An experimental analysis of suitability of various semiactive control methods for magneto-rheological vehicle suspensions

The primary purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive experimental analysis of how various popular semiactive control methods perform when used with magneto rheological dampers. Specifically, the performance of five different skyhook control methods is studied experimentally, using a single suspension test rig. The control methods that are analyzed include: skyhook control, groundhook control, hybrid control, displacement skyhook, and relative displacement skyhook. For a MR damper, this paper provides an in-depth analysis of how these semiactive control methods perform at the sprung and unsprung mass natural frequencies, using the single suspension test rig. Upon evaluating the performance of each control method in frequency domain for various conditions, they are compared with each other as well as with passive damping. The results indicate that no one control method outperforms others at both the sprung and unsprung mass natural frequencies. Each method can perform better than the other control methods in some respect. Hybrid control, however, comes close to providing the best compromise between different dynamic demands on a primary suspension. The results indicate that hybrid control can offer benefits to both the sprung and unsprung mass with control gain settings that provide equal contributions from skyhook control and groundhook control.