Experimental and Analytical Property Characterization of a Self-Damped Pneumatic Suspension System

This study investigates the fundamental stiffness and damping properties of a self-damped pneumatic suspension system, based on both the experimental and analytical analyses. The pneumatic suspension system consists of a pneumatic cylinder and an accumulator that are connected by an orifice, where damping is realized by the gas flow resistance through the orifice. The nonlinear suspension system model is derived and also linearized for facilitating the properties characterization. An experimental setup is also developed for validating both the formulated nonlinear and linearized models. The comparisons between the measured data and simulation results demonstrate the validity of the models under the operating conditions considered. Two suspension property measures, namely equivalent stiffness coefficient and loss factor, are further formulated. The fundamental stiffness and damping properties are then analyzed in terms of these two measures, based on both the experimental and analytical/simulation results. The effectiveness of these two measures on relatively characterizing the property of the orifice-type self-damped pneumatic suspension system is demonstrated, and some general findings on the suspension properties are also obtained.