Superbus Suspension System and Initial Correlation between Vehicle Dynamic Simulations and Testing Results

The Superbus is a new vehicle for collective transport that travels safely and comfortably at high speeds and with good handling. The vehicle is 15m long, 1.65 m high, weighs 9 ton and carries 23 passengers plus the driver. The suspension system has been specifically designed with the aim to provide a good compromise between comfort and handling for the specific operational characteristic of the Superbus. The vehicle travels at high seed (250 kph cruising speed) on dedicated infrastructures and at conventional speeds on existing roads. Therefore the range of operational driving conditions has enforce a new design which uses a double wishbone design, adaptive dampers and an hydraulic lifting systems which varies the height of the vehicle from 70mm to 400mm from the ground. Thought the design phase a number of vehicle dynamics analyses have been performed, which showed that the Superbus is a safe vehicle to drive at high speeds and that is very comfortable. A rendering of the Superbus, the hybrid chassis used for suspensions set up, the rear double axle suspension system.

In this paper the Superbus suspension systems will be described in terms of the operational driving conditions and resulting design and the major results from the vehicle dynamics analyses. Then, the various components will be described and the manufacturing and assembly processes will be discussed. For the initial roll out and set up of the suspension system a hybrid chassis was used (which simulates the composite chassis with respect to bending and torsional stiffness, weight and weight distribution). Finally, the initial correlation between simulation and testing results will be presented.