The influence of the conditions of use and the type of model used on the vertical dynamic responses of a car suspension

The article presents a study of the influence of vehicle’s conditions of use, such as road class, vehicle speed or its load, on its vertical dynamic responses. In the article only the kinematic excitations were analysed, as these are more common than the dynamic ones. The road profiles were artificially generated according to the ISO 8608 standard, which classifies roads based on power spectral density of excitations which they generate. Ride safety, ride comfort and fatigue strength indicators were computed. Ride safety was defined by the DLC – Dynamic Load Coefficient. Ride comfort was judged taking into consideration the recommendations from the ISO 2631 standard (which contains the information on vibration frequencies and their effect on human body, as well as the allowed exposure times to given vibrations) by calculating root mean square values of sprung mass accelerations for bandwidths defined in the standard. Load spectrums for the fatigue analysis were created using forces generated in a simulation as a basis and further research venues were proposed. Lastly conclusions were drawn from the results, that imply that linear models are sufficient for many standard applications on roads of acceptable quality, however the use of non-linear models is recommended in fatigue strength analysis regardless of conditions of use.