Optimal driver seat suspension design for heavy trucks
by F. Amirouche, L. Palkovics, J. Woodrooffe
International Journal of Heavy Vehicle Systems (IJHVS), Vol. 2, No. 1, 1995

Abstract: This paper presents a computer controlled driver's seat suspension model for heavy trucks that isolates the driver from external excitation and minimises the transmission of vibration to the driver upper body. The vehicle is modelled as a 2 degrees-of-freedom lumped mass system with suspension characteristics of a single axle vehicle and a tyre with a mass and a stiffness which conform to a truck model known as a ''quarter-vehicle'' model. The seat is supported by a linear spring and damper whose characteristics are time dependent. The ride comfort is measured by an index of accelerations of the human body parts. An optimisation of the seat suspension parameters is carried out by minimising the work performed by the internal forces to the driver, as well as the body accelerations. In this paper, both constrained and unconstrained optimisation of the seat suspension design parameters are performed seeking for optimal values of the damping and spring constants as a function of time. Based on the results of the constrained optimisation, two approximate solutions are proposed: the semi-active damping concept and the variable structure controller.

Online publication date: Tue, 18-Jun-2013

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