Development of hierarchal commercial vehicle model for target cascading suspension design process

Abstract

This paper presents the development of framework and an industrial application of commercial vehicle suspension & steering system design based on the target cascading. This framework consists of 3 main modules, those are modeling, solving, and post-process module. Excel GUI is employed in order to give straightforward simulation way to the end users who are not familiar with vehicle dynamics simulation. End users are allowed to handle modeling parameters using Excel to build up models in the easy way. Key feature of solving module is that the simulation is conducted automatically with just selecting one of predefined scenario. The last module whose object is to calculate Ride and Handling performance index, is the post-process module.A pilot study is applied to the practical issue to see the benefits of the framework, and design decision is made from the application results. This application study shows remarkable benefits not just in terms of Ride and Handling performance, but also in terms of solving cost. 15% of improved performance is produced regarding Ride and Handling, and 50% of development time is saved. It means that the framework allow to avoid timeconsuming process to achieve required target in the vehicle development process.