The suspension System

The suspension was invented for the vehicle in order to

ensure ride confort (to the vehicle vibrations) due to the
road/ground unevenness. The wheels are forced to move up
and down with high speed, a lot of variable forces will be
transmitted to the vehicle body (also to passangers and cargo)
in a very short time. That sudden change of force generating
sudden acceleration are called mechanical shocks.
So the 1st aim of the suspension is to attenuate the shocks
transmitted to the body, passangers or cargo. The shocks can
also effect the cargo, and also the vehicle parts, and cab
destroy them.
To reduce the mechanical shocks the automotive
manufacturer implemented springs between wheel and body.
Due to the spring ability to deflect accumulating part of the
energy, the body will be subjected to smaller force changes, but
in a longer period of time. The shocks are attenuated but the
exposure time to the vibrations because longer in the case of
springs solve some problems, but generate some other
important problems.
1. The sick of vehicle – is a state of inconfort generated by
the effect of muscles and brain to maintain equilibrium.
The solution of that problem consists in the use of
dampers to attenuate the max. between wheels and body.
Dampers are known as shock absorbers; this is a common
term, but is wrong in its essence, because they are not
reducing, but increasing the shock, if we have very hard
shocks we will attenuate the effect of springs. The
oscilation between the wheel and the ground it is
diminished by the damping property of the tyre. At low
frequencies (under 30-50Hz), the damping properties of
the tyre are neglijible, which means the tyre behaves as a
 springs. The oscilation frequencies of the vehicle body is
max for frequencies between 1-2Hz.
2. The 2nd problem generated by the use of springs consists
in possible very large rel max between wheels and body.
The rel position between wheels and body is now
controlled by some mechanism, named suspension
linkage. Normally such linkage contain control arms which
establish the relative position of a rigid axle or of the
knuckle (wheel carrier). The pas of the wheel with respect
to the body will control also the position of the wheel with
respect to the ground. As we know, that pas, and its
variation in time is extremely important to ensure the high
overall grip force. We must remember that the grip force is
the main component ensuring dynamic performance of the
vehicle and so active safety. The wheel camber angle, the
toe angle – a wrong toe angle, generally too big, will lead
to a “grip case” with zero effect. That means we consume
a part of the possible grip with no result, and the
performance will not be max. the change of the wheel
track or wheel base generated by the wheel vertical max
will make the wheels to “fight’’(tranck change – left wheels
fight right wheels). Generally, the body roll is a big enemy
of the vehicle safety and vehicle dynamics performances.
That happens also with the vehicle pitch, but not with the
same before. To combat roll we can usue anti-roll
systems.
3. To the limit the extreme position of the wheel with respect
to the body. That limitation is necessary not to destroy the
suspension elements or the vehicle body.
Characteristics indices of the suspension:
- The geometric index – which shows how big the relative
body – wheel movement can be
- The comfort index – show how comfortable is the vehicle
when passes an uneven road. This vehicle is calculated
 on the base of the weighted acc, of the lumped mass. The
acceleration of bounce roll and pitch will all contribute to
the comfort index.
- The safety index – which is calculated on the base of the
contact force exerted by the wheel on the ground. If the
force is smaller variations, the dynamic performances and
active safety will be better, it is very difficult to measure
the displacement of the wheel