Variation in Automotive Shock Absorber Damping Characteristics & Their Effects on Ride Comfort Attribute and Vehicle Yaw Response

In a Passive suspension, a shock absorber generates damping force by pressurizing the oil flow between chambers. Typically, vehicle responds with suspension deflection, which significantly depends on damping forces and suspension velocity. Tuning dampers for various roads and steering input is an iterative balancing process. In any setting, damping force w.r.t velocity is tuned for optimum ride and handling performance. Practically, to achieve a balance between the two is a tedious task as the choices & arrangements of inner parts like piston, port, valve etc., which defines the forces set up [soft / hard] are almost infinite. The objective of this paper is to measure, objectify and evaluate the performance of two such optimum setting in various ride and handling events. A passenger car set up with an optimum soft & hard suspension damping force is studied for various ride and handling sub-attributes and their conflicts are examined in detail from a performance point of view: