding the
various frequency response functions relating output
variables of interest (for example body acceleration) to
road surface displacement input involves well-known
procedures (15). The input displacement spectral density
function written in terms of frequency becomes
3.14 x U’.’- 2.81 x 10-4
’(f)= f2.5
f 2.5
m2/Hz for U = 20 m/s (1)
and at any frequency the output spectral density is
equal to the input spectral density multiplied by the
square of the appropriate frequency response function
(16). Mean square values of output variables can be
found by integrating the spectral density function from
zero to infinite frequency (la),and frequency weighted
mean square values can be obtained by applying the
weighting process before integration. As in (2), in fact,
input has been confined to the frequency range 0.25-
15 Hz since there is no requirement of a practical
vehicle suspension system to filter the road roughness at
very low frequencies, the vehicle in this case being
required to follbw long waves rather faithfully, and
since the quarter car model is appropriate only so long
as the vehicle body is substantially rigid. Furthermore,
those aspects of the suspension design being considered
do not affect the system behaviour higher up the fre-
quency range.
The digital computer calculations have, of course,
been discrete, starting with a frequency of 0.25 Hz,
evaluating the input displacement spectral density and
Body mass - - dX2
Actuator -- High-pressure supply
Low-pressure exhaust
Y‘ L
wheelmass --
I spring
Tyre
Quarter car passive and active suspe&on systems
0 IMecbE 1986
 PERFORMANCE OF PASSIVE, ACTIVE A N D SEMI-ACTIVE CAR SUSPENSION SYSTEMS
the magnitudes of the various frequency response func-
tions at this frequency, forming the output spectral den-
sities of interest, storing the results, stepping through
the frequency range in 0.25 Hz increments and repeat-
ing the steps described, and finally forming mean square
values by trapezoidal integration over the stored results.
The calculation of mean square values for the active
systems can be carried out in the same fashion, once the
control laws have been decided upon. These have been
derived by application of linear stochastic optimal
control theory as described in (17). Each of two tech-
niques has been employed, the first being that used by
Thompson (5) which implies the availability of the
vehicle body height relative to the road surface as a
feedback signal. This will be referred to as ‘full-state
feedback’ and the other, which needs no relative height
sensor, as ‘limited-state feedback‘, the availability of xl,
il,x2 and i2 signals being assumed. By specifying dif-
ferent weighting parameters for suspension working
space and dynamic tyre load in the performance index,
each technique will yield a continuous spectrum of
control law parameters representing ‘optimal’ systems.
It is a feature of the optimizations, however, that the
road surface input is treated as either an integrated or
low-pass filtered white noise velocity signal and that no
frequency weighting is applied to the vertical body
acceleration in order to provide a measure of passenger
discomfort, so that the resulting laws are optimal for
conditions which are a little different from those of
prime interest here. Nevertheless, parameter variations
around the ‘optimal’ points have shown these points to
be very near optimal for the conditions of interest, and
the control laws emerging from the optimal control
theory have been used, as they are, in the subsequent
frequency response and mean square value calculations.
These calculations allow the determination of passenger
discomfort, dynamic tyre load and suspension working
space parameters individually, and by repeating the
whole process many times for different weightings in the
performance index, the performance properties and
parameter values of those systems which have each of
three standard values of suspension working space
parameters (2) can be found.
Each active system can be realized in practice by
combining in parallel a spring, a passive damper and an
actuator, as discussed by Thompson (5). Thus semi-
active systems can be based on active systems with
some damping provided by a passive damper or on
those in which the passive damper has been omitted,
with its function being performed by the actuator. The
semi-active systems studied are of each of three types.
Those of the first type are based on active systems with
full-state feedback and have no passive damper. Those
of the second and third types are based on limited-state
feedback active systems, the former class including
passive dampers, the latter not.
The semi-active systems are non-linear and are there-
fore not amenable to the frequency response based
analysis used for the other systems. Digital simulation
of their operation,.followed by digital frequency analysis
and summation over the spectral estimates to obtain
mean square values (la), have been used instead. The
road surface input was generated by adding together 60
sine waves with frequencies i,4, 2, ... , 15 Hz,with
amplitudes chosen to properly represent the assumed
(0 IMcchE 1986
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221
spectral density and with phases determined by a
random number generator, any phase being equally
likely, giving the profile an approximately Gaussian
probability density (18). Each run simulated six seconds
of real time, but only the last four seconds of output
were frequency analysed and then used to derive mean
square values, in order to eliminate the influence of the
initial conditions and to make the outputs periodic in
the analysis window (16).
For each semi-active system of interest, such simula-
tions were repeated five times with different random
phases associated with the sine waves defining the road
surface input, and the values quoted are all means taken
over the five ensembles. Typical performance variations
over the ensembles amount to about 2 per cent. In
order to avoid the unrealistic supposition that the semi-
active damper can switch from on to off and conversely
in an instantaneous manner, the switching action has
been described in the simulation as being governed by
first-order lag dynamics with a ‘break’ frequency of
16.3 Hz (time constant, 9.764 x lo-’ s), which also
avoids the possibility that good performance predicted
for the semi-active systems depends on very fast switch-
ing.
Calculations based on several different active system
control laws, obtained by changing the performance
index weighting parameters, again allow the identiiica-
tion of the control law and performance parameters of
those systems with one of the three standard suspension
working space requirements of special interest.
3 RESULTS
Passive system results for different spring stiffnesses and
damping factors of 0.2-1.6 in a geometric series of ratio
4 2 are shown in Fig. 2. The discomfort parameter, the
dynamic tyre load and the suspension spring stiffness
are each plotted against the suspension working space
parameter. The performance parameters are defined as
the root mean square (r.m.s.) of the IS0 weighted verti-
cal body acceleration, the r.m.s. value of the tyre load
fluctuations about the mean value and the r.m.s. value
of the variations from the mean of the relative displace-
ment between the wheel and body.
The results for each active or semi-active system are
more elaborate in that the passive system’s spring rate
and damper coefficient are replaced by four gains, but
they are presented in the same form with the suspension
working space as the abscissa. Figures 3 and 4 are for
the active systems with full- and limited-state feedback
respectively, Fig. 5 for the semi-active systems (without
passive dampers) based on the full-state feedback
systems, Fig. 6 for the semi-active systems without
passive dampers based on the limited-state feedback
systems and Fig. 7 for the same systems but now incor-
porating passive dampers which cannot be switched off.
As described in Section 2, the control laws giving rise to
the points plotted in Figs 3 to 7 derive from optimal
control calculations in which the three components of
the performance index are differently weighted. If a high
weighting is applied to the working space, for instance,
systems requiring relatively little working space, but
sacrificing ride comfort and possibly wheel load control,
result. The control laws are then used in the frequency
response based mean square value calculations to allow
Proe Ins* Me& Engrs Vol200 No D3
 R S SHARP AND S A HASSAN

0.84 -057
1.2 1.6 2.0 2.4 2.8 1.2 1.6 2.0 2.4 2.8
W
- W
-
cm cm

Fig. 2 Performance and design properties of passive systems

“I
I .6

0.81
1.2 1.6 2.0 2.4 2.8 3
-W -
W W
cm -
cm cm
loo01 I -600001

-3000,.

-2000..

- 1000.
4 2.8 3.2 1.2 1.6 2.0 2.4 2.8 !! 1.2 1.6 2.0 2.4 2.8 !
-
W -W W
-
an cm cm
Fig. 3 Performance and design properties of full-state feedback active
systems ‘optimized’ for different performance index weighting con-
stants
Roc h t o Mccb Engrs Vol200 No D3 Q IMechE 1986

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 PERFORMANCE OF PASSIVE, ACTIVE AND SEMI-ACTIVE CAR SUSPENSION SYSTEMS 223
1.8-
I
Q 1.6.
L
3
48 OOO
1.4.

750
I 1
1.2 1.6 2.0 2.4 2.8 3.2
-
W
cm

-5000

I
1 1.2 1.6 2.0 2.4 2.8 3.2
-
W
cm
Fig. 4 Performance and design properties of limited-state feedback active
systems 'optimized' for different performance index weighting con-
stants
1.8
7

-8.0 I
1.2 1.6 2.0 2.4 2.8 1.2 1.6 2.0 2.4 2.8
- W W
- -
cm cm cm

950 -48

- 36

42- 24

- 12

1 1.2 1.6 2.0 2.4 2.8 ?

-W W
- -
W
cm cm cm
Fig. 5 Performance and design properties of full-state feedback based
semi-active systems without passive damping
Q IMechE 1986 Proc Instn Mech Engrs Vol 200 No D3

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224 R S SHARP AND S A HASSAN

0.84
1.2 1.6 2.0 2.4 2.8 2
-W
cm

Fig. 6 Performance and design properties of limited-state feedback based

semi-active systems without passive damping

-6Ooo

-5ooo

-m
4; -3000

-2000

- 1000
L .2 1.6 2.0 2.4 2.8 ? 2
-
W W
- -
W
cm cm cm
Fig. 7 Performance and design properties of limited-state feedback based
semi-activesystems with passive damping of coefficient k,,
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 PERFORMANCE OF PASSIVE, ACTIVE AND SEMI-ACTIVE CAR SUSPENSION SYSTEMS
the plotting of the control law and the other per-
formance parameters against the suspension working
space.
The control law of the full-state feedback systems is
(5)
= kfl(xl- xO) + kf2(x2 - xO) + kf3 jcl + kC4iZ
= kl(xl - x2) + kf3(k1 - ICZ) + (kfl + k2)
(x2 - xO) + (kf3 + kf4)k2
The function of the first term here can be performed by
a passive spring of rate kfl, while that of the second
term can be carried out by a damper of coefficient k f 3 .
The semi-active systems must include a spring to
support the body weight, but the passive damper is
optional, since its function can be performed by the
semi-active element. The semi-active system per-
formance is in general affected by the decision to
include or exclude a passive damper, since the semi-
active damper switching criterion is altered. The
systems represented in Fig. 5 include a spring of rate
kfl, but no passive damper.
Similarly, the control law of the limited-state feed-
back system is
u = klix1 + kizxz + k13k1 + k14jc2
= kll(xl - x2) + k13(kl - jc2)
+ (kl + k12)xZ + ( h 3 + h4)jc2
and the results in Fig. 6 are for systems with springs of
stiffness kll and semi-active dampers providing the
control force {k13kl + (kll + k12)x2+ k14k2) where
possible, and otherwise switching off, while those of
Fig. 7 are for systems with springs of system kll,
dampers with coefficients k13 and semi-active dampers
attempting to give the force {(kll klz)x2 (k13 + +
+ k14)k21.
0.85--
0.80-
0.75--
Q IMechE 1986
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225
Using Figs 2 to 7, the design and performance
parameters of the various types of system which have
any particular requirement for suspension working
space can be read, and the performance properties are
displayed in Figs 8, 9 and 10 for working spaces of
0.025,0.02 and 0.015 m respectively. These graphs show
the performance capabilities of the various systems, and
reference back to Figs 2 to 7 will allow the design
parameters of those systems contributing to Figs 8, 9
and 10 to be found.
The responses of all the systems, even the semi-active
ones, are proportional to the inputs, so that the per-
formance parameters of any of the systems studied for
smoother or rougher road surface-vehicle speed com-
binations than that assumed [equation (l)] are scaled-
down or scaled-up versions of those plotted in Figs 8,9
and 10. For example, if the effective road roughness
constant K in equation (l), describing mean square
values, were multiplied by four, all the performance
parameters would be multiplied by two, since they are
r.m.s. values. This includes the suspension working
space -parameter, so that the standard working spaces
for which results are plotted would be 0.05, 0.04 and
0.03 m for the new conditions.
The response variables can be thought of as belong-
ing to Gaussian random processes (19), which leads to
the possibility of assessing, for given conditions, the
probability of a variable lying within a specified range
(16).
4 DISCUSSION
The results presented relate directly to the problem of
designing a suspension system for specific conditions in
which the road roughness-vehicle speed constant given
in equation (1) is fixed, and they show that the benefits
which can be gained by using active or semi-active
Proc Instn Mech Engrs Vol 200 No D3
226 R S SHARP AND S A HASSAN

I .60 d=o.za
Passive system A
1.55-- __-_-_.
Full-state feedback active system B
Limited-statefeedback active system C
1.50-- ---- Semi-active system based on B
----
----
Semi-active system based on C (no passive damper)
1.45--

1.40--

9 1.35-

'H
.I

1.30--

&
c
9
Ep
1.25--

1.20-
h.
-----..-
-4
1.15-: -"-=;-.
a 1<-?-
'
"<?-------
- --
1.10;;---- ------______
------
----------.2>->--- ----_
1.05--
1.00-
----.---_--_____________________
-=-=c-:
c-.
-;---*B
-1

0.95--

0.90 -

Passive system A
1.85-- ----_-Full-state feedback active system B
Limited-state feedback active system C
1.80-- ---- Semi-active system based on B

B
1.354

1.201

L
Dynamic tyre load parameter -
N
Fig. 10 Passenger discomfort and dynamic tyre load variation for the
different systems analysed : r.m.s. wheel-to-body displacement
variations, 1.5 cm
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 PERFORMANCE OF PASSIVE, ACTIVE AND SEMI-ACTIVE CAR SUSPENSION SYSTEMS
ferences between passive, semi-active and fully active
systems increase and the value of the height sensor
decreases, since the limited-state feedback systems
become as good as those with full-state feedback. There
is never very much difference between semi-active
systems with a passive damper and those without, and
clearly space and cost considerations indicate that a
passive damper should not be employed in conjunction
with a semi-active damper.
Static deflections occurring as a result of varying the
payload may be too great for the softer passive and
semi-active systems to be practicable without self-
levelling, while attitude changes in manoeuvring and
deterioration of the vehicle handling dynamics by
encouragement of vehicle roll in cornering may also be
excessive with the least stiff systems. An interesting and
possibly useful feature of the active and semi-active
systems, which can be deduced from Figs 3 to 7, is that
for any given requirement for working space under spe-
cific running conditions, they are much stiffer statically
than corresponding passive systems giving good ride
comfort. Thus it may well be appropriate to compare
the performances of semi-active systems with passive
systems having substantially greater stiffness and sub-
stantially less damping than those which perform best
according to Figs 8, 9 and 10, since these ‘best per-
forming’ passive systems will often be impracticable
because of their low stiffness. The active systems can, in
principle, be made self-levelling and be made to adjust
the control laws in manoeuvring to obtain low steady
state pitch and roll angles and good handling. In a
practical system, some provision for making the wheel-
to-body displacement feedback dominant at low fre-
quencies to avoid the possibility of the actuator drifting
to the limit of its stroke would have to be made.
Almost invariably in reality an automobile suspen-
sion system must be designed to operate over a wide
range of road surface roughnesses. The data in (12)
show that the ratio of worst-to-best mean square spec-
tral density constants, K, for European roads is 1O00.
This variation is compensated by two considerations.
Firstly, it can be expected that the highest vehicle
speeds will not be needed on the worst road surfaces,
although this may be less true in Continental Europe
than in Britain and North America. Secondly, the best
roads are probably so good that vehicle speeds much
higher than those possible now would be needed to give
a suspension problem of any significance when tra-
versing them. Bearing these things in mind, it seems
reasonable to suppose that a road vehicle suspension
system should operate effectively over a 30 to 1 range of
effective mean square values, and the limitations of fixed
parameter passive systems, semi-active systems with
fixed spring stiffnesses and of active systems which
employ fixed characteristic passive elements in their rea-
lization become very apparent when Figs 2 to 7 are
examined. It is clear that obtaining good performance
for a given road surface but for different suspension
working spaces requires wide variations in suspension
parameters, and obtaining good performance for many
different road surfaces with a fixed working space is an
exactly equivalent problem.
Thus the major weakness of suspension systems
which contain non-adjustable control forces is that they
can be ideal for only one of the many different condi-
Q IMechE 1986
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221
tions under which they operate, and will probably be far
from ideal in conditions Mering much from this one.
The great virtue of fully active systems is their capacity,
in principle, to adapt to the circumstances under which
they are operating, in particular to employ the full sus-
pension working space to provide a desired com-
bination of ride comfort and dynamic tyre load control
and to contribute to good handling and attitude control
by being responsive to manoeuvring.
5 CONCLUSIONS
If an automotive suspension system is well endowed
with working space relative to the road roughness, good
active systems offer modest performance advantages
over good passive systems, and semi-active (dissipative)
systems employing passive springs to support the body
mass and rapidly variable dampers can be almost as
good as fully active systems. As the suspension working
space becomes more restricted, the advantage of active
over passive systems increases, with semi-active systems
between them, and in extreme cases will be substantial.
Obtaining the best performance from any particular
type of suspension over a variety of operating condi-
tions, involving road roughness and vehicle speed varia-
tions and a fixed working space, requires the adjustment
of suspension parameters through wide ranges. Fully
active systems are capable, in principle, of such adjust-
ment, and through avoiding the need to compromise
can be made much better than fixed parameter passive
systems. By the same token, if a system using semi-
active damping were to include a widely variable spring
stiffness, it could be made to perform very well, and a
passive system with completely variable parameters
would not be much worse, the main differences
occurring under rough road conditions.
In view of the relatively high static stiffness of the best
performing semi-active systems, it may also be possible
to obtain good performance over a wide variety of
operating conditions with such types having fixed
spring rates, the damper control law being to some
extent optimized with this constraint taken into
account. An appropriate further study is being con-
sidered.
The value of the vehicle body to road surface distance
sensor is not great, unless possibly it were used to
preview the road surface, since the limited-state feed-
back systems perform almost as well as those with full-
state feedback.
REFERENCES
1 R y k , D. Improvements in dynamic characteristics of automobile
suspension systems. Veh. Syst. Dyn., 1974,3, 1 7 4 .
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