Suspension Test Rig

The main functions of an automotive suspension system are to provide vehicle support, stability and directional control during handling conditions and to provide effective isolation from road disturbance. These different tasks result in conflicting design requirements. Directional control and stability requires a suspension that is neither very stiff nor very soft. Insensitivity to external loads requires a stiff suspension, whereas good ride comfort demands a soft suspension. 

In a conventional passive suspension system, the designer is faced with the problem of choosing the suspension stiffness and damping parameters, which inevitably involves a difficult compromise in view of the wide range of conditions over which a vehicle operates. Ride and handling performances of a vehicle suspension system often present engineers conflicting design goals. For decades, engineers have studied active control for vehicle suspension systems to resolve this conflict. The intent of the system is to replace the classical passive elements by a controlled system that can supply unlimited force to the system. This type of active suspension system has proven capable of achieving improvement over passive systems