Abstract
This paper uses a quarter model of an automobile having passive and semiactive suspension systems to develop a scheme for an optimal suspension controller. Semi-active suspension is preferred over passive and active suspensions with regard to optimum performance within the constraints of weight and operational cost. A fuzzy logic controller is incorporated into the semi-active suspension system. It is able to handle nonlinearities through the use of heuristic rules. Particle swarm optimization (PSO) is applied to determine the optimal gain parameters for the fuzzy logic controller, while maintaining within the normalized ranges of the controller inputs and output. The performance of resulting optimized system is compared with different systems that use various control algorithms, including a conventional passive system, choice options of feedback signals, and damping coefficient limits. Also, the optimized semi-active suspension system is evaluated for its performance in relation to variation in payload. Furthermore, the systems are compared with respect to the attributes of road handling and ride comfort. In all the simulation studies it is found that the optimized fuzzy logic controller surpasses the other types of control.
Highlights
A suspension system of an automobile improves the ride quality by absorbing shock and other external disturbances under various operating conditions
The fuzzy logic controller is designed using the Matlab Fuzzy Tool Box while simulations are performed in Simulink
The particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is programmed in Matlab and executed to determine the three optimized gain parameters of the fuzzy logic controller
Summary
A suspension system of an automobile improves the ride quality by absorbing shock and other external disturbances under various operating conditions. Rao et al [9] considered passive and semi-active control methods for the analysis of an omnibus Their simulation results indicated a considerable difference between the responses from passive semi-active suspension schemes. The results indicated that the body vertical acceleration was reduced considerably through the use of fuzzy control while the vehicle ride comfort and handling stability were improved as well. Slaski and Maciejewski [11] presented skyhook-based and fuzzy logic skyhook-based control methods for a semi-active suspension system. Given the proven diversity of fuzzy logic control, this technique is incorporated for control of a semi-active suspension system in the present paper. The inputs and the output of fuzzy logic controller are normalized and gain factors are incorporated into the system These gain factors are evaluated by performing offline tuning using PSO in an optimal manner.
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