AutomotiveSuspension

Thisexampleshowshowtomodelasimplifiedhalfcarmodelthatincludesan
OpenModel
independentfrontandrearverticalsuspension.Themodelalsoincludesbodypitch
andbouncedegreesoffreedom.Theexampleprovidesadescriptionofthemodelto
showhowsimulationcanbeusedtoinvestigateridecharacteristics.Youcanusethismodelinconjunctionwithapowertrain
simulationtoinvestigatelongitudinalshuffleresultingfromchangesinthrottlesetting.

AnalysisandPhysics

Figure1:Afreebodydiagramofthehalfcarmodel
Figure1illustratesthemodeledcharacteristicsofthehalfcar.Thefrontandrearsuspensionaremodeledasspring/damper
systems.Amoredetailedmodelwouldincludeatiremodel,anddampernonlinearitiessuchasvelocitydependentdamping(with
greaterdampingduringreboundthancompression).Thevehiclebodyhaspitchandbouncedegreesoffreedom.Theyare
representedinthemodelbyfourstates:verticaldisplacement,verticalvelocity,pitchangulardisplacement,andpitchangular
velocity.Afullmodelwithsixdegreesoffreedomcanbeimplementedusingvectoralgebrablockstoperformaxistransformations
andforce/displacement/velocitycalculations.Thefrontsuspensioninfluencesthebounce(i.e.verticaldegreeoffreedom)according
toEquation1.
Equation1

ThepitchcontributiontothefrontsuspensionisgivenbyEquation2.
Equation2

Equation3containsexpressionsfortherearsuspension.
Equation3

TheforcesandmomentsresultinbodymotionaccordingtoNewton'sSecondLaw(seeEquation4).
Equation4

TheModel
Toopenthismodel,typesldemo_suspninMATLABCommandWindow.Figure2showsthetopleveldiagramofthesuspension
model.

Figure2:Topleveldiagramofthesuspensionmodel
ThesuspensionmodelshowninFigure2hastwoinputs,andbothinputblocksareblueonthemodeldiagram.Thefirstinputisthe
roadheight.Astepinputherecorrespondstothevehicledrivingoveraroadsurfacewithastepchangeinheight.Thesecondinput
isahorizontalforceactingthroughthecenterofthewheelsthatresultsfrombrakingoraccelerationmaneuvers.Thisinputappears
onlyasamomentaboutthepitchaxisbecausethelongitudinalbodymotionisnotmodeled.

Figure3:TheSpring/DampermodelusedinFrontSuspensionandRearSuspensionsubsystems
Thespring/dampersubsystemthatmodelsthefrontandrearsuspensionsisshowninFigure3.RightclickontheFront/Rear
SuspensionblockandselectMask>LookUnderMasktoseethefront/rearsuspensionsubsystem.Thesuspensionsubsystems
areusedtomodelEquations13.TheequationsareimplementeddirectlyintheSimulinkdiagramthroughthestraightforwarduse
ofGainandSummationblocks.
Thedifferencesbetweenfrontandrearareaccountedforasfollows.Becausethesubsystemisamaskedblock,adifferentdata
set(L,KandC)canbeenteredforeachinstance.Furthermore,ListhoughtofastheCartesiancoordinatex,beingnegativeor
positivewithrespecttotheorigin,orcenterofgravity.Thus,Kf,Cf,andLfareusedforthefrontsuspensionblockwhereasKr,
Cr,andLrareusedfortherearsuspensionblock.

RunningtheSimulation
Torunthismodel,pressthePlaybuttononthetoolbarinthemodelwindow.Initialconditionsareloadedintothemodelworkspace
fromthesldemo_suspdat.mfile(openthisfiletoviewitscontents).ToseethecontentsofthemodelworkspacegotoViewmenu
>ModelExplorer,lookunderthecontentsofthesldemo_suspnmodelandselect"ModelWorkspace".Loadinginitialconditionsin
themodelworkspacepreventsanyaccidentalmodificationsofparametersandkeepsMATLABworkspaceclean.
NotethatthemodellogsrelevantdatatoMATLABworkspaceinadatastructurecalledsldemo_suspn_output.Typethenameof
thestructuretoseewhatdataitcontains.ReadmoreaboutsignallogginginSimulinkHelp.

Figure4:Simulationresults
SimulationresultsaredisplayedinFigure4.Theresultsareplottedbythesldemo_suspgraph.m(youcanopenthisfiletoseehow
itisdone).ThedefaultinitialconditionsaregiveninTable1below.
Table1:Defaultinitialconditions
Lf=0.9;%fronthubdisplacementfrombodygravitycenter(m)
Lr=1.2;%rearhubdisplacementfrombodygravitycenter(m)
Mb=1200;%bodymass(kg)
Iyy=2100;%bodymomentofinertiaaboutyaxisin(kgm^2)
kf=28000;%frontsuspensionstiffnessin(N/m)
kr=21000;%rearsuspensionstiffnessin(N/m)
cf=2500;%frontsuspensiondampingin(Nsec/m)
cr=2000;%rearsuspensiondampingin(Nsec/m)

ClosingtheModel
ClosethemodelanddeletegenerateddatafromMATLABworkspace.

Conclusions
Thismodelallowsyoutosimulatetheeffectsofchangingthesuspensiondampingandstiffness,therebyinvestigatingthetradeoff
betweencomfortandperformance.Ingeneral,racingcarshaveverystiffspringswithahighdampingfactor,whereaspassenger
vehicleshavesofterspringsandamoreoscillatoryresponse.