Indoor/Outdoor Testing of a Passenger Car Suspension for Vibration and Harshness Analysis

This paper presents a validation method for indoor testing of a passenger car suspension. A study was done to design a supporting modular structure with comparable inertances with respect to a vehicle's actual suspension and body connection points. For the indoor test, the rear axle is positioned on a rotating drum. The suspension system is excited as the wheel passes over cleats fixed on the drum and transient wheel motions are recorded. The indoor test rig outputs (i.e., wheel and chassis accelerations) were compared with experimental data measured on an actual vehicle running at different speeds on the same set of cleats along a flat road. The comparison results validate the indoor testing method. The forces and moments acting at each suspension and chassis connection point were measured with a set of patented six-axis load cells. The forces, moments, wheel and subframe accelerations were measured up to 120 Hz. This study yielded a set of performance indexes by analyzing the forces and acceleration measured on the suspension system (the force measure is possible only on the indoor test rig). The influence of the running conditions and suspension settings on the indexes for vibration behaviour of the tire and suspension system was assessed and a global sensitivity analysis has been completed.