Rating heavy vehicle suspensions for 'road-friendliness'
by John De Pont
International Journal of Heavy Vehicle Systems (IJHVS), Vol. 1, No. 1, 1993

Abstract: It is well established that different heavy vehicle suspension systems generate different levels of dynamic loading on pavements, and it is generally accepted that higher dynamic loads cause more pavement wear. Thus some suspensions can be categorised as being more 'road-friendly' than others. Pavement maintenance is a substantial budget item for all road authorities and clearly there are benefits in encouraging the use of 'road-friendly' suspensions. However, in order to do this, it is necessary to establish a method for rating suspensions. This paper describes an experimental programme aimed at developing a cost-effective rating procedure for suspensions using a general-purpose two post servohydraulic shaker facility. The vehicle's on-road behaviour is monitored using relatively simple instrumentation, and this measured response is then reproduced in the laboratory using the shakers to excite the vehicle. Wheel forces are measured with instrumentation on the actuators. This procedure has been demonstrated successfully on a test vehicle and the results are presented. Possible extensions and improvements to the method are postulated.

Online publication date: Tue, 18-Jun-2013

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