Passive and Active Control of Road Vehicle Heave and Pitch Motion

Abstract

Abstract Passenger comfort and cargo motion in a road vehicle depend on a combination of vertical motion (heave) and angular motion (pitch). It is first shown that for conventional passive suspensions excited by random roadway unevenness, the heave motion tends to dominate at high speed while the pitch motion tends to maximize at a speed determined by the wheelbase and the suspension parameters. A discussion of control concepts for active or semi-active suspension force generators which would allow adaptation to road roughness and travel speed to control pitch and heave is given.