Chapter 8

Suspension Systems
8.1 Introduction

For many years vehicle dynamics engineers have struggled to achieve a compromise between vehicle handling, ride comfort and stability. The results of this are clear in the vehicles we see today. In general, at one extreme are large sedan and luxury cars with excellent ride qualities but only adequate handling behavior. At the other end of the spectrum are sports cars with very good handling but very rm ride quality. In between are any number of variations dictated by the vehicle manufacturer and target customer needs. Every automotive suspension has two goals: passenger comfort and vehicle control. Comfort is provided by isolating the vehicles passengers from road disturbances like bumps or potholes. Control is achieved by keeping the car body from rolling and pitching excessively, and maintaining good contact between the tire and the road. By and large, todays vehicle suspensions use hydraulic dampers (a.k.a. shock absorbers) and springs that are charged with the tasks of absorbing bumps, minimizing the cars body motions while accelerating, braking and turning and keeping the tires in contact with the road surface. Typically, these goals are somewhat at odds with each other. Luxury cars are great at swallowing bumps and providing a plush ride, but handling usually suers as the car is prone to pitch and dive under acceleration and braking, as well as body lean (or sway) under cornering think Lincoln Town Car. On the other end of the spectrum, stiy sprung sports cars exhibit minimal body motion as the car is driven aggressively, as cornering is at, but the ride quality generally suers think Mazda Miata. Yes, there are a number of current vehicles that do a good job of providing an agreeable balance of ride and handling, such as a BMW 5 Series, the C6 Corvette and even the Cadillac SRV SUV. But Dr. Boses goal was to oer a suspension design that would provide an even smoother ride than a top luxury car (such as the Lexus LS 430 sedan) while simultaneously providing more body control than a top sports car (such as a Porsche 911). Unfortunately, these goals are in conict. In a luxury sedan the suspension is usually designed with as emphasis on comfort, but the result is a vechile that rolls and pitches while driving and during turning and braking. In sport cars, where the empahsis is on control, the suspension is desiged to reduce roll and pitch, but comfort is sacried. A typical vehicle suspension is made up of two components: a spring and a damper. The spring is chosen based solely on the weight of the vehicle, while the damper is the component that denes the suspensions placement on the compromise curve. Depending on the type of vehicle, a damper is chosen to make the vehicle perform best in its application. Ideally, the damper should isolate passengers from low-frequency road disturbances and absorb highfrequency road disturbances. Passengers are best isolated from low-frequency disturbances when the damping is high. However, high damping provides poor high frequency absorption. Conversely, when the damping is low, the damper oers sucient high-frequency absorption, at the expense of low-frequency isolation. The need to reduce the eects of this compromise has given rise to several new advancements in automotive suspensions. Three types of suspensions that will be reviewed here are passive, fully active, and semi-active suspensions. A conventional passive suspension is composed of a spring and a damper. The suspension stores energy in the spring and dissipates energy through the damper. Both components are xed at the design stage. For 171

172 this reason, this type of suspension falls victim to the classic suspension compromise. If the damper is replaced with a force actuator, the suspension becomes a fully active suspension. Hindered by its complexity and its power consumption, fully active suspensions have yet to be accepted for conventional use. The idea behind fully active suspensions is that the force actuator is able to apply a force to the suspension in either jounce or rebound. This force is actively governed by the control scheme employed in the suspension. The third and nal type of suspension that will be mentioned here is a semiactive suspension. In a semi-active suspension, the passive damper is replaced with a semi-active damper. A semi-active damper is capable of changing its damping characteristics. Whether through mechanically changing orices or uid with adjustable viscosity, a semiactive damper oers greater variation in damping. Again, the control algorithm used in the design governs the amount of damping.[4] Most conventional suspensions may only satisfy the essentials requirements and will compromise on some of the possibly less important consideration. An active suspension will built into the design means to satisfy the most demands required ; however even then it may not to be possible due to the limitation of a design and cost to overcome all the problem experienced with the conventional suspension. Thus it would be justied to classify most suspension which have some form of high leveling and anti-body roll features as only semiactive suspension. [1] Several types of advanced suspension systems have appeared recently in prototype and production vehicles. These advanced systems often depend on applying a control force as a function of measured dynamic vehicle parameters. Some of these systems require a power supply. For instance, a large amount of power is required for the operation of socalled broad-band active systems. In comparison, little power is required for the operation of variable damper suspensions such as semi-active dampers or electronically adjusted shock absorbers. In most cases, active suspensions provide theoretically superior performance with either broadband or limited-band actuating elements. This is at the expense of high cost, construction complexity and possible stability problems when components fail. Therefore, active suspensions remain limited to expensive vehicles. Semi-active systems are capable of providing most of the performance features of active suspensions with cost and complexity reduced to a great extent. Moreover, the semiactive system has no inherent stability problems. [3] Computerized ride control systems, also called active suspensions, are computer-controlled electronic suspension systems that can adapt to specic driving conditions. Typical ride control systems contain steering sensors, which monitor the direction and speed of steering wheel rotation; brake sensors, which monitor brake system applications, and an acceleration signal sensor, which monitors the rate of acceleration, A control module receives signals from these sensors and uses them to determine output signals to the actuators. The actuators control the ow of hydraulic uid to adjustable shock absorbers. Many systems have a model select switch, which allows the driver to adjust the ride control system. Under normal driving conditions, a driver can pick the ride best suited for handling and comfort. For example, if a vehicle is being driven on a winding road, the driver can pick a rm setting. In this mode, the ride control module will signal actuators to close valves on the adjustable shocks. This will produce a sti ride and the vehicle will corner well. If the vehicle is being driven on a highway, however, the driver can I switch to a soft mode. In this mode, the valves in the adjustable shocks are opened and a soft, comfortable ride is produced. Motivation of Advanced Suspension Systems To prevent compromise between ride and handling which happen in passive suspension. To produce good ride, because highly damped suspension will cause harsh ride, harsh ride may damage the cargo and also has bad eect on drivers health. To produce good handling, because lowered damping rates increase the severity of roll and pitch responses to given rates of acceleration, braking or cornering. Excessive body motion in turn, can unfavorably distribute tire forces and adversely aect handling. To vary damping forces in response to various and body motion inputs.

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8.2

Passive Suspension Systems

The common passive suspension systems inheretly lead to a compromise between ride and handling. A highly damped suspension results in good vehicle handling,but at the same time has the disadvantage of causing passenger perceived harsh ride. A harsh ride may not only be unacceptable,but also it may damage cargo. On the other hand,a loww damped suspension may signicantly improve the perception of rid,but it can reduce the stability of the vehicle. Ride: A traditional measurement of ride quality in military vehicles is energy input measured at the drivers seat,while traversing a standered course at a dened speed. This energy input which aects driver comfort,performance and safet,must be limited to 6 watts rms. To meet this requirment,at increasedcourse speed,suspension travel is increased,primary spring rates are lowered and damping rates selectively lowered. Handling: The better a wheel can follow undulations in terrain,the better it can transmit driving,breaking and cornering forces to the ground-thus decreasing stopping distances and enhancing climbing capability on rough,hilly ground. At some point, lowered damping rates increase the severity of roll and pitch responses to given rates of acceleration, breaking or cornering. Excessive body motion in turn,can unfavorably distribute tire forces and adversely aect handling. Body Mount Optimization in SUVs and Light Trucks One of the most imprtant vibration insolators in SUVs and trucks is the body mount. Body mounts are used to connect the passenger coompartment to the chassis and should be designed to stanf the static and dynamic loads and also to insolate the cabin from undesired structural-borne noise and vibration. The current approach for designing body mounts is based upon static analysis for loads and trial and error for vibration insolation. The popularity of SUVs and light trucks as family carsand the high demand for reducting the level of noise and vibration inside the cabin to that of sedan cars call for a more accurate and advanced technique for the design and optimization of body mounts.

8.3

Semi-Active Suspension Systems

First one of the semi active suspension in the world was used for revenue service train, it was mounted on seven cars in a train-set including the cars equipped with a pantograph, rst- class cars with special accommodations, and head/tail cars that are subjected to large vibration(3) then it has been used in military vehicle ,recently (SA) suspension system used in sport cars(1). Semi-Active Susoension Sky Hook Control One of the most common operation ways of (SA) is (sky hook control). The block diagram of the control logic for the Sky Hook Control is shown in Figure 8-1 To perform what is called (the sky hook control)the semi-active suspension system determines the speed of car body vibration from the output of the lateral acceleration sensor mounted on the car body at a position directly above the truck and produce a force in proportion to the vibration speed with a changeable lateral damper on the truck . the damping force of the damper is controlled by changing the combination of throttle holes that pass the working uid with quick electromagnetic valves. The controller has damping force corresponding to the piston speed for each combination of throttle holes to look for damping force nearest the value required for sky hook control since this demands the measurement of piston speed, each damper has built-in displacement sensor . The system has also an electromagnetic valve to release the force in the direction opposite to damping force that is commanded by the sky hook control to realize Karnopps method as the performance of hydraulic circuit . Attention is paid to ensure the fail-safe feature so that that failure of a part doesnt lead to dangerous state. When the power switch is turned o, the damper function as a normal damper.(3) Semi-Active (SA) suspensions are often found on todays high-end production sports cars and feature damping control on all four corners. The control objective of SA suspension is to counteract for heave, roll and pitch. This control is achieved by pairing a microprocessor with four shock absorbers that have a continuously variable (and controllable) damping coecient. On occasion, these dampers are paired with pneumatic springs to provide ride height/leveling control. Figure 8-2 shows the main components of the

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Figure 8-1: Train Sky Hook Control Logic Block Diagram

variable orice semi-active suspension system. Potential customer benets of the SA suspension system include: An adjustable ride, optimized for comfort or handling performance. Suspension will automatically adjust according to road conditions User has the option to select the rmness of the suspension There is no change in size from traditional suspension systems. Semi-Active suspension brings new mechanical hardware and sensor input requirements to run its system. The performance of the system relies in part on the response time of the shock absorbers and their damping coecient range. Variable damping coecient shock absorbers, with a response time less than 10 milliseconds, are required for the most rudimentary of SA suspension systems. These dampers can be hydraulic or pneumatic and are usually controlled with electromagnetic switches or pumps. Semi-Active suspensions are virtually limitless in the amount of input variables for which they are able to counteract, thus, a system designer can determine the amount of control a system oers. Semi-Active suspensions can monitor for (Figure 8-3): Vehicle speed Brake condition Vertical acceleration Lateral acceleration Steering angle position Steering angle velocity Vehicle level position These new system requirements must be met using high-end components at very competitive prices to replace established, cost eective technology, while maintaining strict adherence to the automotive qualication.

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Figure 8-2: Main Components of the Varaibale Orice Semi-Active Suspension System

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Figure 8-3: Semi-Active Suspension System Sensors Layout

8.3.1

Electro-rheological Fluid Damper Semi-Active Suspension System

The semi-active vehicle suspension motivated by the application of continuously controllable ERF-shock absorbers, optimal control of vehicle vibration with constrained suspension, Semi-active suspensions for a fork lift truck, etc Electrorheological uids (ERF) belong to the class of so-called smart materials. The viscosity of these uids is continuously controllable. Thus ERF devices are excellent interfaces between electronic control units and mechanical system. The application within vehicle suspensions exploits the controllability of high frequencies and forces over a wide range.[2] When investigating control of ERF-shock absorbers, one has to deal with several major subproblems (Figure 8-4). The following contains various aspects of suspension control for ERF-shock absorbers. Particularly we describe a suboptimal control scheme that performs well in application and under real-time constraints. Furthermore we investigate robust-optimal controls for general nonlinear systems, that take into account unknown disturbances.[2] For fork lift trucks, drivers are often exposed to high level of low-frequency vibrations due to the unevenness of the ground. Fork lift trucks are vehicles that do not have standard suspension systems such as those used in the automobile industry. On numerous models, the possibility of uncoupling the cab from the chassis allows the insertion of exible mechanical components (springs and dampers) at each of the xing points (Figure 8-5).[6] In 2006, Audi launched the new TT model and one of the innovations that it came with is their magnetic semi-active suspension. The system attempts to resolve the long-standing conict between cabin comfort and driving dynamics. The Audi system is a coninuously adaptive system - ie its a closed feedback loop that can react to changes both in the road surface and the gear-changes (front-to-back weight shift) within milliseconds. The dampers in the Audi system are not lled with your regular old shock absorber oil. Nope. Theyre lled with magneto-rheological uid. This is a synthetic hydrocarbon oil containing subminiature magnetic particles. When a voltage is applied to a coil inside the damper piston, it creates a magnetic eld Inside the magnetic eld, all the magnetic particles in the oil change alignment in microseconds to lie predominantly across the damper. Because the damper is trying to squeeze oil up and down through the ow channels, having the particles lined up transverse to this motion makes the oil stier. Stier oil ows less, which stiens up the suspension. This increases the damping coecent of the damper as shonw in Figure 8-6. The Audi system has a centralised control unit which sends signals to the coils on each damper. Hooked up to complex force and acceleration sensors, the control unit constantly analyses whats going on with the car and adjusts the damping settings accordingly. Because there are no moving parts - no valves to open or

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Figure 8-4: Electro-rheological Fluid Damper Semi-Active Suspension System

Figure 8-5: Main Component of A Fork Lift MRF Semi-Active Suspension System

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Figure 8-6: MRF Semi-Active Damper Operation Principle

close - the system reacts within microseconds; far quicker than any other active suspension technology on the market today. And because the amount of voltage applied to the coils can be varied nearly innitely, the dampers have a similarly near-innite number of settings. The power usage for each strut is around 5-Watts, and the entire thing takes up no more room than a regular coil-over-oil unit. The diagram below shows the basic principle of magnetised vs. unmagnetised ferrouid, as well as a cutaway of the piston assembly in a Magneride-type damper.

8.4

Active Suspension Systems

What is active suspension, and how does it dier from traditional suspension? When we refer to a traditional or a conventional suspension system, we mean a system that comes as is. In other words, a conventional system is a passive system. Once its been installed in the car, its character changes very little. This has certain advantages and disadvantages. On the plus side, the system is very predictable. Over time, you will develop a familiarity with your cars suspension. You will understand its capabilities and its limitations. On the down side, once the system has reached these limits, it has no way of compensating for situations beyond its design parameters. Thus shock absorbers bottom out, struts overextend, springs respond sluggishly, torsion bars get tweaked. An active suspension system, on the other hand, has the capability to adjust itself continuously to changing road conditions. It articially extends the design parameters of the system by constantly monitoring and adjusting itself, thereby changing its character on an ongoing basis. With advanced sensors and microprocessors feeding it information all the time and by changing its character to respond to varying road conditions, active suspension oers superior handling, road feel, responsiveness and safety. Active suspension systems (also known as Computerized Ride Control) consist of the following components: a computer or two (called an electronic control unit, or ECU, for short), adjustable shocks and springs, a series of sensors at each wheel and throughout the car, and an actuator or servo atop each shock and spring. The components may vary slightly from manufacturer to manufacturer, but these are the basic parts that make up an active suspension system. As mentioned above, active suspension works by constantly sensing changes in the road surface and feeding that information, via the ECU, to the outlying components. These components then act upon the system to modify its character, adjusting shock stiness, spring rate

179 and the like, to improve ride performance, drivability, responsiveness, etc. Distributed embedded control architectures have become the rst source of innovation and performance improvements in today cars. Active suspension control systems are a typical example of distributed embedded control architectures. An active suspension consists of a spring, a shock absorber and a hydraulic actuator at each corner of the vehicle. Controlling an active suspension system requires an amount of information which can be provided by a set of sensors situated in dierent locations in the vehicle. This information needs to be processed by one more controllers in order to calculate the control forces that should be actuated by the four hydraulic actuators. Sensors, controllers and actuators usually communicate through a shared bus (the CAN is the most used one). More about Active Suspension Youre cruising down the road in a car with a fully active suspension system. Rounding your rst turn, you hit a series of potholes, each one larger than the next. Now, in a car with conventional suspension, these potholes might present a serious challenge to the suspension system. Their ever-increasing size could even max out the system, setting up an oscillation loop a situation wherein the car begins to bob up and down higher and higher and gets a little out of control. But youre not worried, because your car has active suspension. The sensors on the right front of the car (youre turning left, by the way) begin to monitor the situation. They pick up yaw and transverse body motion, and send this information back to the ECU. They also sense excessive vertical travel, particularly in the right-front region of the car. This data is likewise forwarded to the ECU. Rotary-position wheel sensors and a steering angle sensor conrm the data coming o the other nerve endings on the car. The ECU collects, analyzes and interprets the data in approximately 10 milliseconds. It sends an urgent message to the servo atop the right-front coil spring to stien up. To accomplish this, an engine-driven oil pump operating at nearly 3000 pounds per square inch sends additional uid to the servo, which increases spring tension, thereby reducing body roll, yaw, and spring oscillation. A similar message, but of a slightly less intense nature, is sent to the servo atop the right-rear coil spring, with similar results. Example of Vehicle with Active Suspension System The ride potential for such a system is truly spectacular. As we mentioned at the outset, several state-of-theart production passenger vehicles oer fully active suspension systems as standard or optional equipment. Heres a brief rundown. Cadillac. Beginning in 1996, Cadillac began oering active suspension on its Eldorado Touring Coupe, DeVille Concours and Seville STS models. Known as continuously variable road-sensing suspension (CVRSS), the system uses a series of sensors to actuate hydraulic shock absorbers at all four corners, improving road feel and dampening. The system adjusts in a fraction of a second the amount of time it takes a vehicle going 65 mph to travel 15 inches. Land Rover. Starting with the 1999 model year, the Land Rover Discovery Series II sport ute comes with active cornering enhancement (ACE). The Land Rover system is a rst for sport-utility vehicles. It utilizes a hydraulic system that replaces the more traditional front and rear anti-roll bars, applying torque to the body via two piston/lever congurations. The system has the capability to counteract up to 1.0 g lateral acceleration in 250 milliseconds. Remember, in the case of active suspension, todays innovation is tomorrows standard feature. Expect to see active suspension systems in the coming years on much lower price point vehicles. The trickle-down eect will take some time.

8.4.1

Active Stabilizer Bar Suspension System

Active Suspension Control Systems ASCS helps to resolve the conict between ride comfort and handling by replacing the rigid drop links of one stabilizer bar end against an hydraulic actuator (active stabilizer

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Figure 8-7: Active Stabilizer Bar Suspension System.

bar). These actuators are controlled by an Electro-Hydraulic-Control-Unit (EHCU) depending on the sensed driving conditions. That gives vehicle dynamics engineers new possibilities of suspension tuning (Figure 87). The control design of this active suspenstion system aims to maximize driving comfort (as measured by sprung mass acceleration) and safety (as measured by tire load variations) under packing constrains (as measured by supension deection).

8.4.2

Electro-Hydraulic Active Suspension System EH-ASS

This system was rst introduced by Mercedes-Benz, that allows to control the vehicle body motions and therefore virtually eliminates body roll in many driving situations including cornering, accelerating, and braking. The systems computer detects body movement from sensors located throughout the vehicle, and controls the action of the active suspension with the use of hydraulic servos. The hydraulic pressure to the servos is supplied by a high pressure radial piston hydraulic pump. A total of thirteen sensors continually monitor body movement and vehicle level and supply the EH-ASS controller with new data every ten milliseconds. Four level sensors, one at each wheel measure the ride level of the vehicle, 3 accelerometers measure the vertical body acceleration, one acceleration sensor measures the longitudinal and one sensor the transverse body acceleration. At each hydraulic cylinder a pressure sensor monitors the hydraulic pressure. As the EH-ASS controller receives and processes data, it operates four hydraulic servos, each mounted in series on a spring strut, beside each wheel. Almost instantaneously, the servo regulated suspension generates counter forces to body lean, dive, and squat during various driving maneuvers. A suspension strut, consisting of a steel coil spring and a shock absorber are connected in parallel, as well as a hydraulically controlled adjusting cylinder, are located between the vehicle body and wheel. These components adjust the cylinder in the direction of the suspension strut, and change the suspension length. This creates a force which acts on the suspension and dampening of the vehicle in the frequency range up to ve hertz. The system also lowers the vehicle up to eleven millimeters between the speeds of 60 km/h (37

181 mph) and 160 km/h (99 mph) for better aerodynamics, fuel consumption, and handling. The EH-ASS system also acts as an automatic leveling control that raises or lowers the vehicle in response to changing load (i.e. the loading or unloading of passengers or cargo). Each vehicle equipped with EH-ASS has an EH-ASS Sport button that allows the driver to adjust the suspension range for dierent driving style preferences. This feature allows the driver to adjust the suspension to maintain a more level ride in more demanding driving conditions. It was introduced in 1999 on the top-of-the-line Mercedes-Benz CLClass. This system is standard on all Mercedes-Benz SL and CL Class models and on some S Class models sold in the U.S.

8.4.3

Active Electro-magnetic Suspension System

A new type of car suspension is being developed .they are replacing the spring and damper system used in all vehicles today with linear electromagnetic motors controlled by microprocessors and special mathematical equations. In this way, they can do away with the compromises and shortfalls of the old damped harmonic oscillator system. No more compromises between handling and comfort; its soft when you need it and hard when you need it.active suspension works by constantly sensing changes in the road surface and feeding that information, via the ECU, to the outlying components. These components then act upon the system to modify its character, adjusting shock stiness, spring rate and the like, to improve ride performance, drivability, responsiveness The ECU collects, analyzes and interprets the data in approximately 10 millisecondsa new type of car suspension is being developed .they are replacing the spring and damper system used in all vehicles today with linear electromagnetic motors controlled by microprocessors and special mathematical equations. In this way, they can do away with the compromises and shortfalls of the old damped harmonic oscillator system. no more compromises between handling and comfort; its soft when you need it and hard when you need it.active suspension works by constantly sensing changes in the road surface and feeding that information, via the ECU, to the outlying components. These components then act upon the system to modify its character, adjusting shock stiness, spring rate and the like, to improve ride performance, drivability, responsiveness. The ECU collects, analyzes and interprets the data in approximately 10 milliseconds. Active Electro-Magnetic Suspension Design Challenges The design challenges that face this new generation of suspension systems could be listed as follows: Diculty in achieving fast and high power linear motor Diculty in achieving high power ampliers to drive the linear motor Diculty in achieving control algorithms to provide the required suspension performance with stability The availability of computation speed in small size computers Bose engineers, a pioneer developer of the Electro-Magnetic suspension system, took a unique approach in solving this problem, and the result is an entirely new approach to suspension design. In 1980, Bose founder and CEO Dr. Amar Bose conducted a mathematical study to determine the optimum possible performance of an automotive suspension, ignorig the limitations of any existing suspension hardware. The result of this 5- year study indicated that it was possible to achieve performance that was a large step above anything available. after evaluating conventional and variable spring/damper systems as well as hydraulic approaches, it was determined that none had the combination of speed, strength, and eciency that is necessary to provide the desired results. The study led to electro-magnetics as the one approach that could realize the desired suspension characteristics. Bose claim that, there proposed suspension system require less than a third of the power of a typical vehicles air conditioning system. Idea About the Electro-Magnatic Linear Actuator In most low-acceleration designs, the force is produced by a moving linearelectromagnetic eld acting on conductors in the eld. Any conductor, be it a loop, a coil or simply a piece of plate metal, that is placed in this eld will have eddy currents induced in it thus creating an opposing electromagnetic eld. The two

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Figure 8-8: Electro-Magnatic Linear Actuator Operation Principle

opposing elds will repel each other, thus forcing the conductor away from the stator and carrying it along in the direction of the moving magnetic eld. As shown in Figure 8-8 the Electro-Magnatic Linear Actuator or some times called linear motors are rotary motors with the rotor rolled at to become a magnet track. Then what was a rotary stator becomes the forcer coil assembly in the linear motor. Typically, the magnet track remains stationary, because the magnet track is greater is size and mass to the forcer assembly. However, in short-stroke applications, their positions could be reversed. Fully active suspensions use electronic monitoring of vehicle conditions, coupled with the means to impact vehicle suspension and behavior in real time to directly control the motion of the car. Thus, if one uses, for instance, frameless, permanent magnet, three phase, brush-less servo motors in place of traditional shocks, then the system must include extremely complex servo control algorithms and superquick sending and receiving of signals throughout the vehicle, so that the linear motors react instantaneously to driving conditions that change constantly. Why pursue a linear motor? There are several advantages in having the magnet of a linear motor move relative to a stationary coil set. First, the stationary drive coils are intimately mounted to a structure that can be more eectively heat sunk. This facilitates the removal of the resistive losses in the coils allowing for much higher forces. Second, since the coils are stationary their mass does not aect the maximum velocity of the motor. As a result a larger coil may be used which enables a highly ecient motor design. Third, the coils are stationary, so there are no ying leads; the result is improved longevity of the motor. Fourth, by design the moving magnet does not make contact with any of the stationary elements of motor, hence, there is no frictional wear. These advantages led Bose to pursue and develop moving magnet technology. Active Suspension Linear Motor Requirments High force, up to 5000 Newtons; High accelerations, greater than 150Gs; High bandwidth, greater than 200 Hertz; Near-innite life, testing beyond a billion cycles; Precise position or load control and accurate waveform control; Clean, quiet operation.

Bose Active Suspension System Through the recent days a new kind of suspension systems was introduced to the vehicles research world, which is Electro-Magnetic Suspension System (EMSS) which is also known as BOSE Suspension System referred to the inventor of that kind of suspension Dr. Amar G. Bose the Chairman of the Board and Technical Director of the Bose Corporation and Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

183 The old suspension systems was aiming to isolating vehicles passenger from disturbance to achieve comfort and at the same time keeping the car body from rolling and pitching excessively, and maintaining good contact between the tire and the road to achieve good control of the vehicle. But its obvious that these two goals are a little bit in conict to each other, this conict was solved by the new (EMSS) because it oers both comfort and control of the vehicles body at the same time, and this is by introducing linear electromagnetic motor on each tire instead of the usual damper and spring system. Bose Corporation was founded in 1964 by Dr. Amar G. Bose after working for 4 years on switching amplication technologies at the MIT in the early 1960s. Bose is one of the best corporations for creating high performance audio products, regulating electric power in airplanes, controlling fuel rods in nuclear reactors and building testing machines for medical devices. One might ask why a company thats seemingly rooted in the home/automobile audio system business would delve into an area that is so unrelated to its core business. We were wondering this as well, until Dr. Bose addressed us and made it as crystal clear as the sound reproduction of the companys best car stereos. In addition to being a major player in the audio biz, Dr. Bose has had more than a passing fancy in automotive suspension design, which began in 1957 when he bought a new 1958 Pontiac Bonneville equipped with air suspension. Although that system was primitive and prone to breaking down, Dr. Bose was fascinated nonetheless. Ten years later, he replaced the Bonnie with a Citron, again because he was intrigued by the use of air suspension. For over a decade, he pondered modern auto suspension design and how he would do it, if he had the resources. Fortunately, he had both the nancial and intellectual resources and in 1980 decided to get to work on his idea. And what was that idea? It was, in a nutshell, the use of electromagnetic technology to provide a luxury cars ride with a sports cars control. In the year 1980 Dr. Bose started his researches in the led of performance of an automotive suspension system. He and his team spent a whole 5 years doing the mathematical analysis to determine the optimum suspension performance. Those 5 years of theoretical studies led to electromagnetic as the one approach that could realize the desire suspension characteristics. The Bose suspension required signicant advancements in four key disciplines: linear electro-magnetic motors, power ampliers, control algorithms, and computation speed. Bose took on the challenge of the rst three disceplines and bet on developments that industry would make on the fourth item. The motivation for this new suspension systems was to achieve both comfort and control on vehicles body at the same time, because the ordinary suspension systems at sometimes doesnt achieve both comfort and control together which makes the passengers feels uncomforted or unsafe. For example at steep turns the tires of the car must have good contact with the road, and the body must be well controlled not to rotate upside down, at the same time the suspension system aims to isolate the passenger are ( cars body) from the road to achieve passengers comfort. So its obvious that the two missions are extremely opposite to each other which will leads to make the passenger feel uncomforted because he must feel safe. Bose Electro-Magnetic Active Suspension System Description As shown in Figure 8-9, Bose electro-magnetic suspension system for an automotive vehicle, comprising: a linear electro-magnetic actuator (4) interposed between a sprung mass (1) and an unsprung mass (6) and arranged in parallel with a suspension spring element (7); an electric motor (8) that drives the electromagnetic actuator (4); and a motor controller (17) that calculates a displacement input transmitted to the electromagnetic actuator (4) and controls the motor (8) to bring a suspension damping force closer to a desired damping force suited for the displacement input. So howzit work? At the risk of oversimplifying, the Bose system uses a linear electromagnetic motor (L.E.M.) at each wheel, in lieu of a conventional shock and spring setup. The L.E.M. has the ability to extend (as if into a pothole) and retract (as if over a bump) with much greater speed than a uid damper (taking just milliseconds, actually). These lightning-fast reexes and precise movement allow the wheels motion to be so nely controlled that the body of the car remains level, regardless of the goings-on at the wheel level. The L.E.M. can also counteract the body motion of a car while accelerating, braking and cornering, giving the driver a greater sense of control and passengers less of a need for Dramamine. To further the smooth ride goal, wheel dampers inside each wheel hub smooth out small road imperfections, isolating even

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Figure 8-9: Bose Electro-Magnetic Active Suspension System Conguration

those nuances from the passenger compartment. Torsion bars take care of supporting the vehicle, allowing the Bose system to concentrate on optimizing handling and ride dynamics. The Bose suspension system is controlled by a set of mathematical algorithms developed over the 24 years of research. These control algorithms operate by observing sensor measurements taken from around the car and sending commands to the power ampliers installed in each corner of the vehicle. The goal of the control algorithms is to allow the car to glide smoothly over roads and to eliminate roll and pitch during driving 8-10. The Linear Electro-Magnetic Actuator could be considered one of the most critical and important component of Bose Suspension System. Inside the Linear electro-magnetic actuator therere coils of wires and magnets, when the electrical power is applied to the coil the actuator generate a linear motion of retraction and expansion to the wheel and the cars body, so its obvious the linear actuator is installed in the place of the ordinary spring-dumper system on each wheel. One of its advantages is that the actuator response is so quickly to the external eects on the cars body like bumps and potholes. Figure 8-12 shows a actual picture of Bose Linear actuator. A power amplier supplies the juice to the L.E.M.s. The amplier is a regenerative design that uses the compression force to send power back through the amplier. Thanks to this ecient layout, the Bose suspension uses only about a third of the power of a vehicles air conditioning system. Of course, there are a few other key components in the system, such as control algorithms that Bose and his fellow brainiacs developed over a few decades of crunching numbers. The target total weight for the system is 200 pounds, a goal Bose is condent of attaining. The power amplier receives signals from the control algorithms and delivering it to the linear electromagnetic motor in the form of electrical power. Also the regenerative power amplier allow power to ow from and into the linear electromagnetic motor, For example, when the Bose suspension encounters a pothole, power is used to extend the motor and isolate the vehicles occupants from the disturbance. On the far side of the pothole, the motor operates as a generator and returns power back through the amplier. In so doing, the Bose suspension requires less than a third of the power of a typical vehicles air conditioner system.The control algorithms are observing the sensors measurements taken from around the cars body and sending commands to the power ampliers. Those control algorithms helps the smooth movement of the vehicle over roads and also helps with eliminate roll and pitch during driving. As shown in Figure 8-13 Bose Electro-Magnetic Suspension System could be easily installed in the vehi-

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Figure 8-10: Active Suspension System Control Algorithm

Figure 8-11: Model of the Full Vehicle

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Figure 8-12: Bose Linear Electro-Magnetic Actuator

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Figure 8-13: Bose Electro-Magnetic Suspension System Installed on a Typical Vehicle

cles front and rear suspension systems. The Bose suspension system uses a modular approach to replace the vehicles original front and rear suspension systems. In the front suspension it uses a modied McPherson strut layout, while in the rear suspension it uses a double-wishbone linkage to attach the linear electromagnetic motor between the vehicles body and each wheel. Also torsion springs are used to support the weight of the vehicle. Boses front suspension modules use a modied MacPherson strut layout and the rear suspension modules use a double-wishbonelinkage to attach a linear electricmagnetic motor between the vehicle body and each wheel.Torsion springs are used to support the weight of the vehicle.In addiion, the Bose suspension includes a wheel damper at each wheel to keep the tire from bouncing as it rolls down the road.Unlike conventional dampers,wich transmit vibrations to the vehicle occupants and sacrice comfort,the wheel damper in the Bose system operates without pushing against the car body,maintaining passenger comfort. prototypes of the Bose suspension have been installed in standard production vehicles. these research vehicles have been tested on a wide variety of reads. Figure 8-14 shows a clear comparison between the Bose and conventional suspension systems. Two vehicles of the same make and model are shown performing an agressive cornering maneuver. The vechile of the left has the original factory installed suspension and the vehicle on the right has the Bose suspension system. The major disadvantage of this new suspension system is that its totally depends on electric current and voltage coming from the cars battery as all the sensors are working with this electric current and also the power amplier, Which means that any failure in the vehicles electrical system will leads to a major failure in the suspension system and it will prevent the vehicle from further movement until xing the error. This problem cant be found on ordinary suspension system because its independent from the vehicles electrical components, which gives the ordinary suspension systems an advantage on the electromagnetic one. It is important to note here that after Bose announced its researches on the suspension system a company called Aura Systems devised (or at least tried to market) a similar linear electro-magnetic suspension system around 1991. They published an article in the Automotive Engineering Journal claiming that electromagnetic actuators could be used for vehicle suspensions and it said that small devices could be designed with a typical thrust capability of about 2500 Newtons and for a reasonable power demand. This happened at the same time that linear electro-magnetic rams were being developed for entertainment simulators and full ight simulators to replace hydraulic systems. In fact, it could be argued that the Aura Systems ram was a direct descendant of the rams found on Super-X entertainment simulators. The units looked very similar to the Bose devices and had the same limitation - they could not carry the dead weight of the vehicle. Aura Systems run into nancial troubles in 2000, and led for Chapter 11 in