Abstract
Semi-active vehicle suspensions are used to improve the limited comfort performance of passive vehicle suspensions by varying the damping coefficient according to a control strategy. These benefits have been usually studied in a transient and frequency domain, but rarely in a multi-body dynamic analysis considering the mechanical components and their joints. In this study, the controllability effects of a magnetorheological (MR) damper on the mechanical components of a McPherson automotive suspension are investigated using a stress concentration analysis. Finite element analysis was used with a Quarter of Vehicle (QoV) suspension model configured with an MR damper, and then compared with the passive damper. The simulation results show that an SA damper in the suspension not only improves the dynamic behavior of a road vehicle, but it also has the positive effect of reducing the stress concentrations in a critical suspension element, the knuckle, that are generated by high amplitude road profiles such as rough roads or dangerous street bumps.
Highlights
Semi-active (SA) suspension systems have become one of the best options for improving the performance of conventional passive dampers (Lord-Corporation, 2018)
One of the most critical steps in this process is the virtual validation of the design, which is achieved by finite element methods (FEM)
The FEM simulations used to analyze the stress concentration of an SA suspension system are based on a decentralized Quarter of Vehicle (QoV) topology
Summary
Semi-active (SA) suspension systems have become one of the best options for improving the performance of conventional passive dampers (Lord-Corporation, 2018). Some studies have researched the force, strength and/or stress analysis in automotive suspensions with passive dampers for particular vehicle designs, such as solar vehicles or racing cars, and especially for fatigue analysis purposes (Ijagbemi et al, 2016; Odabasi et al, 2019; Rui et al, 2019) All of these analyses have been carried out in simulation scenarios using different multi-Physics software.
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