Study of Suspension Parameters Matching to Enhance Vehicle Ride Comfort on Bump Road

In this study, the parameters of the MacPherson front suspension and the E-type multilink rear suspension are matched to enhance the vehicle ride comfort on bump road. Vehicle vibration and suspension stiffness are analyzed theoretically. In the simulation study, the influence of the front and rear wheels on the vehicle vibration is considered, so the time-domain curves of the front and rear seat rail accelerations are processed by adding windows with two different window functions. The resulting ΔRmsLocal and ΔRmsGlobal are used as evaluation indexes of the vehicle ride comfort. The sensitivity analysis yields the magnitude of the influence of the suspension parameters on the evaluation indexes. In addition, the trends of ΔRmsLocal and ΔRmsGlobal with bushing stiffness at different vehicle speeds are discussed. The results show that longitudinal ΔRmsLocal and ΔRmsGlobal of the seat rails are influenced by the bushings mostly, while the vertical ΔRmsLocal and ΔRmsGlobal of the seat rails are influenced by the spring and shock absorber mostly. The trends of ΔRmsLocal and ΔRmsGlobal with bushing stiffness are influenced by the speed of the vehicle. Finally, the vehicle ride comfort is enhanced after optimization and matching of the suspension parameters by NSGA-II optimization algorithm.

Evaluation of Ride Comfort in a Railway Passenger Car Depending on a Change of Suspension Parameters

Ride comfort for passengers remains a pressing topic. The level of comfort in a vehicle can influences passengers’ preferences for a particular means of transport. The article aims to evaluate the influence of changes in suspension parameters on the ride comfort for passengers. The theoretical background includes a description of the applied method for a creating the virtual model of an investigated vehicle as well as the method of evaluating the ride comfort. The ride comfort of the vehicle is assessed based on the standard method, which involves calculating the mean comfort method, i.e., ride comfort index NMV in chosen points on a body floor. The NMV ride comfort index (Mean Comfort Standard Method) requires the input of acceleration signals in three directions. The rest of the article offers the results of simulation computations. The stiffness–damping parameters of the primary and secondary suspension systems were changed at three levels and the vehicle was run on the real track section. The ride index NMV was calculated for all three modifications of the suspension system in the chosen fifteen points of the body floor. It was found that lower values in the stiffness of the secondary suspension system lead to lower levels of ride comfort in the investigated railway passenger car; however, lower values in the stiffness–damping parameters of the primary suspension system did not decrease the levels of ride comfort as significantly.

A Monte Carlo Parametric Sensitivity Analysis of Automobile Handling, Comfort, and Stability

This paper investigates the bandwidth sensitivity of automobile handling, comfort, and stability based on Monte Carlo sensitivity simulations. Performed bandwidth sensitivity simulations include the effects of vehicle geometry and suspension parameters on lateral acceleration, roll angle, front/rear sideslip angles, and yaw rate angle, including both time- and frequency-domain sensitivity analyses. To replicate actual automobile responses, a full-vehicle roll-oriented suspension seven-degree-of-freedom (7-DOF) model was developed and implemented considering a 2-DOF planar two-track model with a nonlinear Pacejka tire model. During the Monte Carlo simulations, 10 mm and 20 mm amplitude sine-wave excitations were used for the left and right sides, respectively, and the frequency was uniformly sampled over the range of 0–30 Hz. Simultaneously, each investigated vehicle parameter varied by ±25% relative to the reference model parameters. These simulations illustrate the sensitivity of the lateral acceleration, roll angle, yaw angle, and sideslip angles to their parameter variations. The results confirm that the road excitation frequency, tire properties, vehicle geometry, and suspension parameters significantly influence the vehicular lateral and roll stabilities when considering the lower and higher peaks and the frequency bandwidths of the lateral and roll stabilities. Interestingly, the longitudinal location of the center of gravity and the tire properties can achieve more significant peak lateral stability responses, as represented by the front and rear sideslip angles and the frequency bandwidth, compared to the other vehicle parameters at high frequencies. Choosing the correct tire properties and vehicle geometry, as well as suspension characteristics, plays an essential role in increasing the vehicular lateral stability and the rollover threshold. Variations in the studied parameters allow for higher vehicular stability when a vehicle is driven on random road surfaces.

INFLUENCE OF VEHICLE SUSPENSION PARAMETERS ON ITS BRAKING PROPERTIES

The paper focuses on the study of the performance of elastic and damping parameters of the car suspension. The problem of arising vibrations of the sprung and unsprung vehicle masses on the braking process is considered. The article presents theoretical models of vehicle braking taking into account the oscillations of the vehicle's sprung masses. The research results will make it possible to establish the relationship between the suspension parameters and the estimated parameters of braking properties, to supplement the "driver - car - road" system, and also to more accurately assess the active safety of vehicles associated with braking dynamics.

Influence of Rheological Characteristics and Stability of Water-Based YSZ Suspensions on the Morphology of Plasma Sprayed Thermal Barrier Coatings

In suspension plasma spraying (SPS); the use of water based suspensions provides a cheaper; safer and more environmentally friendly alternative to organic liquids. However; due to the physical properties of water; producing a water based SPS coating with desirable microstructure has so far been elusive. In this study; the effects of pH and dispersant on the rheology and stability of YSZ water based suspensions were investigated. PEI; PBTCA and α-Terpineol were used as dispersant polymers. The stabilized suspensions were deposited by Axial III plasma spray system and the relationship between suspension parameters and the atomized droplet size and the final coating microstructure was studied. The results showed that a combination of Terpineol dispersant with pH adjustment to 2.5; could lead to a SPS coating with columnar microstructure having 17.4 vol.% porosity.

Optimization and Performance Analysis of Rail-Train Coupling System with Inerters

Optimization for vertical vibration performance of a rail-train coupling system is investigated in this paper with the introduction of inerters for both primary and secondary suspensions. A model of a typical Chinese passenger train that travels on a traditional rail with track, sleepers, and ballast is simulated. The goal is to improve the ride quality for the train and vibration attenuation for the rail system in response to track irregularities. Optimizations for only inertance and all suspension parameters are carried out by the particle swarm algorithm (PSO). Performance benefits for both the train and the rail system are demonstrated and suspension layouts with inerters connected in parallel and series are compared with the traditional one in both time domain and frequency domain.

Multi-objective optimization of the suspension parameters in the in-wheel electric vehicle

The hub motor significantly increases the unsprung mass of electric in-wheel vehicles, which deteriorates the ride comfort and safety of vehicles and which can be effectively improved by optimizing the main suspension parameters of vehicles reasonably, so a multi-objective optimization method of main suspension parameters based on adaptive particle swarm algorithm is proposed and the dynamic model of a half in-wheel electric vehicle is established. Taking the stiffness coefficient of the suspension damping spring and damping coefficient of the damper as independent variables, the vertical acceleration of the body, the pitch acceleration and the vertical impact force of the hub motor as optimization variables, and the dynamic deflection of the suspension and the dynamic load of the wheel as constraint variables, the multi-objective optimization function is constructed, and the parameters are simulated and optimized under the compound pavement. The simulation results show that the vertical acceleration and pitch acceleration are reduced by 20.2% and 18.4% respectively, the vertical impact force of the front hub motor is reduced by 3.7%, and the ride comfort and safety are significantly improved.

Suspension Parameters Matching Design for Robust Hunting Stability of High-speed Train

Hunting stability of high-speed train is an important dynamic performance for the design of bogie suspension parameters. An appropriate hunting stability margin is required for high-speed train. Besides, a remarkable ability to weaken the influence caused by the disturbance of bogie suspension parameters and wheel-rail contact parameters on hunting stability is also required. The matching design of bogie passive suspension parameters is an important means to ensure the train comprehensive stability. In this paper, the concept of robust hunting stability is proposed, and the indexes for suspension parameter robustness and wheel-rail contact equivalent conicity robustness are defined and chosen as the dynamic performance indexes for the bogie suspension parameters design. Design of Experiment (DOE) is used to search the suspension parameters to satisfy the defined robust hunting stability indexes. Vehicle linear stability analysis is performed based on a large number of combined random suspension parameters, and then the parameters satisfying the performance requirements are designed, from which the parameter matching rules are concluded based on the discrete statistical analysis. Using this method, the suspension parameters can be designed to satisfy the defined multiple vehicle dynamic performance indexes, instead of engineering experiences.