Design of a vibration isolation actuator for automotive seating systems - Part II: Controller design and actuator performance
by X. Liu, J. Wagner
International Journal of Vehicle Design (IJVD), Vol. 29, No. 4, 2002

Abstract: The ride quality of passenger/light-duty and off-road vehicles depends heavily on the suspension system which isolates the occupants from road surface disturbances. This passive system approach provides acceptable results but does not offer an ideal solution for applications where the occupants may be subjected to prolonged vibrations on rough roads and/or off-road driving. One strategy has been the design of semi-active and active suspension systems to attenuate vibrations between the vehicle's sprung and unsprung masses. An alternative concept is the placement of vibration isolation systems in the passenger compartment between the vehicle floor and seating system. In this paper, controllers are designed and evaluated for the semi-active hydraulic and active electromechanical hydraulic actuators. A series of four model-free and model-based control strategies are presented for each actuator to attenuate road vibrations transmitted to the occupant's lower and upper torso. The controller designs include relative, proportional-integral, variable structure system, and optimal control. Representative numerical results for the integrated chassis, seat, occupant, actuator, and control algorithms are discussed and metrics introduced to quantify the performance gains available with each configuration. The semi-active and active actuator designs provide a 27% and 35% reduction in the driver's head acceleration, respectively, when compared with the passive seating system.

Online publication date: Fri, 15-Aug-2003

The full text of this article is only available to individual subscribers or to users at subscribing institutions.

 
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.

Pay per view:
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.

Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Vehicle Design (IJVD):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:

Username:        Password:          Forgotten your password?

Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.

If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com