Four-Wheel Vehicle Response under Bump, Pothole, Harmonic, and Random Excitations Using Bond Graph/Simulink Technique

The present article analyses a 7 degrees of freedom full car model of a light four-wheel wheeler formulated analytically and using the bond graph/Simulink technique. A full car model formulated using the Bond graph/Simulink technique is fed with the bump, pothole, harmonic, and random excitations to analyze the vehicle’s dynamic behavior. The bond graph/Simulink model is validated by comparing its results with that of the analytical model when subjected to circular bump inputs and comparing its results with that of the field test when subjected to random inputs. The vehicle model is fitted with a skyhook control strategy on the axles and the response of the semi-active system is compared with the passive system. The present analysis suggests that a vehicle system with semi-active suspension shows improved vibration isolation characteristics as compared with passive suspension system when subjected to different types of excitations.