Ride comfort performance of different active suspension systems

Abstract

This paper presents a comparative of different active and semi-active suspension systems in order to research the improvement in ride comfort and handling stability compared with the equivalent passive systems. The two-degrees-of-freedom model (quarter-car model) is employed in the analysis of seven different active suspension control strategies: LQR-LQG, Robust design, Kalman filter, Skyhook damper, Pole-assignment, Neural network and Fuzzy logic. Computer simulations of the different active models and the equivalent passive systems are performed to obtain the vertical acceleration of the sprung mass and the vertical wheel load variation. The vertical acceleration of the sprung mass is processed to evaluate the ride comfort behaviour and the vertical wheel load variation is used to evaluate the handling stability of the different active suspension control systems.