07.05.

2015

TrailerApplicationGuide:SystemDescription

AirSuspensionSystemDescription
General
Thenumberofvehicleswithairsuspensionwillincreaseinthenextfewyears,becausethissystemhasconsiderableadvantages.Accordingtoconservativeestimates,some
85%oftrucks,100%ofheavybusesand60%offifthwheeltrailersand95%ofsemitrailersareequippedwithairsuspension.Wewilllookatthegeneraltheoretical
principlesofairsuspension,designandfunctionofthecomponentsandadditionalcontrolpossibilities,e.g.swapbodysystems,liftaxlecontrolsandspecialsystemsto
increaseeaseofoperationandsafety.

Dualcircuit:
RightandleftsideofthevehicleisseparatedbythelevellingvalveandCOLAS(crossrestrictionactive)

Inalmostallmoderntrailersuspensionstheexcellentdrivingbehaviourandthegoodloadprotectionisachievedbyalawspringrateoftheairbags.Thespringrateoftheair
bagsandthespringaxleassembly(mechanicstabiliser)formtherollstiffnessofthesuspensionaxles,whichisimportantfortherollstabilityandthusforthesafetyofthe
trailerduringcornering.Thespecialfeatureofmodernairsuspensionsistheuseofasingleairvalve,whichexhibitsa"pseudodualcircuitairinstallation".Atthisdualcircuit
versionswithcrossrestrictioninthelevellingvalvetheairbagsontheleftandrightsidesofthevehiclearepneumaticallyseparatedandonlyconnectedtogetherbythecross
restriction.Theairbagoftheleftandrightsideofthevehicleissuppliedthroughtheconnections21and22.Duringcornering,theaircanonlyequaliseitselfslowlybetween
thetwosidesofthevehicle.Asaresult,theairbagsadditionallyassistinsupportingtherollingmotionofthevehiclebody.Withintheairsuspension,approx.80%oftheroll
stiffnessisprovidedbythespringaxleassemblyandapprox.20%bytheairbags.Inrelationtothewholesystemmadeupoftyresandairsuspension,theshareintheroll
stiffnessoftheairbagsisonlyabout10%,asthespringrateofthetyreshasaconsiderableshareintherollangleofthebuildup.

Singlecircuit:
Rightandleftsideofthevehicleisdirectlinkedtogether(nocrossrestriction)

Atsinglecircuitversionswithoutcrossrestrictiontheairbagsontheleftandrighthandsidesofthevehiclearepneumaticallyconnected.Thereisnotransverseflow
restrictor.Duringcornering,theaircanequaliseitselfmorequicklybetweenthetwosidesofthevehicle.Thismeanstherollingmotionisnotsupportedbytheairbags.The
rollstabilityand,therefore,roadsafetyisreducedincomparisonwithadualcircuitairinstallation.Aswellasthereductioninroadsafety,themechanicalloadsintheair
suspensionunitarehigher.Sincethereisnorollstabilisationoftheairbags,theaxleandtrailingarmcombinationhastoundertakethisportionofthestabilisationaswell.
Theuseofsinglecircuitairsuspensioninstallationscanleadtodamagetothevehicleasaresultofthehigherloads.Forthisreason,someaxlemanufacturerscannotoffer
anywarrantyforchassisandsuspensiondamageresultingfromthiseffect.Toachieveoptimumfunctionandthegreatestpossibleroadsafety,inparticularincritical
situations,itisrecommendedtousedualcircuitairsuspensioninstallationswithacrossrestriction.Liftingaxlesaretheonlyexceptiontothisrecommendation.Inthiscase,it
ispermittedforatmostoneliftingaxleinathreeorfouraxleunittobeinstalledwithonecircuit.

Advantagesofairsuspensionsystems
Aconstantgroundclearancebetweentheroadsurfaceandthevehiclebodygivesanunchangingheightforboardingandloading.
Theheadlampsettingsremainconstant,irrespectiveoftheloadcondition.

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Higherridingcomfort.Thisgivessmoothertransportofthegoodsbeingtransported,nojumpingwithanemptytrailer,andlesswearontheroadsurface.
Stabledrivingcharacteristicsduetofirmcontactbetweentyresandroadsurface.
Stablecornering.
Accuratecontrolofloaddependentcontrol(LSVloadsensing,EBS).
Busescanbeloweredononeside(kneeling).
Swapbodysystemspossibleforadaptingtoloadingplatforms(COLAS,COLAS+)
Electroniccontrolpossible,e.g.memoryfunctions,differentrideheightscanbestored.
Liftaxlecontrolispossible.
Increasedeaseofuse.Quickhitchingandunhitchingofarticulatedtrailers.
Lessmechanicalwearoncomponents.
Easytorepairandmaintain,leadingtocostsavings.

Springcharacteristiccurvemaindiagram(Fig.1)

Theoreticalprinciples
Definitionofairsuspension:
Asuspensionsystemisregardedasairsuspensionifatleast75%ofthespringactionisprovidedbypneumaticdevices.

Task
Thetaskofavehiclesuspensionistodamptheshockscausedduringdrivingbybumpsintheroadsurfacewhentransmittingthemtothevehiclebody.Thistaskcanbe
convenientlyfulfilledbyairsuspension.Allkindsofairspringsareemployedastheloadbearingspringsforthebodyloadinmotorvehiclesandtrailers.Adistinctionismade
betweenprimaryandsecondarysuspension.Theprimarysuspensioncarriestheweightofthevehiclebodypermanently,whilethesecondarysuspensiononlycomesinto
effectintheeventofextremelyhardroadshocksorfailureoftheprimarysuspension.Theprimaryandsecondarysuspensionmustbewelltunedtoeachother,withpriority
beinggiventoridecomfortinpassengervehiclesandtohandling(liftingandloweringthevehicle)ingoodsvehicles.Secondarysuspensionusuallyconsistsofrubber,hollow
rubberorplasticsprings.Sinceairsuspensionpossessesalmostnointrinsicdamping,damperswithhigherforcesinthetensionandcompressionstagesthanthoseforleaf
sprungaxlesarerequired.
Furthermore,theairspringbellowscanonlyabsorblateralforcestoalimitedextent.Consequently,thesprungwheelsoraxlesmustbeheldbylinks,arms,antirollbarsand
thelike.

Springratesgeneral
Aspringcharacteristiccurvecanbelinear,progressiveordegressive,inwhichlattercaseaninstablespringwouldresult.Fig.1showsthestaticanddynamicworkingrange
ofaspringtogetherwithitsworkcapacity,whichisshownastheareaboundedbythespringcharacteristiccurve,thelimits(3)and(4),andtheXaxis.Thedynamicworking
rangeoverlapsthestatic,dependingontheavailabledynamicspringtravel(paths13and24).
Important:Thetotalspringdeflectionthereforeconsistofthestaticspringtravel,whichoccurswhenthevehicleisloadedwhileatrest,andthedynamicspringtravel,whichis
thesameasthebottomingtravel.Thesmallerthespringrateandthelargerthe(vehicle)mass,thesmallerthe(body)accelerationandthebettertheridecomfortis.

Ridecomfort(Fig.2)

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Thefollowingconclusionscannowbedrawn:
toobtainahighdegreeofridecomfortatalltimes,theratioofaxlespringconstanttobodyweightmustremainthesame.
Thenaturalfrequencyofthebodymustbeassmallaspossibleifgoodridecomfortistobeachieved.
Thenaturalfrequencycanbeinfluencedbyboththespringrateandthebodymass.
Thenaturalfrequencyhasaverygreateffectonridecomfort.Sinceridecomfortisverydifficulttorepresentobjectively,subjectiveperceptionsmustbeemployedto
describethecomfortmathematicallyorgraphically.Itcanbeseenclearlythatthezoneexperiencedbypeopleascomfortablenotonlypresupposesarelativelyvery
smallnaturalfrequency,butalsodependsonthevibrationamplitude.
Ifthenaturalfrequencyistobekeptasconstantaspossibleundervaryingloads,thespringratemustbechangedinsuchawaythattheratioofspringratetoweight
remainsconstant.Theincreasingimportanceoflightweightconstructionandtheassociatedlargedifferenceinweightbetweenanemptyandaloadedvehiclemakethe
needforacontrollablespringevermoreurgent.

Compressedairgenerationandstorage
Forsafetyreasons,thecompressedairforthebrakingsystemmustbekeptseparateandisolatedfromthatoftheairsuspension.Circuit1and2(connections21and22on
thequadruplecircuitprotectionvalve)isalwaysallocatedtotheSB.
Onairsuspensionsystemsfortrailersorsemitrailers,thepressurelevelcorrespondstothatofthebrakingsystem,sincetheairsuspensionsystemissuppliedfromthe
brakingsystemsupplyline.

Varioussystemscanbedifferentiatedintractorunits:
pressureintheairsuspensionsystem=pressureinthebrakingsystem(correspondstotrailer/semitrailer).
pressureintheairsuspensionsystemisgreaterorsmallerthanthepressureinthebrakingsystem(trucksandbuses).
Inthefirstinstance,thecompressedairfortheairsuspensionistakenfromtheancillaryconsumercircuit(connection23or24onthequadruplecircuitprotectionvalve)
afterthequadruplecircuitprotectionvalve,inwhichcasethequadruplecircuitprotectionvalvemustbedesignedtogiveprioritytofillingbrakecircuits21and22(alegal
requirementsasfrom1stOctober1994).Inmostinstances,theairsuspensionsystemisprovidedwithahigherpressurethanthebrakingsystem.Here,thecompressed
airistakenbetweenthegovernorvalveandthequadruplecircuitprotectionvalve,andfedtotheairsuspensionairtankthroughapressureprotectionvalvewithlimited
backflow(ornobackflowatall)settoahigherpressurethanthequadruplecircuitprotectionvalve.Thiskindofdesignhastheadvantagethatsmallerairspringsupport
bellowsandairtankscanbeinstalled.Italsoallowsshorterfillingandexhaustingtimes,sincethepressuredifferencebetweenthestoragetankandtheairspring
supportbellowsisgreater.
Ontrailervehicles,thesupplyfortheairsuspensionistakenfromtheservicebrakesupply.Bothcircuitsmustbeisolatedfromeachotherbyapressureprotectionvalve
(withorwithoutlimitedbackflow).Theopeningpressureisabout6bar,sincetheisolatingpressureislaiddownbylawasatleast5.2bar.

LSVloadsensing/EBScontrol
Onemajoradvantageofairsuspensionisthatthebellowspressure,whichdependsontheloadconditionatanygiveninstant,canbeusedtocontroltheautomaticload
dependentloadsensingvalve/EBS.Afunctionofthiskindshowsthefigureonthetopforthedualcircuitairsuspension,whenusingatwincircuitautomaticallycontrolled
loadsensingvalve,theintactbellowsstillensuresloaddependentcontrolofthebrakingpressure,evenintheevenofalinebreakage.
Dependingonthedesign,anadequatebrakingeffectcanstillbeobtainedinvehicleswithfullorpartialairsuspensionintheeventoffaultsintheairsuspensionsystem.

Airsupplyexample(Fig.3)
AS=Airsuspension
SB=ServiceBrake

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