Novel Evaluation Method of Vehicle Suspension Performance Based on Concept of Wheel Turn Center

摘要

The current research of suspension performance evaluation is mixed in the evaluation of vehicle handling and ride comfort. However, it is lack of a direct and independent evaluation method for suspension performance. In this paper, a novel wheel turn center method is proposed to evaluate the suspension performance. This method is based on the concept and application of wheel turn center（WTC） and sprung mass turn center（SPTC）. The vehicle body and each wheel are regarded to be independent rigid bodies and have their own turn centers which reflect respective steering motions and responses. Since the suspension is the link between vehicle body and wheels, the consistence between the sprung mass turn center and the wheel turn center reflects the effect and performance of the suspension system. Firstly, the concept and appropriate calculation method of WTC and SPTC are developed. Then the degree of inconsistence between WTC and SPTC and the time that they achieve consistence, when the vehicle experiences from transient steering to steady steering state, are proposed to evaluate suspension performance. The suspension evaluation tests are conducted under different vehicle velocities and lateral accelerations by using Car Sim software. The simulation results show that the inconsistence of steering motion between vehicle body and wheels are mainly at high speeds and low lateral accelerations. Finally, based on the proposed evaluation indexes, the influences of different suspension characteristic parameters on suspension performance and their matches to improve steering coordination are discussed. The proposed wheel turn center method provides a guidance and potential application for suspension evaluation and optimization.