This paper presents a method for the identification of control-related signal paths dedicated to a semi-active suspension with MR (magnetorheological) dampers, which are installed in place of ...standard shock absorbers. The main challenge comes from the fact that the semi-active suspension needs to be simultaneously subjected to road-induced excitation and electric currents supplied to the suspension MR dampers, while a response signal needs to be decomposed into road-related and control-related components. During experiments, the front wheels of an all-terrain vehicle were subjected to sinusoidal vibration excitation at a frequency equal to 12 Hz using a dedicated diagnostic station and specialised mechanical exciters. The harmonic type of road-related excitation allowed for its straightforward filtering from identification signals. Additionally, front suspension MR dampers were controlled using a wideband random signal with a 25 Hz bandwidth, different realisations, and several configurations, which differed in the average values and deviations of control currents. The simultaneous control of the right and left suspension MR dampers made it necessary to decompose the vehicle vibration response, i.e., the front vehicle body acceleration signal, into components related to the forces generated by different MR dampers. Measurement signals used for identification were taken from numerous sensors available in the vehicle, e.g., accelerometers, suspension force and deflection sensors, and sensors of electric currents, which control the instantaneous damping parameters of MR dampers. The final identification was carried out for control-related models evaluated in the frequency domain and revealed several resonances of the vehicle response and their dependence on the configurations of control currents. In addition, the parameters of the vehicle model with MR dampers and the diagnostic station were estimated based on the identification results. The analysis of the simulation results of the implemented vehicle model carried out in the frequency domain showed the influence of the vehicle load on the absolute values and phase shifts of control-related signal paths. The potential future application of the identified models lies in the synthesis and implementation of adaptive suspension control algorithms such as FxLMS (filtered-x least mean square). Adaptive vehicle suspensions are especially preferred for their ability to quickly adapt to varying road conditions and vehicle parameters.
The article presents a method of vibrating screen trajectory control based on MR (magnetorheological) dampers applied in a screen suspension. A mathematical description of the dynamic screen model ...was derived, and parameters of this model were estimated based on experimental data from a semi-industrial vibrating screen. The investigated screen included a single mechanical exciter with unbalanced masses, generating a circular vibration trajectory and operating with over-resonant frequency close to 19 Hz. It was experimentally tested in several phases of operation: start-up, nominal operation at a target vibration frequency and shutdown. The implemented screen model was further extended and included several MR dampers oriented horizontally and vertically in the form of Bouc-Wen models. The Bouc-Wen model was identified based on experiments carried out for an MR damper subjected to harmonic excitations generated by the MTS (material testing system). Dominant frequencies of excitation varied by up to 20 Hz during experiments. The main novelty of the reported solution is that according to the proposed control algorithm, the desired forces generated by MR dampers emulate an additional virtual mechanical exciter of the vibrating screen. In turn, it interacts with the available exciter, resulting in conversion of the trajectory from circular to linear, which was validated in the presented study. For the purpose of simulation accuracy, the desired control force was additionally limited within the simulator by MR damper dissipative domain, which maps the constraints of a semi-active damper. The presented approach allows one to obtain a close to linear trajectory with only one exciter and with semi-active control of suspension stiffness. The results were successfully repeated with different configurations of desired trajectory, indicating that the effectiveness of the desired linear trajectory generation depends on its orientation. The reported findings may lead to the design of new vibrating screen constructions, taking advantage of the semi-active control of a suspension in the attenuation of disturbance resulting from varying processed material parameters.
The article is dedicated to the control of magnetorheological dampers (MR) included in a semi-active suspension of an all-terrain vehicle moving along a rough road profile. The simulation results of ...a half-car model and selected feedback vibration control algorithms are presented and analysed with respect to the improvement of driving safety features, such as road holding and vehicle handling. Constant control currents correspond to the passive suspension of different damping parameters. Independent Skyhook control of suspension parts represents the robust and widely used semi-active algorithm. Furthermore, its extension allows for the control of vehicle body heave and pitch vibration modes. Tests of the algorithms are carried out for a vehicle model that is synthesised with particular emphasis on mapping different phenomena occurring in a moving vehicle. The coupling of the vehicle to the road and environment is described by non-linear tire-road friction, rolling resistance, and aerodynamic drag. The pitching behaviour of the vehicle body, as well as the deflection of the suspension, is described by a suspension sub-model that exhibits four degrees of freedom. Further, three degrees of freedom of the complete model describe longitudinal movement of the vehicle and angular motion of its wheels. The MR damper model that is based on hyperbolic tangent function is favoured for describing the key phenomena of the MR damper behaviour, including non-linear shape and force saturation that are represented by force-velocity characteristics. The applied simulation environment is used for the evaluation of different semi-active control algorithms supported by an inverse MR damper model. The vehicle model is subjected to vibration excitation that is induced by road irregularities and road manoeuvres, such as accelerating and braking. The implemented control algorithms and different configurations of passive suspension are compared while using driving-safety-related quality indices.
The paper presents an analysis of vehicle vibration, ride comfort and handling which have a decisive influence on health and safety of a driver. Experiments were carried out for a commercially ...available experimental all-terrain vehicle in the field in hard conditions with retaining the sufficient repeatability. The vehicle is equipped with a complex vibration control system, taking advantage of four automotive magnetorheological dampers. Numerous sensors, which measure acceleration in four points of the vehicle body, near the driver’s seat, feet and hands, body orientation in space and speed of vehicle wheels, are available in the vehicle. They were used for evaluation of magnetorheological dampers’ control signals and analysis of vibration affecting the driver. Constant values of magnetorheological damper control current were used for emulation of different settings of passive suspension. The analysis performed in frequency domain showed how vibration propagates in a medium-sized all-terrain vehicle and indicated that driver’s hands are mostly affected by the road-induced vibration. It was also confirmed that the greatest improvement of ride comfort can be obtained for the soft suspension, i.e. uncontrolled magnetorheological dampers. Furthermore, the Skyhook algorithm was implemented, including the proportional control of the magnetorheological damper force and the inverse Tanh model of the magnetorheological damper. It was validated for the wideband road-induced excitation contrary to the experiments commonly presented in the literature, which are performed only for harmonic excitation. It was shown that the properly tuned Skyhook algorithm enables improving vehicle handling compared to the passive suspension and simultaneously it can maintain the similar or even better results of ride comfort.
The paper presents an experimental analysis of the selected feedback vibration control schemes dedicated to magnetorheological dampers, related to ride comfort and road holding. They were applied in ...a complex vibration control system installed in a commercially available off-road vehicle. Original shock-absorbers of the vehicle were replaced with magnetorheological dampers. The control system takes advantage of numerous sensors installed in the vehicle tracking its motion, i.e. accelerometers, suspension deflection sensors (linear variable differential transformer) and IMU module. Vibration control algorithms: Skyhook, PI, and Groundhook were tested experimentally using mechanical exciters adapted for diagnosis of a vehicle suspension system. Since the presented semi-active vibration control requires the magnetorheological damper inverse model to be applied, accurate operation of this model significantly influences the quality of vibration control. Therefore, additional analysis was related to application of measurements from accelerometers or suspension deflection sensors in the inverse model. Presented variants of control algorithms were compared by means of transmissibility characteristics evaluated in the frequency domain as well as using ride-comfort- and driving-safety-related quality indices. It was confirmed that the Skyhook control as well as PI improved ride comfort, whereas Groundhook control improved road holding and decreases vibration of the wheels. Furthermore, it was shown that both approaches to the relative velocity estimation, based on accelerometers and linear variable differential transformers, can be used in this application. However, the first solution gives better results in the case of the Skyhook and PI control, whereas application of LVDT sensors is better for the Groundhook algorithm.
The efficiency of vibration control in an automotive semi-active suspension system depends on the quality of information from sensors installed in the vehicle, including information about deflection ...of the suspension system. The control algorithm for vibration attenuation of the body takes into account its velocity as well as the relative velocity of the suspension. In this paper it is proposed to use the Linear Variable Differential Transformer (LVDT) unit to measure the suspension deflection and then to estimate its relative velocity. This approach is compared with a typical solution implemented in such applications, where the relative velocity is calculated by processing signals acquired from accelerometers placed on the body and on the chassis. The experiments performed for an experimental All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) confirm that using LVDT units allows for improving ride comfort by better vibration attenuation of the body.
The problem of vibration attenuation in a semiactive vehicle suspension is considered. The proposed solution is based on usage of the information about the road roughness coming from the sensor ...installed on the front axle of the vehicle. It does not need any preview sensor to measure the road roughness as other preview control strategies do. Here, the well-known Skyhook algorithm is used for control of the front magnetorheological (MR) damper. This algorithm is tuned to a quarter-car model of the front part of the vehicle. The rear MR damper is controlled by the FxLMS (Filtered-x LMS) taking advantage of the information about the motion of the front vehicle axle. The goal of this algorithm is to minimize pitch of the vehicle body. The strategy is applied for a four-degree-of-freedom (4-DOF) vehicle model equipped with magnetorheological dampers which were described using the Bouc-Wen model. The suspension model was subjected to the road-induced excitation in the form of a series of bumps within the frequency range 1.0–10 Hz. Different solutions are compared based on the transmissibility function and simulation results show the usefulness of the proposed solution.
The paper presents research studies in the field of semiactive vibration control of an experimental off-road vehicle which is equipped with suspension magnetorheological (MR) dampers. Accelerometers ...and vehicle progressive velocity sensors are installed in body and underbody parts of the vehicle and are used in control scheme. Furthermore, IMU modules and suspension deflection sensors were used for validation of measurement part of the system. Semiactive Skyhook control algorithm, including on/off and smooth suspension MR damper control, was implemented in order to validate the control system. Quality of measurements is deteriorated by multiple factors including vehicle engine and shape of tires which was examined. Experimental results indicated better vibration suppression of vehicle body part for smooth Skyhook controller compared with passive soft and hard suspension. The presented semiactive suspension control system can be applied for complex vehicle dynamics analysis and control schemes dedicated to both the ride comfort and ride safety issues. Keywords: off-road vehicle, semiactive vibration control, magnetorheological damper.
The paper deals with linear and nonlinear feedback control for a half-car model including Spencer model of the magnetorheological damper. The vehicle model was subjected to sinusoidal road excitation ...corresponding to a rough road of class F and selected according to the ISO 8608. All control schemes were assessed using a quality index closely related to the ride comfort and evaluated based on an averaged vehicle body acceleration. For the linear state-feedback control, the LQ problem was solved for different variants of weights in a cost function dedicated to mitigation of vehicle body velocities or accelerations. Resultant control gains were obtained by selecting the best case for each variant. Furthermore, control quality was enhanced by analysing the neighbourhood of each solution within the space of control gains. Also, nonlinear separate suspension control schemes based on squared and cubic front and rear vehicle body velocities or accelerations were validated. Simulation results of the presented algorithms were compared with those obtained for the well-known separate Skyhook and ADD (acceleration-driven damping). It was shown that the LQ-based state-feedback control offers better control quality in comparison to the classical Skyhook and ADD, but the additional tuning of resultant control gains is recommended. Besides, it was stated that the acceleration-based LQ gives better performance comparing to velocity-based LQ. It was also stated that nonlinear algorithms exhibit similar performance as classical Skyhook, but in this case, better results were obtained for velocity-based control.
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