Interactive Design of Off-Highway Vehicle Suspensions

Engineers from design, test and analysis teamed together to develop a suspension for the John Deere 862 Scraper. The design engineer coordinated developmental activities of the team. The engineering analyst helped evaluate initial design alternatives using an interactive program to predict ride performance. The test engineers instrumented a scraper to measure ride performance under a variety of conditions and suggested practical changes to the mechanical and hydraulic components of the suspension to improve its performance. The team approach proved to be a cost effective, timely approach to the design of off-highway vehicle suspensions.