International Journal of Current Engineering and Technology E-ISSN 2277 – 4106, P-ISSN 2347 – 5161

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Review Article

Semi-Active Suspension system with M.R. Damper for car seat vibratio
n- A Review
Shaunak P Mhatre*, Swapnil Hatwalane, Sandeep Thorat and B S Kothavale

Mechanical Engineering Department, MITCOE, SPPU, Pune, India

Accepted 02 March 2016, Available online 15 March 2016, Special Issue-4 (March 2016)

Abstract

The paper throws light on advancement done in order to increase ride comfort of driver in an automobile.These road
vibrations are measured in form of pulses and according to it relations are plotted against damping force required
for stability of passenger seat.. This work investigates propagation of shock pulses from road conditions by presentic
different mathematical models of quarter car semi active suspension system. A 2DOF system is first studied, which
was then modified to three degrees of freedom with fuzzy control of quarter car system and afterwards 2 additional
degrees of freedom were added to a quarter car model. A skyhook system was then introduced which used with two
different sensors to measure two different masses. Finally a critical comparative study was conducted at end of each
model to compare performance characteristics of passive (classical type) damping system and semi active suspension
system with MR damper employed to quarter car system.

Keywords: Magneto-Rheological fluid, Semi-Active control, Driver seat, Quarter car model.

1. Introduction established control strategies which researchers had

studied such as preview control. Linear optimal control
1 Suspension system amongst automobile has vital role .sliding mode control, skyhook, ground hook and
to be played in vehicle stability. They are also called as hybrid control , model-following sliding mode control ,
shock absorbers as they absorb the bumps and jerks nurofuzzy control, gain scheduling control, H∞ control,
coming to car passengers from various road conditions. on–off sky-hook, continuous sky- hook, on– off balance,
Depending on effectiveness and performance in continuous and adaptive damping control, fuzzy logic
providing stability to automobile suspension systems control and human-simulated intelligent control for the
can be classified in three types namely Passive or development, testing, performancecomparison and
uncontrolled suspension system, Active damping implementation of necessary mechatronics based
system, Semi-active suspension system. Passive seat devices using semi-active technology.(Devdutt, M. L.
suspension have been demonstrating their results as Aggarwal,2014)
they have single degree of freedom[SDOF]suspension
2. Need of Work
system. Insufficient damping provides poor resonance
control and good high frequency isolation whereas on Ride Comfort is very important as far as well being of
the other hand large damping results in good vehicle operator is concern. Thus a lot of efforts are
resonance at expense of high frequency being taken to increase ride comfort. RIDE COMFORT is
isolation.(Ayman,F.Z,El,GamalH.A,ElSouhily B.M,2014) directly related to seat mounting as seat mounting is
Passive suspension system has limited range of the ultimate connection of passenger and road
operating conditions whereas Semi active suspension conditions. Therefore efforts are to be made to isolate
system overcomes this limitation by performing vehicle seat from road conditions. This control strategy
equally over wide range of operating conditions. is found to best suitable for a quarter car model. Semi
Several researchers have studied these systems for active suspension technology deals with vibration
driver seat damping (Saikat Dutta, SangollaNarahari, problems related to comfort at wider frequency range
Goutam Chakraborty, Dec 18-20 2013). Semi Active as compared to passive which was used earlier.(Hiroaki
suspension with MR (Magneto-Rheological Damper) RYUJIN7, August 1-6, 2004)
consist of MR fluid cylinders which helps in reducing
road shocks. The performance related to damping 3. Types of Papers
parameters of semi-active systems is directly
proportional to the selected and implemented control 3.1 Original Paper
strategy. There were many different already
Various papers which reports technically original
*Corresponding author: Shaunak P Mhatre research output, which has academic and/or industrial
391| MIT College of Engineering, Pune, India, AMET 2016, INPRESSCO IJCET Special Issue-4 (March 2016)
Shaunak Mhatre et al Semi active suspension system with MR damper for car seat vibration- A Review

contributions. Original papers conducts full peer for semi active suspension. By Referring to fig.2 we
review. These papers mainly have their focus on could see Bingham model for quarter car system. The
experimentation and research of the topic on which motion equations of the car body and wheel of this
they are being published. model are as follows
3.2 Review Paper
fa= fc.sgnx’+ c0x’+ f0 (Amit et al)
A brief evaluation of a current technology in driver seat
isolation system and application of product in quarter
car system. It also throws light on potential area of
developments and various conclusions and variable
factors related to it.

4. Mathematical Modeling
4.1 Quarter car Model (Bouc-Wen equation)

The equation of motion of quarter car model with MR

Damper is modeled mathematically as Modified Bouc-
Wen model can be expressed as:

The schematic diagram for quarter car model is given

in given fig.1: (Saikat Dutta, SangollaNarahari, Fig.2 Schematic Diagram for bingham model Amit et al
GoutamChakraborty, Dec 18-20 2013)
4.4 Fuzzy logic Control for quarter car
m1ẍ1+k11(x1-x2)+fMR=0
This method was first proposed by LotfiZadeh (Zadeh
L.A.,1965). This method uses the algorithmic fuzzy
logic control fordamping of road shock Pulses. This
method has been proved of great Significance in
control of mechatronics application. Two inputs which
are provided to this algorithm are driver seat velocity
(Vp) and secondary suspension system velocity (Vrel) to
get desired output damping force. These variables are
designated as PL (Positive Large), PM (Positive
Medium), S (Small), NM (Negative Medium) and NL
(Negative Large) respectively. And these relationship
of input and output variables are plotted against each
other. As shown in fig.3 (Devdutt, M. L.
Fig.1Schematic diagram quarter car model.(Saikat Aggarwal,2014)
Dutta, SangollaNarahari, GoutamChakraborty, Dec 18-
20 2013)

4.2 Quarter car Model (Spancer Model)

This mathematical model of Semi-active suspension for

quarter car system considers driver seat has two
degree of freedom i.e. rotary motion as well as vertical
motion. The Two masses of wheel and unsprung mass
are having vertical displacement. (Mahmoud El-Kafafy,
Samir M.El-Demerdash,2012). By application of
Newton’s second law of motion to the quarter car
model, the equations of both the masses can be
obtained. The damping force in MR damper is derived
as:

Fd=C1(ẏ-x’w)+k1{(xB-xW)-x0}……………….. (Mahmoud El-

Kafafy, Samir M.El-Demerdash,2012)

4.3 Bingham Model for quarter car system

Controller generates the voltage ‘v’ in the Fig.3Membership function curves for FLC (Devdutt, M.
MagnetoRheological damper which modifies the force L. Aggarwal,2014)
392| MIT College of Engineering, Pune, India, AMET 2016, INPRESSCO IJCET Special Issue-4 (March 2016)
Shaunak Mhatre et al Semi active suspension system with MR damper for car seat vibration- A Review

4.5 4DOF model (4 degree of freedom) u= Control vector

y= Output vector
To design a fully efficient seat suspension system for F= State matrix
quarter car model, wholly knowledge of actual actuator G= Input matrix
is essential. Consider a quarter car model system as H= Output matrix
shown in fig.4As vehicle is moved along a bumped J= Feed forward Matrix
road, shocks are transmitted through tires, axle &
primary suspension of vehicle. This filters major 4.5 Sky-Hook control for semi active suspension
portion of road shocks. Remaining portion of shock is
available as input to seat suspension. If seats are just Xubin Song (Xubin Song,2009) designed cost effective
bolted to the body of the vehicle a quarter car seat skyhook control for driver seat semi-active suspension
isolation model can be added to the system.(Mark G. applications. In skyhook controlthere are two sensors
Malvoki,June 2000). adapted to measure sprung mass acceleration and
relative displacement. A change observed is made by
eliminating one sensor rather than using two.

Comparison between active and passive control system

can be clearly seen from following fig.6

Fig.4 Quarter car model

Resulting 4DOF system is shown in fig.5 this

introduces two additional degrees of freedom to
consider effect of seat cushioning and primary
suspension of the vehicle (Nishimura,H.,
Okumura,Y.and Shimodaira, S.2002).

Fig.6.1Comparisons of Bounce acceleration

Fig.5 4DOF Model

The analysis may either be done by considering rigid

seat without cushioning for weight reduction Fig6.2Comparisons of Pitch acceleration
requirement. Thus vertical model serves well in
determining vehicle forces and damping forces. The In automobile industry, both cost and reliability are of
notations for vertical positions are given by xh for the big concern. They are primary objectives for every
human passenger, xf for the seat frame, xveh for the design. It is engineer’s duty and challenge to him to
vehicle (sprung mass) and xwh for the wheels and anxle develop more cost-Effective control algorithms but
(unsprung mass). Thus equation can be written in the maintain a high quality for production. (Xubin
state space according to following equation. (Mark G. Song,2009)
Malvoki,June 2000)
Conclusions
ẋ =Fx + Gu
y = Hx + ju Ride comfort is very important as far as well being of
vehicle operator is concern. Thus a lot of efforts are
Where being taken to increase ride comfort. Ride comfort is
x= State vecrot directly related to seat mountings, thus efforts are
393| MIT College of Engineering, Pune, India, AMET 2016, INPRESSCO IJCET Special Issue-4 (March 2016)
Shaunak Mhatre et al Semi active suspension system with MR damper for car seat vibration- A Review

being made to isolate vehicle seat from road vibrations. References

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394| MIT College of Engineering, Pune, India, AMET 2016, INPRESSCO IJCET Special Issue-4 (March 2016)