Fundamentals

PURPOSE OF THE SUSPENSION SYSTEM

Maintain correct vehicle ride height Reduce the effect of shock forces Maintain correct wheel alignment Support vehicle weight Keep the tires in contact with the road Control the vehicles direction of travel

Main Components of a Suspension

Springs

Shock Absorbers Strut Tires

Springs
Support the weight of the vehicle, maintain ride height, and absorb road shock bounce : vertical movement of suspension jounce : compression, upward movement rebounce : extension, downward movement The spring bounces at its natural frequency. Sprung Mass : Mass carried by the spring, like the vehicle body, transmission, frame Unsprung Mass : Mass that is not carried by the springs, like the tyre, wheels.

TYPES OF SPRINGS

COIL SPRINGS

LEAF SPRINGS

TORSION BAR

AIR SPRINGS

Coil springs
Diameter and length determine whether the spring is strong or flexible No inter-leaf friction therefore smoother ride Variable rate achieved by varying
Materials of different thickness Progressive winding of the spring

Variable rate provides

Lower spring rate under non-load conditions Higher spring rate under load conditions

Leaf springs
Multi leaf
Stacked steel plates of different lengths Spring compress to absorb road shocks Leaf springs bend and slide for suspension movement

Mono leaf
Tapered leaf spring- thick in middle and tapers toward sides Composite material

Mounting configuration
Longitudinally in pairs Single traverse mounted leaf spring

Torsion Bar
Torsion bar straight or L-shaped bar of spring steel Torsion bar twists to provide suspension Mounting configuration
Longitudinally mounted solidly to the frame at one end and other end to the moving part of the suspension Traverse mounting possible.

Air springs
Air spring is a rubber cylinder filled with compressed air Movement of the piston attached to lower control arm affects the air compression to provide the spring action On board compressor provides air through a valve at the top of air bag Valve opens to add or release air according to the load requirements Most popular on passenger cars, buses, and heavy trucks

Shock absorbers/ Dampers

Control movement
Spring Suspension

Turns K.E thermal/ heat and dissipates though hydraulic fluid Located in pressure tube and at the end of suspension which forces the fluid in to the piston of shock absorber Has a piston with orifices to control flow of hydraulic fluid Resistance to the flow depends on:
Number and size of orifices Speed of movement of the suspension

Velocity sensitive faster the movement of suspension more resistance

Types of damping
Viscous Coulomb Structural

Viscous damping
Fd

Damping force linearly dependent on velocity Pure viscous damping force is an ellipse w.r.t displacement
x

With the spring force added, the Damping force is inclined forming a hysteresis. Fd = cwx

Coulomb Damping
Fd

Damping force dependent on direction of velocity Pure coulomb damping force is a rectangle w.r.t displacement
x

A common type of damper unit First main job:

Damping function Velocity sensitive Similar structure of shock absorber Major structural component of suspension replace the upper control arm and ball joint

Struts

Second job:
Structural support support the spring hold tire in aligned position Bear side load placed on suspension Affect riding comfort, steering, braking, wheel alignment and wear on suspension

Suspension types
Ability of opposite wheels to move independent of each other Dependent Independent Semi dependent
Dependent: A live axle holding both wheels parallel to each other and perpendicular to the axle Change in Camber of one will affect the same in other Independent: Not connected at all or connected through universal joints with a swing axle Allows wheels to rise and fall without affecting opposite wheels Anti roll bars are classified as independent Semi-dependent: Swing axle is used, but the wheels are also connected with a solid tube deDion axle

Ride Control
Objectives of a suspension steering stability good handling Maximize passenger comfort Limits of vibration Exposure Limit Fatigue Reduced comfort boundaries Design aspects Vibration isolation Suspension travel Road Holding

Ride Control
Vibration isolation
Response of sprung mass to the excitation from the ground Judicious selection of damping required for control over the natural frequency of sprung mass and ride comfort

Suspension travel
The deflection of the suspension spring or the relative motion between the sprung and the unsprung mass

Road Holding
Vibration effects normal load acting b/w the tire & road In turn effects the cornering force, tractive effort and the braking force developed by the tire

Suspension for AFV

Requirement:
High load Greater suspension travel Protection form land-mines & anti-tank weapons Wheel pairs of six/eight for ride over rough ground Wide range of ambient temperature: -10 C to 50 C

Evolution
Fixed suspensions Leaf spring suspensions Christie suspension: coil springs inside armor hull and bell crank Horstmann suspension combination of bell crank and exterior coil springs Torsion bar suspension Hydro-pneumatic suspension

Hydro pneumatic suspension

Working principle:
As the road wheel rises the axle arm is lifted and this rotates the crank which moves the piston via the con rod; the piston displaces oil through the damper valve and moves the separator piston; this causes the gas to compress which produces the spring force

Hydro-pneumatic suspension
Advantages:
Progressive spring rate
softer rate around the static position and a stiffer rate near full deflection

Totally independent System is external more space inside the vehicle Better cross-country performance Sensitive equipment subjected to lower acceleration levels Reduced shock loads vary the gas pressures of each unit

Variants:
Hydro strut Hydrogas Tandem hydro strut for torsion suspension Variable damper & spring

Static Test and Dynamic Test

Spring Characteristics
20 18 16 14

Estimated Value Before Dynamic After Dynamic

Static Test

Load at Rebound,

Load, Tons

12 10 8 6 4 2 0 0 100 200 300 400 500 600

Static, Bump Spring Characteristic Curve

Dynamic Test
250 100 mm, 0.8 Hz

Displacement, mm

300 200 mm, 0.1 Hz

Endurance Test Results

Variation of Temperature with Time
160 140 FPC SPC DAMPER

Temperature, C

120 100 80 60 40 20 0 0

60

120

180

240

300

Time, min

Status of suspension technology

France
Leclerc/ 50t 6x6 EPC MBT AMX-40 MBT AMX32MBT 43t 6x6 39t 6x6 5x5 Twin-cylinder hydro pneumatic 425 total travel Torsion bar Torsion bar Torsion bar

AMX-30 36 and AMX30-S

Germany
Leopard 2 55.15 t 7x7 Torsion bar suspension and advanced friction dampers Torsion bar& hydraulic shock absorbers Torsion bar & hydraulic shock absorbers Torsion bar

Leopard1 A1 Leopard1 A4 TAM

40t

7x7

Leopard2 MBT

42.2t

7x7

30.5

6x6

Leopard 1A1 MBT

India
Vijayanta: 40,4tonnes and 6x 6 configuration with torsion bar suspension Indian production of Vickers MBT, UK

CI Ajeya: 43.5 tonnes and 6x 6 configuration with torsion bar suspension Indian production and upgraded T-72M1

India
Arjun: Combat weight of 58.5 tonnes Hydro- mechanical Suspension . 7 x7 road wheel configuration

Ex-tank: Combat Weight 47tonnes has Suspension type Torsion bar with Hydrogas struts. Indian production of T-72M1 series tank chassis fitted with the complete turret of the Arjun MBT

Israel

Mk 1 Merkava MK3 Merkava

60 t

6x6

Horstmann suspension with helical spring concentric coil springs and have a hydraulic rotary damper

63t

6x6

MK4 Merkava

65t

6x6

Horstmann suspension with rotary shock-absorbers

United Kingdom

Tandem Hydro strut suspension

Challenger 1 MBT weighs around 62 t and has hydro pneumatic suspension The In-arm suspension is for high-performance system with minimal space claim and weight Vickers MBT MK1weighs around 38.6tonnes and MK3 weighs around 38.7 tonnes have six road wheels on each side with torsion bar suspension

United Kingdom
Hydro strut are used in Centurion, M109, and Cheiftian

Cheiftian has 12 MK types and have Horstmann suspension systems

Khalid MBT weighs 58 tonnes has hydro pneumatic suspension with 6 road wheels on each side

United States

Suspension System for M1 MBT

The suspension systems of M48, M60 and centurion and T-series are being retrofitted with in-arm suspensions developed by Textron Marine called 14k, 10k and 6k systems (In-arm suspension)

M1A2 Abrams with combat weight of 63,086 kg has advanced torsion bar suspension

Russian federation

T-72 S MBT

46.5 t

6x6

torsion bar suspensions with hydraulic rotary shock absorbers torsion bar suspension torsion bar suspension &hydraulic shock absorbers

T-80 B T-80 U T-90 MBT

42.5 t 46 t 46.5 t

6x6 6x6

Semi active rotary damper

BAE Systems Land Systems OMC (previously Reumech Ermetek) of South Africa and Horstmann Defense Systems of the UK teamed to develop, as a private venture, the Adaptive Damping System (ADS).

In-arm suspension
A compact light weight design to meet the requirements of air portable tracked vehicles

Options for in-arm suspension include variable height , Adaptive damping system, and suspension lockout as well as the development of super light weight with extensive use of titanium.

In arm suspension is used on surrogate vehicle chassis

Concept of active and semi active suspension

Acceleration of the sprung mass is sensed Correction signal, as per control strategy, is fed to the variable damper/ actuator.

Variable damping achieved by variable orifice, MR, ER

fluids, proportional or servo control valves. Active suspensions consume very high power and are more complex.

sensor

Sprung mass
Variable Damper

Control & power supply

sensor

Un-sprung mass

Semi-Active suspension system concept

sensor

Sprung mass

Force actuator
sensor

Control & power supply

Un-sprung mass

Active suspension system concept

Requirements of spring and damper

Frequency Requirement Spring For ride Near Natural frequency of unsprung mass Near Natural frequency of sprung mass High (> natural freq) Low (< natural freq) soft For handling stiff Requirement Damper For ride low For handling

Little influence; soft Not influential stiff

high

low Not influential

high High

Variable damping

Electro-rheological fluid
mixture of dielectric base oil and fine semi conducting particles Its resistance to flow is related to the electric voltage across it

Magneto-rheological fluid
smart material --mixing fine particles in a fluid of low viscosity The particles form into fibrous chain like structures in the presence of a magnetic field

MR Damper

MR Fluid MR valve

Accumulator

The fluid must pass through the MR valve for flow MR valve is a fixed size orifice with the ability to apply a magnetic field results in an apparent change in viscosity of the MR fluid Imparts pressure differential for the flow of fluid proportional to the flow required to move the damper rod. The accumulator is used to avoid cavitation in the low pressure side of the MR valve

Control strategies
The Conventional PID Optimum Control And Ricatti Equation Predictive Control Robust Control / L1-Optimal Control Skyhook Damping Control

The Conventional PID

Damping set to two values:

Maximum Minimum

Setting parameter: Relative velocity (Rv) b/w sprung mass and unsprung mass Rv is in the direction of absolute velocity of sprung mass damping is set to maximum Robust and simple

Optimum Control And Ricatti Equation

Penalty function J = (XT Q X + UT R U) dt Objective function is linear quadratic Ricatti solution X = AX +B An optimum control strategy is one that minimizes the following:
rms value of the sprung mass acceleration the rms value of the suspension travel the rms value of the dynamic tyre deflection

Predictive Control

Input obtained by solving an open-loop optimal control problem over a fixed prediction horizon into the future Applied input is determined online at the recalculation instant Implemented until new measurements become available As applied input is based on an optimal control problem, it is possible to take specifications into account

Robust Control / L1-Optimal Control

for plants with parametric or dynamic uncertainties time-invariant and time-varying controllers Norm-based optimization is used to address robustness and performance issues of the control system Criteria: H, H2 and in particular the L1 norms, as well as multi-objective synthesis problems

Skyhook Damping Control

Csky

An optimum control strategy, followed for suspension control problems The damper is considered to be positioned such as to connect its one end to the sprung mass and the other end to an inertial reference in the sky, instead of the unsprung mass.

Base wheel

Testing of AFV suspensions

Power Pack Suspension Test Rig
Heat Exchanger Oil Reservoir Pump

Specimen

Filter

Accumulator

Control Room

Actuator

Controllers

Pit Mounted Hydraulic System

Instron test rig

Specification
Hydraulics
Powerpack:4 nos Max pressure: 250 bar Flow: 80 lpm/ power pack

Vertical actuator
300mm stroke Load: 25T dynamic, 50 t static Frequency: 0.1 Hz/ 250mm, 0.8 Hz/ 100mm

Measurements:
Load cell Pressure: 0-1000 bar Surface temperatures: 0-200C

One-axial dynamic test rig

Two-axial Quasi-static test rig

Hydraulic Power pack

Hydraulic Power Unity of 550 KW able to power 1000 l/min @ 280 bar It consists of pumps for both motion and fluid cooling, drive motors, controls, fluid reservoir, and associated equipment and valves.

Acceptance Test rig

Minimum low end specifications for production testing of the proven design of MBT Arjun suspensions It has a hydraulic actuator controlled by a electroproportional valve and powered by a hydraulic power pack of 400 lpm at 250 bar The actuator is configured in an inclined mounting, which does not need a special structural strong floor The motion of the actuator is transmitted to the test specimen via bell crank mechanism If proven, it can be used by the production agencies for qualification of the production line of HSUs.

Test specifications
Test Cycle 1 Cycle 2 Frequency (Hz) 0.1 0.8 Amplitude (mm) 200 100

Sample Stroke Pattern

Acceptance Test rig

LH & RH Mounting for test units Actuator Electric motor -Pump

Conclusion
State of the art is the passive type, hydropneumatic suspension, for the AFV Current research actively pursued on semi-active and active suspension Korea, USA. etc., are ready to field AFV with semiactive Hybrid (passive suspension for some stations and other with active suspension/semi-active) is the next option CVRDE fully prepared to take up development of semi-active suspensions for AFVs