Studies on the Characteristics of a New Suspension System

In two previous papers, the authors proposed a new type of isolator for shock and vibration and conducted a collision experiment with a new bumper system using the new isolator. This paper is a study on the suspension characteristics of the isolator.

In the new suspension system, a crankshaft acting as an isolator swings around the center of the front wheel. The body of the vehicle is mounted on this crankshaft. When an obstacle on the road causes a horizontal shock to be applied to the vehicle, the crankshaft swings around the wheel center and reduces the shock. This swinging mechanism is designed to greatly reduce the stiffness of the suspension system in the longitudinal direction. It is, therefore, expected to improve suspension characteristics.

We performed an experiment on a motorcycle which verified that the suspension characteristics were improved as expected.