Influence of a shock absorber model on vehicle dynamic simulation

Abstract

The dynamic simulation of mechanical systems is an essential tool in vehicle design. This work analyses the influence of a shock absorber model on a vehicle's dynamic behaviour by means of a simulation-based model. The real behaviour of a European mediumrange car shock absorber has been obtained by means of a test rig. From the damper's real behaviour, three mathematical models were generated, increasing the complexity. An existing full vehicle simulation application (CarSim TM ) was used for this particular study. The vehicle's behaviour was analysed for typical driving manoeuvres taking into account lateral, vertical, and longitudinal forces and was compared with the results obtained with the different shock absorber models developed. As a result of this paper, it was demonstrated that, in order to obtain results with an acceptable level of accuracy, it is not necessary to rely on extremely complex shock absorber models.

Analysis of a quarter car suspension system based on nonlinear shock absorber damping models

“…The positive force shown on the graph (see Figure 1) is for the extension stroke (which is also known as rebound stroke) and the negative force represents the compression stroke. The force in the rebound region is more than the force in the compression region [8,44]. Assuming a piecewise bilinear shock absorber behaviour [8], Eq.…”

“…It is one of the most complex part of the suspension system because of its non-linear and complex behaviour. In fact, the damping force of the dampers behaves with unsymmetrical nonlinear hysteresis loop [6][7][8][9]. Hence, a good representation of the shock absorber's behaviour and its analysis is important in vehicle dynamic studies.…”

“…Hence, a good representation of the shock absorber's behaviour and its analysis is important in vehicle dynamic studies. Extensive research on the suspension system has been carried out since 1977 [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. Wallaschek [11] stated that if the properties of a shock absorber are identified using the experimental technique, then the equivalent linear model can be used for the dynamics of shock absorber.…”

“…Experimental analysis and modelling of shock absorber (car and motorcycle) have been carried out by many researchers [6][7][8][9][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. Liu and Zhang [6,7] carried out an experiment on twin tube hydraulic shock absorber of a passenger's car and obtained the damping force-velocity curves which are characterised to be hysteretic loop.…”

“…The authors also developed a virtual prototype of the hydraulic shock absorber in the Adams environment. A Calvo et al [8] analysed the influence of the shock absorber models on the dynamic behaviour of vehicle. Raj et al [22] developed a passive nonlinear damper for automobiles, which improves the ride characteristics which the damping velocity changes with stroke.…”