The impact of the semitrailer dynamics on the truck cabin suspension control and the driving comfort

Abstract

Control of truck riding comfort is a challenging task affected by a range of factors. The target vehicle has three-level suspension to reduce the vibrations from the wheel to driver in order to provide required driver comfort (by the cabin and the seat suspensions) and also to contribute to the vehicle handling (by the chassis suspensions). The truck cabin suspension is a passive system and the comfort of the driver depends on suspension parameters. The objective of this study is to demonstrate the trailer impact on the driving comfort when the cabin suspension is controllable.The study presents a comparative analysis of two theoretical models. For this purpose, a 3D model of the truck with a semi-trailer is developed using the AmeSim software. The cabin suspension modelled on four supports with active forces, and the skyhook controller is used to control the vertical motion, roll and pitch dynamics of the cabin. Two different truck models developed to compare the simulation results. In the first case, nonlinear damping forces are used in the model without the suspension control. In the second model, to generate damping force, the skyhook controller is used. Three types of tests are performed to compare the systems: braking from 90 to 0 km/h on flat road; bump input when the driving speed is 30 km/h, driving on rough road. The results show the trailer impact on the cabin movements and the effect of skyhook control to the driving comfort.