Numerical investigation of the influence of aerodynamic forces and wheel dynamic loads of a vehicle subjected to kinematic excitations

This paper presents the investigations of vibrations of a vehicle equipped with controlled magneto-rheological (MR) dampers and aerodynamic elements. A scaled sports vehicle model was developed to conduct this research. The tests were carried out with kinematic excitation resulting from road roughness and motion at a variable speed. During the airflow, the aerodynamic elements forces and moments on the test body. Vehicle vibrations are limited by the means of MR controlled dampers. The damping force is determined on the basis of an algorithm, where various strategies for determining forces in MR damper have been adopted. Two criteria were considered for assessing the effectiveness of the control algorithm - minimising vertical acceleration and changes in wheel normal reactions on road surface. This paper presents the results of those studies.