Quarter Car Suspension System Modelling,

Simulation, And Performance Analysis under

Dynamic Conditions
walelign Wudu Bezabh (  walelign@mtu.edu.et )
Mizan Tepi University

Research Article

Keywords: Suspension Systems, LQR, MATLAB/Simulink

Posted Date: December 11th, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3730685/v1

License:   This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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 Type of Article (Original Article)

Quarter Car Suspension System Modelling, Simulation,

And Performance Analysis under Dynamic Conditions
Walelign Wudu Bezabh 1*, Fasil Kebede Tesfaye 2 Ayitenew Mogninet Getaneh 1

1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mizan Tepi University, Tepi Illubabur, 121, Ethiopia
2
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mizan Tepi University, Tepi Illubabur, 121, Ethiopia

* Correspondence: Email walelign@mtu.edu.et; Tel: +251-913-232-114; Fax +251-047-556-1837.

Abstract -.The motor vehicle is constructed up of numerous systems. The suspension system is one of them. The primary
purposes of the automotive suspension system are to effectively isolate the vehicle from road disturbances and to provide
stability, directional control, and vehicle support during handling movements. The suspension system must strike a
compromise between ride quality and handling ability of the car. This study uses a linear quadratic regulator (LQR)
controller to analyse the active suspension system and the passive suspension system. This study aims to simulate and
analysis of the vehicle performance by construct a MATLAB/SIMULINK on quarter automobile model. For this research,
the sinusoidal roads and a random road inputs are used to study the effect of road irregularity and vehicle speeds on the
performance of the suspension system. purposely 30,60,90 and 120km/hr are selected for this study. The passive
suspension system and the LQR controller's performance are contrasted. The simulation's findings demonstrate how the
LQR controller enhances ride comfort and wheel deflection in automobiles suspension system at all road inputs even at
high vehicle speed the LQR controller help the system for better ride comfort of the passengers and help the system to
better life of the vehicle
Keywords: - Suspension Systems, LQR, MATLAB/Simulink.

1. Introduction There are two ways to reduce vehicle vibration. The

The most important part of every car is its suspension
system, which essentially shields the body of the vehicle
from the effects of irregularities in the road to give
passengers a comfortable and safe ride [1] .it can
safeguard the tire's proper contact with the ground while
isolating shocks and vibrations from the road's excitations
[2]. The primary function of the suspension system is to
maintain constant wheel contact with the road to provide
road holding and to isolate a vehicle body from road
irregularities during braking, cornering, and accelerating
to improve driving comfort and safety [3]–[6]. In order to
prevent suspension movements from resulting in
insufficient tire-to-road contact, the term "vehicle
handling regulation" is used. A vehicle's body and wheels
connected by a suspension system, which made up of a
number of springs, dampers, and connections [7], [8].
Low suspension displacement transmissibility for
handling and low vibration transmissibility for improved
ride comfort are typical characteristics of a good
suspension system [9].The suspension system is devided
in to three lass based on the princeple of operating a
passive suspension system (PSS), a semi-active
suspension system (SASS), and an active suspension
system (ASS)—are frequently listed in the vehicle
categorization systems [10],.
first is to construct smooth roads, which is a costly and
time-consuming procedure. Better suspension system
design, which can shield the car body from transmitted
vibrations, is the second strategy. Numerous vehicle
disturbances and the suspension's requirements in relation
to these disturbance inputs present a challenging a
predicament for designers of vehicle suspensions.
The majority of the research to date has employed a linear
model. One of the reasons is that it is easily derived and
able to represent the essential elements of a real-world
automotive issue. A quarter car model's active suspension
system has been suggested to apply the LQR approach
[7]and research demonstrates how this can enhance the
vehicle's handling and ride quality. However, the majority
of the literature on LQR control indicates that the
technique has limitations when relying solely on expected
road inputs, such as bump inputs with minimum vehicle
speeds. It is not suitable for high vehicle speeds and
uneven roads. In order to overcome the aforementioned
problems, this research focused on the quarter car model
of a vehicle and the LQR controller design. One widely
used technique for creating linear controllers for linear
systems is the linear quadratic regulator (LQR). The
weighting matrices in the objective function serve as the
design parameters for LQR, and the designer should
choose them. Numerous conversations have been had to
choose these matrices because they directly impact the Fig 1.Active suspension for quarter car model
best control performance. To increase accuracy, different
vehicle speeds (30, 60, 90, and 120 km/h) were used.
Consequently, a controller with a sprung and unsprung
mass dynamics suspension system was developed for a
quarter car model.
2. Dynamic Modeling
Vehicle suspension systems used to be more
straightforward, consisting of a nonlinear system with
several frequency excitations [11]. The a quarter
automobile model was taken into consideration in order to
examine the chaotic motions within the car. Since the car's
overall weight is evenly distributed across all four wheels,
a quarter car model is taken into consideration for this
investigation.The model that chosen is described in the
table below for numerical purposes. Fig 2:FBD of quarter car model
Table1: Value of the constant parameters for quarter car model [12] The equetion of motion can be obtaind based on newtons
Model Measuring Numerical second law of motion for each two mass and third law of
Kg 240 their interaction as drived in [13], [14].
Mass of car body, Ms
Kg 36 Vehicle body bounce motion
Mass of the wheel,
Mu
Damping, CS Ns/m 1978.178 m y + k (y - y ) + c (y - y ) - U = 0
s s s s u s s u
(1)
Stiffness car body , Ks N /m 10529.82
Stiffness of tire, Kt N /m 160000 - k (y - y )- c(y - y )+ U
s
y = s u s u
(2)
Input Vector, U N — s
m s

Table 2.The variables describing the model are Vehicle wheel bounce motion

Model Measuring
m y - k (y - y ) - c (y - y )
u u s s u s s u
(3)
+ k (y - y ) + U = 0
Ys Chassis vertical displacement m
u u r
Yu wheel vertical displacement M

Yr Road profile M
ï s s u
(
ìk y - y + c y
s - ) ( y )üï
u

2.1.Mathematical Modeling Of Active Suspension ï+ y - y -U ( ) ï

System
The mathematical model of the active and passive car
suspension systems developed for comparison purposes.
As a result, the mathematical equation of the vehicle
model under a dynamic situation is driven in the following
part. The model that chosen is described in the table
below for numerical purposes.
yu ïí k u u r ï (4)
= ý
ï mu ï
ï ï
ïî ïþ
3. Control System Design
It turns out that creating an automatic car suspension
system is an intriguing control issue. Any control system's
objective is to identify deviations between the output and
the target value and then make the required adjustments to
get the output back on track. A quarter vehicle model is
used to simplify the suspension system design process and
reduce it to a one-dimensional spring damper system.
3.1.LQR Controller
The Linear Quadratic Regulator is one of the state space
based optimum control methods (LQR) [15]. This section
provides a quick description of this approach. Examine
the following linear, controllable, continuous-time
system.The assumption in LQR is that we will use a
quadratic performance index in the form of:
 These simulations intended to compare the performance
of the ASS and PSS on two different bump road profiles.
Two instances of bump sinusoidal road profiles are shown
below, where [16], [17] is the value and h is the amplitude
of the bump. It discovered that a sinusoidal bump with an
8 HZ frequency had two bumps.
Fig.3. Block diagram for state space representation
ìh(1 - cos(8pt )),1.0 £ t £ 1.25 sec ü
x (t ) = Ax(t ) + BU ï ï
(5) ï æ 1 - cos(8pt ) ö ï
y = Cx(t ) + DU í hç
x w (t ) è 2 ø
= ÷,5.0 £ t £ 5.25 sec ý (7)

Where
ï ï
ïî0, otherwise ïþ
X is statevector
A is state matrix(nÐn)
B is input matrix(nÐm)
C is output vector(1Ðn)
U is input vector(nÐ1)
Let
y = x , y = x
s 1 s 2

y =x ,y =x ,
u 3 u 4

y = x , y = x
r 5 r 6

The state-space equations of the suspension system is as

follows, based on the physical model of the vehicle in Fig Fig 4.Road profile simulation
.3.
3.1.2.Random Type Road Surface Excitation
T

[B] = éê0 1 0 -1
ù This segment uses the road surface at random to excite the
ë m s mu úû suspension system vertically. There are several grades for
T random road surfaces, including A, B, C, and E. The
[G ] = éê0 0 0 1 ù representative A-grade and B-grade road surfaces were
ë mu úû chosen to serve as the testing road surfaces in this
simulation example. Fig 5 and 6 illustrate the A-grade and
¥
B-grade road surfaces, respectively, as indicated in
J = ò xT ( Q x
+ U T RU dt ) (6) equation (8). These speeds 30 km/hr, 60 km/hr, 90 km/hr,
0 and 120 km/hr—help illustrate the effects of road
R is positive symmetric definite, whereas matrix Q is roughness and vehicle speeds, as well as the increase in
symmetric positive semi-definite.To specify the value of road handling and passenger ride quality.
the feedback control vector U as -Kx, one uses the state
feedback gain matrix K. In this investigation, the x w(t )
= k ò w(t )dt (8)
integrated MATLAB application.
Matrix K is presented as k = 2 * p * no * G (no) * V
K = lqr (A, B, Q, R)
The consequence of the linear feedback control law is: Where v is the vehicle speed, w (t) white noise, k is the
U (t ) = - Kx(t ) spectral density constant, k = 4 2 2 G ( )v
The Q and R matrices' values are selected iteratively until
p no no
the desired outcomes for the given suspension parameters G (no) value for A and B type road input = 4 * 10 -6 m 3
are attained. The best value of K is discovered as, 16 * 10 -6 m 3 respectively [18].
K= Table 4: The road type A (Very good)

0.0056 0.1158 -0.9128 -0.0798 V(speed) no G(no)= 10 -6 m 3 k

0.1653 0.0173 -0.1633 0.0822
30km/hr 0.1 4 0.00688
3.1.1.Two Bumps Sinusoidal Road Surface Excitation
 60km/hr 0.1 4 0.00973 4.1 .Suspension System Comparation on Two Bump
Inputs
90km/hr 0.1 4 0.01192
For evatuation the system is simulated with the expected
120km/hr 0.1 4 0.01376 road profile. The vehicle body and wheel both
Table 4: The road type B (good) displacement and velocity plot show the comparation of
the two suspension system.
V(speed) no G(no)= 10 -6 m 3 k
30km/hr 0.1 16 0.01376
60km/hr 0.1 16 0.01946
90km/hr 0.1 16 0.02383
120km/hr 0.1 16 0.02752

Fig 7.Vehicle body displacement

The outcome of the vehicle’s body displacement output

for the vehicle suspension system, both passive and
active. From the simulation the vertical displacement on
the positive peak values reached the passive, and LQR at
0.06 m and 0.031 m, peak value respectively .In the new
design, the controller responds when the odd thing
Fig 5. Random road profile A
happens before it reaches the passengers.

Fig6. Random road profile types B

4. Simulations and Results

Matlab/Simulink software is used to conduct a simulation
with the quarter car model mathematical model. Road
disturbances are taken for granted as the system's inputs
and the suspension system's performance in terms of ride
quality and vehicle handling are monitored.
Fig 8.Vehicle body velocity
The vehicle body velocity of bump disturbance for
passive and active suspension systems showed in Fig 8.
The active system with a controller provides a better
reaction to the road profile with minium error. As the
graph shows, the controller gives a response and saves the
system with small velocity in the vertical direction.
Whereas in passive, the suspension reaches a maximum
compare to active system.

Fig 12.Wheel acceleration

Fig 9.Vehicle wheel displacement
4.2.suspension system comparation on A and B Type
Random Road Input at 30, 60, 90, And 120 Km/Hr
Vehicle Speeds
When traveling at vehicle speeds of 30, 60, 90 and 120
km/hr, the performance of PSS and active suspension
systems with LQR controller compared for the states of
the vehicle body heave and wheel displacement, on A and
B class random road inputs. The graph depicts the
relationship between the input from the road and the
simulation of vehicle speeds in this segment.

Fig 10.Vehicle wheel velocity

Fig 9and 10 show that the unsprung mass vertical

deflection and velocity.The simulation result ,the
controller improved the ride quality by decrease the
overshoot and with small steady state error on the selected
road disturbance. and the suspension velocity with no
control is not good traction compared with the peak-to-
peak value of the new design.

Fig 13.Vehicle body acceleration

Fig 11.Vehicle body acceleration

Fig 14.Vehicle body acceleration
 Fig 15.Wheel displacement Fig 18.Vehicle body acceleration

Fig 19.Vehicle body displacement

Fig 16.Vehicle body acceleration

Fig 17.Vehicle body displacement

Fig 20.Wheel displacement

Fig 21.Vehicle body acceleration
Fig 13-21 show that the vehicle body, wheel displacement
and vehicle body acceleration analysis.through the matlab
sismulation it shown clearlly the effective suspension
system optimized the LQR controller perform better than
the conventional passive suspension system.these figures
illustrated visibly how the ride quality and vehicle
handling improved through the help of the design
controller.the simulation output show that at each type of
road disturbance inputs ,the vehicle body acceleration in
the LQR system is reduced significantly which guarantee
better ride comfort moreover the wheel suspension
deflectionis also very smaller than the passive suspension
system.generally the control ability of the system is highly
improved on the pick-to-pick value, and settling time is
faster.
5. Conclusion
The main aim of this study is to simualte and performance
analysis of active suspension system LQR controller
against the passive suspension system. The mathematical
model of the quarter car model suspension system is
developed to simulate in the MATLAB/Simulink
environment .The effectiveness and performance of the
controller verified based on the system with LQR
controller, reduce the overshoot and vas a small seatling
time.The optimal controller proved the beter performance
of the vehicle suspension system on two bump as well as
random road inputs .The simulation result thow that in
controlled ASS, sprung and unsprung mass heave
displacements,overshoot and settling time that is much
less than in uncontrolled PSS. Overall, the dynamic
modeling of LQR controller of the ASS is efficient and
ilustrated a better controllabl . Generally the LQR
controller enhance the vehicle drive on different type of
road condition and vehicle speeds.
Conflicts of Interest
The author declare that he has no conflicts of interest
Acknowledgments
The author gratefully acknowledge the support who give a
feedback and recommendations about my research article
that is greatly help me to editedd the final manuscript .
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