Development of Ride Dynamics Mathematical Model for the Military Vehicle with Active Suspension System

The current paper aims to develop a ride dynamics math model of the entire military vehicle, with incorporation of the desired controller technique. The vehicle comprises 18 degree of freedom, viz., sprung mass bounce, pitch and roll about its CG, bounce for each of the 14 unsprung masses as well as for the driver’s seat. Coupled governing differential equations of motion for passive as well as active systems have been derived using state-space approach, and solved in Matlab. Various options are explored for optimising location of the controller such as PID and LQR, in order to obtain the desired vibration reduction at the driver’s location. Comparative dynamic analyses are carried out between the passive and active controlled system over standard terrain profiles, from which the optimum controller location is selected. This mathematical study would play a key role in fine-tuning the suspension properties as well as for deciding upon the optimum implementation of the controller with enhanced crew comfort at reduced cost.