Performance evaluation of electronic control suspension featuring vehicle ER dampers

This paper presents ride comfort and driving stability performances of electronic control suspension (ECS) equipped with controllable electrorheological (ER) damper and appropriate control strategy. In order to achieve this goal, a cylindrical type ER damper which is applicable to Macpherson strut type suspension of a mid-sized passenger vehicle is designed and manufactured on the basis of the required damping force level of an existing passenger vehicle. After experimentally evaluating the field-dependent damping force and dynamic characteristics of the controllable ER damper, ECS consisting of sprung mass, spring, tire and controller is established in order to investigate the ride comfort and driving stability performances. On the basis of the governing equation of motion of the suspension system, five control strategies (soft, hard, comfort, sports and optimal mode) are formulated. The proposed control strategies are then experimentally realized with the quarter-vehicle ECS system. Control performances such as vertical acceleration of the car body and tire deflection are evaluated in both time and frequency domains under various road conditions. In addition, a comparative work is undertaken to investigate inherent control characteristics of each control strategy.