Integration of Skyhook Control in a Quarter Car with Magnetorheological (MR) Damper

Abstract

Semi-active suspension (SAS) systems attenuate vibrations with minimal power Consumption and is usually paired with magnetorheological (MR) dampers which are a type of variable damper that produces high damping forces with no mechanical movement. This paper presents the analysis of a Skyhook controller in a quarter car test rig equipped with MR damper to reduce vibration peaks when excited by a sinusoidal signal which simulates the unevenness of road surfaces. The viability of Skyhook control in mitigating vibration was examined from the experiments. The study discovered that there was an improvement of 12.72% by Skyhook control when compared to passive damping based on the sprung mass acceleration of both damping modes. The Skyhook controller surpassed passive damping and was deemed a success in vibration control.