The method of estimating kinematic road excitation with use of real suspension responses and model

The paper deals with the problem of vertical kinematic excitations in road vehicle dynamics simulation, with the main focus on reconstruction of random excitations using measured dynamic responses of a car suspension. The possibility of causing excitations adequately in terms of chosen conditions of exploitation and in reliable way is crucial to properly asses ride comfort, ride safety as well as rattle space and fatigue strength of suspension elements. The paper presents a method of generating equivalent kinematic excitation allowing for reconstruction of suspension dynamic responses in simulation. The method uses unsprung mass accelerations acquired during test rides and a model of vertical suspension dynamics. The method uses estimated displacements of unsprung mass as a preliminary approximation of kinematic excitation and tracking control system with a PID controller, which causes corrections of kinematic excitations transforming it to the form that allows for faithful reconstruction of unsprung mass accelerations and, in turn, kinematic excitations. The paper presents the basic structure of kinematic excitations’ reconstruction system as well as a method of tuning PID controller’s coefficients so that the error in estimation is minimized. Research and verification of results were done using a sine chirp signal and constant frequency sine waves. The similarity of estimated road profiles is high with error no larger than 8% of the original signal’s amplitude.