Investigation of Active Car Suspension with Pneumatic Muscle

The paper presents a study of active car suspension and the ways for vibration damping improvement. Road irregularities are the main factor affecting ride comfort. The aim of suspension is to improve these undesirable effects by isolating the car body from wheel vibrations induced by uneven terrain. The main objective of active suspension system is to reduce motions of the sprung mass. Damping input is a force applied between the sprung and unsprung masses. Main suspension damping element is the FESTO pneumatic muscle (a.k.a. artificial muscle). A frequentatives characteristic of artificial muscle was determinate and possibilities work in frequencies characteristic excitation from new and wearied asphalt pavement is analyzed.