2C24 Arrangement of actuators to save energy consumed in automotive active suspensions

Although active suspensions have better control performances, they consume energy to operate actuators. Then in previous researches, to reduce this consumption, active control systems using regenerated energy were proposed. These researches focused on the methods of control or how to design active controllers, however, it is needed to consider more basic issue, that is, the number of actuators and their arrangements suitable for the active control. This contributes to cost-cutting as well as saving energy. Then, the optimal number of the actuators and the arrangements are examined through numerical simulations. The results indicate actuators installed in the rear suspension can suppress vibration with less energy, while reducing the number of actuators tends to increase the power consumption. These remarks may depend on the specifications of the automobiles, however, it is found the number of the actuators and their arrangements are worth considering for an efficient active suspension.