Modelling and control of semi active suspension system incorporating magnetorheological damper for generic vehicle

This study presents the simulation and experimental works for Magnetorheological (MR) semi active suspension system in generic vehicles. In simulation study, a seven degree of freedom (7-DOF) vehicle model was developed using MATLAB-Simulink and verified using TruckSim. A semi active controller with road friendliness oriented was developed to reduce vehicle tire force; besides, ride comfort becomes the secondary objective of the proposed controller. The proposed semi active controllers which are Tire Force Control (TFC), Aided Tire Force Control (ATFC) and ground Semi Active Damping Force Estimator (gSADE) and simulation results were compared with existing controller known as Groundhook (GRD) and passive suspension system. Then, these controllers were applied experimentally using generic quarter vehicle model. The overall results showed gSADE is the most effective controller in reducing vehicle tire force and improving ride comfort. Both reduction of gSADE vehicle tire force and ride comfort compared with passive system are similar about 14.2%. In the simulation study, ideal and real cases (using MR damper model) were conducted. In the ideal case, two bump profiles were used to test the effectiveness of the controller and the results showed gSADE recorded the highest improvement of the tire force followed by ATFC, TFC, GRD and passive system. The maximum improvement of gSADE control compared with passive system is about 21% in reduction of tire force and 22% in improving ride comfort. A similar test was conducted using MR damper model, and the overall result showed gSADE recorded almost similar improvement of the tire force compared with TFC. The maximum reduction of vehicle tire force and improvement of ride comfort using gSADE control compared with passive are 15% and 30%, respectively

Predictive Yaw and Lateral Control in Long Heavy Vehicles Combinations

We consider the problem of controlling the yaw and lateral dynamics in heavy vehicles, consisting of combina- tions of a truck and multiple towed units. In such heavy vehicle configurations, undesired yaw rate and lateral acceleration amplifications, causing tail swings and lateral instabilities of the towed units, can be observed at high speed. In this paper, we present a predictive control approach to reduce the Rearward Amplification (RWA) of the yaw rate at the rearmost unit in a truck-dolly-semitrailer combination, while bounding the lateral acceleration in order to prevent the roll-over of the rearmost unit. Simulation results with a nonlinear high fidelity vehicle model are presented in a single lane change maneuver, showing that the proposed approach is able to efficiently reduce the yaw rate RWA and limit the lateral accelerations, compared to the uncontrolled vehicle

Stability Control of Triple Trailer Vehicles

While vehicle stability control is a well-established technology in the passenger car realm, it is still an area of active research for commercial vehicles as indicated by the recent notice of proposed rulemaking on commercial vehicle stability by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA, 2012). The reasons that commercial vehicle electronic stability control (ESC) development has lagged passenger vehicle ESC include the fact that the industry is generally slow to adopt new technologies and that commercial vehicles are far more complex requiring adaptation of existing technology. From the controller theory perspective, current commercial vehicle stability systems are generally passenger car based ESC systems that have been modified to manage additional brakes (axles). They do not monitor the entire vehicle nor do they manage the entire vehicle as a system