Vehicle Suspension Modeling

MECE 4333 - Vehicle Systems Modeling and Control

The University of Texas - Pan American

August 7, 2006

Introduction
You are asked to model the response of a vehicle to a series of road inputs using the half-car suspension
model. Parameters are provided below in Table 1 for a generic sedan. However, you can earn bonus credit
if you use suspension parameters and vehicle mass and rotational inertia parameters for a vehicle of your
choice (preferably the vehicle you simulated for the previous two projects). Note that because a half-car
suspension model is used, the spring and damping constants are the effective quantities for the combined
front and rear axles. For example, the front suspension spring stiffness, k f s , given below is the stiffness for
both the front driver-side and front passenger side suspensions (i.e. k f s = k f sd + k f sp where k f sd and k f sp and
the driver- and passenger-side spring constants at the front end). Thus, published data for spring stiffness
and damping constant are for each individual spring and shock absorber and not for the combined front or
rear suspensions.
To facilitate your simulations, make the following assumptions:

• The vehicle drives at a constant velocity;

• The road surface is a repeated oscillation; and

• The road provile can be reasonably represented by piece-wise linear approximations.

Problem
You will derive 3 scenarios for road profiles that the vehicle will drive over. You must provide x-y plots
of these profiles within your report and describe in detail the scenarios your are simulating. Include a
description of the general geometry of the repeated road input and describe the circumstances under which
the vehicle is driving over these inputs providing information like the approximate velocity. Scenarios should
be realistic. A Simulink block diagram and sample MATLAB scripts are provided at the course website:

• HalfCarSuspensionModel02.mdl – Simulink block diagram,

• HalfCarSuspensionTimeResponse.m – main MATLAB script to simulate responses,

• SpeedBumps.m – function to generate road profile for “Speed Bumps” scenario from class notes, and

• HighwayWarningTrack.m – function to generate road profile for “Highway Warning Track” scenario
from class notes.

1
 Parameter Value Description
kft 200 kN/m front tire stiffness
bft 125 N-s/m font tire damping
m f us 100 kg front suspension unsprung mass
kfs 30 kN/m front suspension stiffness
bfs 750 N-s/m font suspension damping
Ic 2704 kg-m2 pitch rotational inertia
ms 1700 kg vehicle sprung mass
krs 20 kN/m rear suspension stiffness
brs 750 N-s/m rear suspension damping
mrus 80 kg rear suspension unsprung mass
krt 200 kN/m rear tire stiffness
brt 125 N-s/m rear tire damping
L 2.7 m wheel base
Lf 1.1 m length from center of mass to rear axle
Lr 1.6 m length from center of mass to front axle

Table 1: Generic sedan vehicle parameters.

ms, Ic yc
Lr Lf

krs brs x kfs bfs

mrus mfus
yrus yfus
krt brt kft bft
yroad(x-L) yroad(x)

Figure 1: Half-car suspension model schematic.

2
Tasks
Complete the following tasks:

1. Derive 3 road input scenarios.

2. Describe each scenario providing general geometry of the road profile including x-y plots, vehicle
velocity, and a description of the “real-life” circumstance the scenario is supposed to simulate.
3. Simulate the response of the vehicle to the 3 scenarios. For each scenario, provide 3 separate plots
that show (1) the vehicle responses, (2) the suspension responses, and (3) the tire responses.
4. Analyze the results for the 3 scenarios. For each explain which of the 3 subsystems (i.e. vehicle
dynamics, suspension dynamics, or tire dynamics) is most active and why.

Grading
You will be graded separately on the numerical simulations and the report.

Simulations
For the simulations, you must submit as a an appendix to your report all the MATLAB scripts and Simulink
block diagrams used to create the plots. You should also include plots of results. Some of these plots should
appear within the body of the report and the rest can be placed in the appendix. You will graded on the
neatness and organization of your scripts, block diagrams, and plots. Use good programming practices like
providing comments within the scripts. Rule of thumb on plots: the reader should be able to easily decipher
what the plot represents (i.e. use labels and legends and organize the data in an appropriate manner). You
will also be graded on the completeness of the results provided whether within the body of the report or
within the appendix.
Variable Percentage
Neatness 10
Organization 20
Completeness 70

Report
You must submit a report using the Report Template mentioned above. Be sure to follow the recommenda-
tions mentioned within the template. For instance, figures should have captions and should appear within the
width of the column. You will be graded on neatness, creativity, and completeness. Make your document
look professional. Credit will be given to those that spend extra effort devising realistic road or off-road
surface profiles. Keep in mind that you are describing your results to a client, so be sure to provide sufficient
evidence to support your final design. Make sure that the client can follow along how you came to a final
decision.
Variable Percentage
Creativity 20
Neatness 10
Organization 20
Completeness 50