Multi-order proportional-derivative control for active vehicle suspension to improve ride performance

• Main Author: Ahim, Mohammad Shazwan
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English; English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: T Technology (General); TL Motor vehicles. Aeronautics. Astronautics
• Online Access: http://eprints.utem.edu.my/id/eprint/26106/2/Multi-order%20proportional-derivative%20control%20for%20active%20vehicle%20suspension%20to%20improve%20ride%20performance.pdf; http://eprints.utem.edu.my/id/eprint/26106/3/Multi-order%20proportional-derivative%20control%20for%20active%20vehicle%20suspension%20to%20improve%20ride%20performance.pdf; http://eprints.utem.edu.my/id/eprint/26106/; https://plh.utem.edu.my/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=121372

Suspension system designs will determine the performance of the vehicle in terms of ride comfort, ride handling, and stability. These requirements often contradict each other, so they cannot meet all the needs and circumstances at the same time. Therefore, conventional suspension systems are usually optimised for certain types of terrain and still represent the main compromise between the quality of travel, handling, suspension travel, and control of body movements. Researchers focused on reducing these trade-offs have led to the development of advanced suspension systems. An advanced suspension system is achieved through the manipulation of forces provided by the suspension system at the compression and extension stages applied between the sprung and unsprung masses of each wheel assembly. Generally, the well-known method for manipulating suspension forces can be categorised into two types: semi-active and active suspension systems. An active suspension system combined with the controller can manipulate suspension forces to reduce the vibration and vertical motion of the vehicle. The purpose of this research is to develop an active suspension for the quarter-car model of a passenger car in order to improve its performance by using a multi-order proportional-derivative (MOPD) controller. The controller design deals with the selection of proportional and derivative gain parameters for the error of multiple variables, which are displacement, velocity, and acceleration. To verify the performance of this controller for active suspension systems, the simulated results of a closed-loop system for sinusoid road profile input using MATLAB and Simulink tools were used to compare the MOPD active suspension with PD active suspension as well as passive suspension. The PD active suspension and passive suspension were developed and investigated first. The simulation results reveal that active suspension with MOPD reduces the RMS value of body displacement, body acceleration, and wheel acceleration when compared to PD active suspension and passive suspension. However, only the RMS value for suspension deflection showed an inconsistent trend. In conclusion, multi-order PD control can improve vehicle ride performance when compared to PD control with passive suspension.