ADAMA SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING(Msc)

SEMINAR TOPIC:SUSPENSION DYNAMICS
MEMBERS

1.Sewagegn Zewudie…..PGR/19301/12
2.Tigist Andarge…..….…PGR/19303/12
3.Tsion Mekonen………….PGR/19304/12
4.Aschalew aynalem…..…PGR/18433/11

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 Suspension Dynamic
Introduction
 The vehicle suspension system is responsible for
driving comfort and safety as the suspension caries
the vehicle body and transmits all forces between
the body and the road.
 The suspension system of an automobile is one
which separates the wheel/axle Assembly from the
body.
 A vehicle suspension system is a complex vibration
system having multiple degrees of freedom.
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 cont
 These enable the suspension system to adapt to various driving

conditions.

 The vehicle suspension system consists of 1)wishbones,

2) the spring and

3) the shock absorber to transmit and also filter all forces between the

body and road.

 The damper contributes to both driving safety and comfort.

 Its task is the damping of body and wheel oscillations

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Main components of suspension systems
A vehicle suspension system is made of four main components-
mechanism, spring, shock absorber, and bushings-as shown in Figure 1

Figure 1 The main components of a suspension system.

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Requirements of a suspension system
Low initial cost.
Minimum weight.
Minimum tyre wear.
Minimum deflection consistent with required
stability.

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 cont…

Driving Safety
 Driving safety is the result of a harmonious
suspension design in terms of wheel suspension,
springing, steering, and braking, and is reflected in
an optimal dynamic behavior of the vehicle.
 Tire load variation is an indicator for the road
contact and can be used for determining a
quantitative value for safety

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 Driving Comfort
• Comfort results from keeping the physiological
stress that the vehicle occupants are
subjected to by vibrations, noise, and climatic
conditions down to as low a level as possible.
• The acceleration of the body is an obvious
quantity for the motion and vibration of the
car body and can be used for determining a
quantitative value for driving comfort

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 Objective Suspension System
 To prevent the road shock from being transmitted
to the vehicle parts, there by providing suitable
riding and cushioning effect to the occupants
 To reduce wear on the tire
 To keep the vehicle stable while in motion by
providing good road holding during the driving,
cornering and braking.
 To provide safe vehicle control and free of irritating
vibration
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 Function of suspension system
 To maximize the friction between the tires and
the road surface
 To provide steering stability with good
handling
 To ensure the comfort of the passengers

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Car suspension part

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 Cont…

• Frame - structural, load-carrying component that supports the

car's engine and body, which are in turn supported by the
suspension.
• Suspension System - setup that supports weight absorbs and
dampens shock, and helps maintain tire contact.

• Steering System - mechanism that enables the driver to guide

and direct the vehicle.
• Tires and Wheels - components that make vehicle motion
possible by way of grip and/or friction with the road. So the
suspension is just one of the major systems in any vehicle
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The major type of vehicle suspension spring

A. Springs
• Today's springing systems are based on one of
four basic designs
i ) Coil springs .
Coil springs compress and expand to absorb the
motion of the wheels.

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) Leaf Springs - This type of spring consists of several
layers of metal (called "leaves") bound together to act
as a single unit. .

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 iii) Torsion Bars - Torsion bars use the twisting
properties of a steel bar to provide like coil-
spring- performance.
One end of a bar is anchored to the vehicle
frame.
 The other end is attached to a wishbone
which acts like a lever that moves
perpendicular to the torsion bar.

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When the wheel hits a bump vertical motion is transferred
to the wishbone and then, through the levering action, to
the torsion bar.
 The torsion bar then twists along its axis to provide the
spring force.

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 iv) Air Springs –
Air springs, which consist of a cylindrical
chamber of air positioned between the
wheel and the car's body, use the
compressive qualities of air to absorb
wheel vibrations.

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 B) Dampers:( Shock Absorbers)
 Unless a dampening structure is present, a car spring
will extend and release the energy it absorbs from a
bump at an uncontrolled rate.
 The spring will continue to bounce at its natural
frequency until all of the energy originally put into it
is used up.
 The shock absorber, or snubber, a device that
controls unwanted spring motion through a process
known as dampening.

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Shock Absorbers parts

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 Suspension Types
a) Dependent Suspensions
 Dependent front suspensions have a rigid front
axle that connects the wheels.
 The movement of a wheel on one side of the axle
to be dependent from the movement of the wheel
on the other side of the axle.
 it looks like a solid bar under the front of the car
kept in place by leaf springs and shock absorbers.
 It is common on trucks

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 b) Independent Suspensions
 The movement of a wheel on one side of the axle to be independent

from the movement of the wheel on the other side of the axle.

 The MacPherson strut is independent suspension that combines a

shock absorber and a coil spring into a single unit.

 This provides a more compact and lighter suspension system that

can be used for front-wheel drive vehicles.

 The double-wishbone suspension is also another common type of

independent suspension.
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Figure 3 independent suspension

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 Basic Consideration for Suspension System
Vertical loading
 when the road wheel comes across the bump or a
pit on the road it is subjected to vertical forces
depending on the load irregularity which are
absorbed by the elastic compression, shear,
bending, twisting properties of spring.
 To reduce the pitching tendency of the vehicle, the
front system should be less springing than the rear
suspension system.
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 Cont…
Rolling
 The center of gravity (C.G.) of the vehicle is considerably above
the ground.
 As a result while taking turns the centrifugal force acts outwards on
the C.G. of vehicle, while the load resistance acts inwards at the
wheels.
 This give rise to a couple turning the vehicle about the longitudinal
axis called rolling.
Brake dip and squat
 when applying brakes the nose of the vehicle dips which depends
on the position of C.G. relative to the ground, wheel base and other
suspension characteristics. This phenomenon is called as dip.
 In the same way the torque loads during acceleration tend to lift
the front of vehicle. This effect is called as squat. 24
 Cont…

Side thrust
 Centrifugal force during cornering, crosswinds, cambering
of the road causes side thrust.
Road holding
 The degree to which vehicle maintains the contact with
the road surface in various types of directional changes as
well as in straight line motion is called as road holding
Unsprung weight
 Unsprung weight is the weight of the vehicle components
between suspension and road surface (Rear axle assembly,
steering knuckle, front axle, wheels).
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Different suspension system model and analysis

A) Quarter Car Analysis

 The model represents a single suspension from one of the
four corners of the vehicle, this 2 DOF system is often
referred to as the “quarter-car” model.
 The input to this model is a displacement input which is
representative of a typical road profile.
 The input excites the first degree of freedom (the un-
sprung mass of a quarter of the vehicle, representing the
wheel, tire, and some suspension components) through a
spring element which represents the tire stiffness.

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Where  
 = Sprung Mass (mass of car body)  = Sprung Mass displacement
 = Un-sprung Mass (mass of chassis and  = Un-sprung Mass
wheel) displacement
 = Spring Stiffness  Y = Road Disturbance
 = Tire Stiffness
 = Damping Coefficient
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B) Half Car Analysis
Side half
 The model is represented as a linear Four DOF
system.
 It consists of car body (single sprung mass)
connected to front and rear wheels (two un-sprung
masses) at each corner.
 The sprung mass is free to heave and pitch. The
sprung masses are free to bounce vertically with
respect to the sprung mass.

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