Novel Motion-Doubling Linkage Mechanisms for Vehicle Suspension: Performance Simulation Results

In recent studies, a new class of planar and spatial linkage mechanisms was presented in which for a continuous full rotation or continuous rocking motion of the input link, the output link undergoes two continuous rocking motions. Such linkage mechanisms were referred to as the “motion-doubling” linkage mechanisms. This class of mechanisms was also shown to generally have dynamics advantage over regular mechanisms designed to achieve similar gross output motions. In a recent study, the application of such motion-doubling linkage mechanisms to vehicle suspension system was investigated. In the present study, the performance of a vehicle using such a suspension system is compared to a suspension system regularly used in vehicles. For a typical set of vehicle and tire parameters, the parameters of both suspension systems are optimally determined with a commonly used objective function. The performance of the two systems in the presence of various input disturbances is then determined using computer simulation. It is shown that suspension systems constructed with motion-doubling linkage mechanisms can provide a significantly superior performance as compared to a commonly used suspension system.Copyright © 2007 by ASME