An Analytical Target Setting Procedure for the Design of the Suspension System of a Tractor-Semi-Trailer Combination

A target-setting procedure for the design of the suspension system of a tractor-semi-trailer combination is described in this paper. This procedure is based on computer modeling and simulation of the complete vehicle system, as well as the modeling and simulation of suspension subsystems. The procedure relies heavily on computer-aided engineering software which provides the capability for automating the modeling and simulation of various suspension configurations, designing the screening test matrix, generating the response surface associated with each vehicle performance metric, and performing the multi-objective optimization with deterministic and stochastic constraints. The key to the success of this procedure is having a vehicle model wherein the inputs to the model are the attributes of the suspension subsystem, which in turn, become the design targets during the design of the suspension subsystem. The main benefit derived from the use of this procedure is the systematic determination of the targets, and an overall reduction in the design cycle time.