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Multi-objective optimization and experimental investigation of quarter car suspension system

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International Journal of Dynamics and Control Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The primary function of the suspension system is to improve ride comfort and vehicle control. However, typical passive suspension systems have to do this contradicting task. In order to do this task, one needs to tune/optimize the suspension parameters. This study presents a methodology for determining the optimal suspension settings for a quarter car suspension system. Macpherson strut suspension is used to construct a test rig and simulate a quarter-car suspension system. For ride comfort and optimization purpose, a Macpherson strut model is implemented in Matlab/Simulink® environment. The suspension system is optimized for ride comfort and stability. Frequency-weighted RMS acceleration, vibration dose value (VDV), and maximum transient vibration value (MTVV) objectives are used for ride comfort and for stability RMS suspension deflection and RMS tire deflection are used as objective function during optimization study. As a result, the optimization problem becomes multi-objective type, and the spring stiffness and suspension damping are optimized using the NSGA-II algorithm. Further, the optimized strut is installed and tested on quarter car test rig and further on car to validate the results. The simulation results and test rig results are obtained and validated. From test rig and vehicle results, optimized strut improves ride comfort, by reducing RMS acceleration, VDV and MTVV and provides vehicle stability. The study of optimized strut on vehicle is conducted using four road surfaces and four different drivers. The findings are represented graphically in time as well as frequency domain and also in tabular form.

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Abbreviations

Aw:

Frequency-weighted RMS acceleration (m/s2)

c s :

Damping coefficient (N s/m) = 461

f :

Objective function

k s :

Stiffness (N/m) = 15,351 (Initial/Un optimized value)

k t :

Stiffness of tire (N/m) = 101,134

l A :

Distance between O and A (m) = 0.70

l B :

Distance between O and B (m) = 0.35

l C :

Control arm length (m) = 0.40

m s :

Sprung mass (kg) = 72.21

m us :

Unsprung mass (kg) = 23.56

VDV:

Vibration dose value (m/s1.75)

v :

Velocity (m/s)

x r :

Road profile (m)

x :

Displacement (m)

ẋ :

Velocity (m/s)

ẍ :

Acceleration (m/s2)

α :

Angle between link OA and horizontal (in °) = 60

θ :

Control arm rotation angle (in °)

θ 0 :

Initial angular displacement of control arm (in °) = − 5

s :

Sprung

us:

Unsprung

s :

Sprung

us:

Unsprung

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Acknowledgements

First author likes to dedicate this work to the memories of late mother Chandrakala and late father Purushottam Nagarkar.

Funding

This research received no external funding.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, RG CoE, Takli Dk, Ahmednagar, India

    Mahesh Nagarkar

  2. Postdoctoral Research Scholar, Engineering Faculty of Science, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR47TJ, UK

    Mahesh Nagarkar & Vaibhav Hase

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, MIT Academy of Engineering (MAE), Pune, India

    Yogesh Bhalerao

  4. Engineering Faculty of Science, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR47TJ, UK

    Yogesh Bhalerao

  5. Deputy Head of Department of Engineering, Manchester Metropolitan University, All Saints Building, Manchester, M15 6BH, UK

    Sravanthi Sashikumar

  6. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Amrutvahini College of Engineering, Sangamner, India

    Vaibhav Hase

  7. Department of Mechanical Engineering, D. V. V. P. College of Engineering, Ahmednagar, India

    Ravindra Navthar & Rahul Zaware

  8. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sanjivani College of Engineering, Kopargaon, India

    Ajay Thakur, Amol Wable, Jaydeep Ashtekar & Nagorao Surner

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Contributions

MN, and YB contributed to conceptualization, methodology, experimentation, software, and writing- original draft preparation. SS, VH, RZ, RN, AT, JA, AW, and NS contributed to experimentation, resources, draft preparation, and editing. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mahesh Nagarkar.

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Nagarkar, M., Bhalerao, Y., Sashikumar, S. et al. Multi-objective optimization and experimental investigation of quarter car suspension system. Int. J. Dynam. Control 12, 1222–1238 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40435-023-01262-x

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