CHAPTER-VI

RESPONSE OF PASSIVE AND SEMI-ACTIVE SUSPENSION

SYSTEMS
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6.1 Introduction
In order to compare the performance of semi-active suspension system using Skyhook control algorithm and passive suspension system a 2 DOF quarter car model is
considered with the following parameters mentioned in the Table. 6.1.
Table 6.1 Parameters of the passenger car model with various sizes
Parameters (symbols)

Values
Heavy

Medium

Light car

8200 kg

1010 kg

656 kg

Spring stiffness of front axle

suspension (Ks)

0.4MN/m

35,000 N/m

15,000 N/m

Damping coefficient of axle

suspension (Cs)

5kN-sec/m

2kN-sec/m

1189 N-sec/m

Stiffness of front tires( Ku)

0.1MN/m

0.25MN/m

0.15MN/m

1,000 N-sec/m

1500N-sec/m

100 kg

90 kg

41kg

Sprung mass (M)

Damping coefficients of front tires

(Cu)
Mass of front axle (M1)

By using above parameters a study has been conducted to find out the Sky-hook
response in terms of displacement, and acceleration of the three systems in Table 6.1.

6.1.1 Response study of heavy vehicle system

Displacement response of the heavy vehicle system for a Sky-hook control
strategy in a semi-active and passive suspension systems is shown in Fig. 6.1 which is
simulated using MATLAB/SIMULINK for a quarter model with the dimensions given in
Table. 6.1. Similarly, acceleration response of heavy vehicle quarter car model in
frequency domain is plotted in Fig. 6.2.
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Fig. 6.1 Displacement response of heavy vehicle Time domain

From the above Fig.6.1, the plot is observed between time and displacement for
bump profile, displacement of sprung mass for passive and semi-active suspension system.
For passive system maximum amplitude is 0.04m and for the semi-active system
maximum amplitude occurred is 0.03m.

Fig. 6.2 Acceleration response of heavy vehicle frequency domain

From the Fig. 6.2, acceleration amplitude of the sprung mass for passive and semiactive suspension are 0.23 m/s2 and 0.16 m/s2. It is observed that there is a shift in the peak
for semi-active suspension system occurred due to variable damping.
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6.1.2 Response study of medium vehicle system

Displacement response of the medium vehicle system for a Sky-hook control
strategy in a semi-active and passive suspension systems is shown in Fig. 6.3 which is
simulated using MATLAB/SIMULINK for a quarter model with the dimensions given in
Table. 6.1. Similarly, acceleration response of medium vehicle quarter car model in
frequency domain is plotted in Fig. 6.4.

Fig. 6.3 Displacement response of medium vehicle Time domain

From the Fig. 6.3 response of a sprung mass is observed in time vs displacement
domain. It is found that maximum amplitude occurred at 0.025m and 0.019m for the
passive suspension system and semi-active suspension system.

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Fig. 6.4 Response of medium vehicle frequency domain

From the Fig. 6.4 the acceleration response for the sprung mass is studied in
frequency domain for the medium car model. It is found out that maximum response
occurred at the natural frequencies of bounce mode of sprung mass i.e., at 1.2Hz for
passive system with an amplitude of 0.27m/s2 and 1.4Hz for semi-active suspension system
with an amplitude of 0.38m/s 2 respectively. The shift in the peak occurred due to the with
variation in damping coefficient in the semi-active suspension system.
6.1.3 Response study of small vehicle system
Displacement response of the small vehicle system for a Sky-hook control strategy
in a semi-active and passive suspension systems is shown in Fig. 6.5 which is simulated
using MATLAB/SIMULINK for a quarter model with the dimensions given in Table. 6.1.
Similarly, acceleration response of small vehicle quarter car model in frequency domain is
plotted in Fig. 6.6.

Fig. 6.5 Displacement response of small vehicle Time domain

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From the Fig. 6.5 time displacement response of a sprung mass is studied, it is
found out that the response of the passive system is slow and it took more to settle down
when compared with that of the semi-active suspension system.

Fig. 6.6 Acceleration response of small vehicle frequency domain

From Fig. 6.6 the acceleration response of sprung mass is studied in frequency
domain for the small car model. It is found that maximum response occurred at the natural
frequencies of the system for the bounce mode of sprung mass i.e., at 1.2 Hz with an
amplitude of 0.39 m/s2 for passive suspension system and 1.4 Hz with an amplitude of
0.26 m/s2 for semi-active suspension system.
From above analysis of quarter car models it is found that with sky-hook control
strategy in semi-active suspension system the improvement in acceleration of sprung mass
is 38 %, 32% and 30% respectively for heavy, medium and small vehicle models. A
penalty of 8% is taken into account for the small car model while adopting sky-hook
control strategy to find the response of the sprung mass for ride comfort traversing over
various road profiles.
6.2 Various road tests
A comparison is drawn between passive suspension system and semi-active
suspension system by considering different road excitation for a full car model.
6.2.1 Response to circular bump excitation
Transient excitation in the form of a circular bump is given as road input for fullcar model moving at 20 kmph and simulation is carried out using MATLAB/SIMULINK
in time domain for studying the displacement of the sprung-mass for passive and semisuspension as shown in the Fig. 6.7
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Fig. 6.7
domain

Displacement of sprung mass passing over a circular bump - Time

From the Fig. 6.7,Sprung mass displacement magnitude for semi-active suspension
system based on Sky-hook control algorithm is low when compared with passive
suspension system. Also the maximum displacement of the sprung mass occurs earlier than
that of the passive suspension system and there is no negative displacement. This shows
that semi-active suspension system gives lower value of maximum sprung mass
displacement for given bump road excitation hence compared with passive suspension
system with less suspension travel.
Using FFT the time domain data for acceleration of the sprung mass is
converted into frequency domain. In the frequency domain maximum sprung mass
acceleration amplitude of semi-active suspension system is less than that of the passive
system. So, it shows that semi-active suspension system gives good ride comfort when
compared to passive suspension system

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Fig. 6.8 Acceleration response of sprung mass passing over a circular

bump - Frequency domain
Also, from the Fig. 6.8, in the mid-range frequency of 4-9Hz, where the natural
frequencies for various parts of human body lie, we find that there is decrease in the
amplitude, which reflects the increase in human comfort. Hence, semi-active suspension
system with Sky-hook control is showing favourable results in terms of human comfort.
6.3 Response to pot-hole excitation
Sometimes will come across pot-holes on the rural roads. So, pot-hole excitation is
given as input for the full-car model and simulation is carried out to find out the sprungmass displacement for active and semi-active suspension systems.

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Displacement (m)

Time(s)
Fig. 6.9 Displacement of sprung mass for pot-hole excitation - Time domain
From the above Fig. 6.9, it can be observed that semi-active suspension shows
good vibration isolation characteristics by reducing the displacement of sprung-mass when
compared to passive suspension system.

Fig. 6.10 Acceleration response of sprung mass for pot-hole excitation - Frequency domain
Also, from Fig.6.10 frequency domain analysis for acceleration of sprung-mass it
can be observed that there is decrease in amplitude of sprung mass acceleration at
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frequency of 1.2Hz, which indicates frequency corresponding to natural frequency of

bounce of sprung-mass.
6.4 Response to harmonic road excitation
A sinusoidal input as developed in chapter-3, Fig. 3.10, with amplitude of 0.01m is
given as road excitation to the full-car model, where a passive and semi-active suspension

Displacement (m)

system sprung mass displacement responses are compared.

Time ( s)
Fig. 6.11 Displacement of sprung mass for harmonic excitation - Time domain
For harmonic road excitation as represented in the Fig. 6.11, a comparison is drawn
between passive and semi-active suspension system for the sprung mass displacement.
From the Fig. 6.6, for passive suspension system the sprung-mass displacement is higher
than the road excitation amplitude and for the semi-active suspension system there is
decrease in displacement amplitude for sprung mass.

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Fig. 6.12 Acceleration of sprung mass for harmonic excitation - Frequency domain
From the Fig. 6.12, frequency domain analysis for harmonic road excitation, we
can see the representation of passive and semi-active suspension system acceleration
response. For, passive system there is a peak value of acceleration amplitude which is
much higher compared to that of semi-active suspension system.
6.5 Response to random road excitation
The full car model is fed with random road profile shown in Fig. 3.12 and the
displacement response of the sprung mass is studied in the time domain analysis.

Fig. 6.13 Displacement of sprung mass for random excitation - Time domain
From the Fig. 6.13, displacement of sprung mass with respect to time is studied for
passive and semi-active suspension system. It is found that for semi-active suspension
system there is decrease in amplitude of vibration to the sprung mass when compared with
that of passive suspension system.
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Accleration(m/s2)

Frequency(s)
Fig. 6.14 Acceleration of sprung mass for random excitation - Frequency domain
From Fig. 6.14, frequency domain analysis of random road excitation, we can
observe various peaks occurring due to bounce, rolling and pitching. Due to experiencing
of random vibration rolling and pitching which are predominant during steering and
accelerating conditions are also occurring in this excitation. From the above Fig. 6.14
frequency peaks are occurring at 0.8, 1.2, 1.5 Hz which indicates the natural frequencies
for mode of vibration of rolling, bouncing and pitching. Also, from the figure we can
conclude that there is decrease in the amplitude of vibration to sprung-mass when
compared to passive suspension system.
So, therefore from the above analysis of semi-active suspension and passive system
we can observe that there is decrease in amplitude of vibration transmitted to the sprungmass for semi-active active when compared with passive suspension system.

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