Analysis of semi-active vehicle suspension system using airspring and MR damper

With the new advancements in vibration control strategies and controllable actuator manufacturing, semi-active actuators and dampers are finding their way as an essential part of vibration isolators, particularly in vehicle suspension systems. This is attributed to the fact that in a semi-active system, the damping coefficients can be adjusted to improve ride comfort and road handling performances. The currently available semi-active damper technology uses MR fluid to control the damping characteristics of the suspension system. In addition to MR dampers, combining air springs in a semi-active suspension system leads to better handling and ride performance in vehicles. Furthermore, the use of air spring in semi-active suspension system helps to ease design of variable spring stiffness. This easy design opportunity leads to independent control of stiffness and ride height of the vehicle. This paper deals with the design and modelling of variable stiffness air spring for semi-active suspension system, modelling of semi-active suspension systems with variable stiffness and MR damper, and study their