Editors’ perspectives: road vehicle suspension design, dynamics, and control

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of the latest advances in road vehicle suspension design, dynamics, and control, together with the authors’ perspectives, in the context of vehicle ride, handling, and stability. The general aspects of road vehicle suspension dynamics and design are discussed, followed by descriptions of road-roughness excitations with a particular emphasis on road potholes. Passive suspension system designs and their effects on road vehicle dynamics and stability are presented in terms of in-plane and full-vehicle arrangements. Controlled suspensions are also reviewed and discussed. The paper concludes with some potential research topics, in particular those associated with the development of hybrid and electric vehicles.

Keywords:

• road vehicle suspension system
• suspension design
• vehicle/suspension dynamics
• controlled suspensions
• energy efficiency

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Prof. S. Rakheja, Prof. A. Khajepour, Dr Xiaobo Yang (Oshkosh), Dr Xuting Wu (GM), Dr X. Zhang (GDLS), Dr Xiaodi Kang (Honda) and Dr Lin Li (Liebherr Mining Equipment Co.) for their useful suggestions to this article.