The settings of adaptive suspension elements may be switched from a comfortable “soft” characteristic to a safe and “firm” characteristic. Thus the possibility is given to not only improve the ride comfort, but the dynamic driving behavior as well, since no compromise must be made between these two criteria when tuning the suspensions.
Such systems seem to be very promising for commercial vehicles, as - because of their changing loading conditions - it is very difficult to design an optimal suspension system using conventional springs and dampers.
This paper describes the influence of shock absorbers and air springs with variable characteristics on the ride comfort and the dynamic behavior of a 15-t-truck by investigations done with a simulation system. A series production vehicle without adaptive suspension elements serves as basis. At first the results of measurements and simulations are compared and show a very good concurrence. On this basis, by employing the simulation model, it is possible to state realistic conclusions regarding the behavior of the vehicle with altered damper- and air spring characteristics.
The results of the simulations show, that the soft settings of the adaptive suspension elements will distinctly improve the ride comfort. Compared with the series production vehicle, it is possible to improve the dynamic behavior, especially for transient maneuvers, as well through the firm settings of the adaptive elements. These investigations confirm the fact, that adaptive suspension elements generate a gain in ride comfort as well as in driving safety and thus demonstrate that continuous investigations of such systems for commercial vehicles will be rewarding.