Pneumatic Actuators for Vehicle Active Suspension Applications

Abstract

The use of actively controlled pneumatic actuators in parallel with conventional passive suspensions to improve vehicle dynamics was investigated. For application on the secondary lateral suspension of AMTRACK passenger cars, it is shown that using 4 in. (10.16 cm) bore pneumatic cylinders with a valve which has a peak flow capability of 40 SCFM (1130 1/min) at 130 psi (896 KPa) can reduce the rms carbody lateral acceleration by 46 percent and the rms secondary lateral suspension stroke by 34 percent with a power requirement of 7.6 hp (5.7 kw) per car.