Simulation Analysis of a Motorcycle with Passive, Idealized Semi-active and Active Suspension Systems

Abstract

The paper is devoted to simulation analysis of three different types of motorcycle suspension systems - passive, idealized semi-active and active suspensions. The equivalent motorcycle mathematical model is derived, in which the leaning front and rare spring-damper units are replaced by the equivalent vertical spring-damper units. The road roughness excitation is considered in the form of a deterministic bump and also stochastic excitation modelled by the Shinozuka method with a given power spectral density. The effective acceleration of the motorcycle body centre of mass, which significantly determines the rider comfort level, is used to compare the three different types of suspension systems. The simulation results for the stochastically uneven road show 25.4% improvement for the semi-active suspension and 31.2% improvement for the active suspension. For the deterministic “hat” bump the improvements are 33.2% for the semi-active suspension and 61.5% for the active suspension - compared to the passive motorcycle suspension system.