Optimum Investigation of Suspension Parameters for Dynamic Performance Improvement of an Off-Road Vehicle

Suspension, steering and braking systems have played a significant role in the dynamic behavior of vehicles.Such significant role along with economic reasons has led vehicle manufacturers always to look at different ways tooptimize and improve these systems. In off-road vehicles which are often under various loads, comprehensive analyzingof all chassis aspects to product an automotive that can efficiently accomplish the tasks assigned to it is inevitable. Asdesigning new suspension system for vehicles is very expensive, the best option is to correct geometric parameters onthe available vehicle suspension system in order to reduce costs and to improve the dynamic performance of the vehicle.In this article, suspension system of an off-road vehicle is modeled via Adams/Car software, and performance andsensitivity of these parameters against bump and roll inputs are analyzed by simulations of geometrical suspensionparameters. Finally, according to experimental results derived from a lane-change maneuver, optimized values ofdesigned suspension parameters provide better dynamic response of the vehicle during wheel steering operation.

Keywords:

Suspension System , Optimization , Handling and Stability Performance , Off-Road Vehicle , Adams/Car Software