Groundhook control of semi-active suspension for heavy vehicle

Abstract

Active vibration isolation systems are not commonly used due to their associated cost and power requirements. In principle, semi-semi active isolation systems can deliver adaptability, good performance and less power consumption compared with fully active control. This paper presents a semi-active concept of a 7-degree of freedom (DOF) full vehicle model for heavy vehicle. To develop suspension control system that can improve road holding and improve ride comfort, dynamic modeling of passive and semi-active suspension for heavy vehicle model was constructed. The simulation model was developed using MATLAB Simulink software. Passive heavy vehicle model was validated using vehicle dynamics simulation software known as TruckSim. The validation was done by comparing the simulation results. The primary focus of this paper is on ride quality control and road holding. The paper investigates analytically, the use of passive and semi-active suspension for ride quality and road holding on heavy vehicle. The control scheme of the semi-active suspension system is based on the groundhook control. A ride test was conducted at constant speed, and the simulation results of passive and semi-active suspension consist of roll, pitch, vehicle body heave and tire forces are compared and analyzed. The results show that the semi-active system controlled by groundhook strategy provides better isolation than a conventional passive damped system.