Title: Smart actuators to improve sportiness of a luxury car by deploying additional suspension stiffness on-demand

Authors: A.C. Shivaram

Addresses: IN1-100-305, Global General Motors R&D, India Science Lab, GM Tech Center (India), ITPB, Creator Building, Whitefield Road, Bangalore, 560066, India

Abstract: The present work addresses the need to satisfy conflicting expectations of better sportiness and ride comfort using smart actuators. It is proposed to achieve this by deploying additional suspension stiffness when better sportiness is demanded from a car. Two smart actuator configurations, one using shape-memory-alloy wires and the other using magneto-rheological-fluid are proposed to implement this task. A Simulink-model has been developed which can interface with a general purpose dynamic simulation software and deploy additional-stiffness based on a control-signal input. Using this model, full-vehicle simulations have been conducted: 1) to identify a suitable control-signal; 2) to estimate the response time and other performance requirements for the smart actuator; 3) to analyse the impact of false actuation. Based on these understandings, a lab-scale prototype of the variable-stiffness-configuration using an SMA-actuator has been built and tested. This prototype demonstrates the packagability of the smart actuator and provides experimental proof of concept.

Keywords: smart actuators; sportiness; ride comfort; vehicle handling; on-demand stiffness; shape memory alloys; MR fluids; luxury cars; suspension stiffness; vehicle suspension; magnetorheological fluids; simulation; modelling; luxury vehicles; control signals.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVD.2012.049162

International Journal of Vehicle Design, 2012 Vol.60 No.1/2, pp.155 - 175

Received: 08 Jun 2011
Accepted: 27 Oct 2011
Published online: 23 Apr 2013 *

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