An experimental study on the dynamic characteristics of a megnetorheological semiactive suspension

A controllable damping force - magnetic excitation model is set up for a self-made magnetorheological (MR) shock absorber by bench test for facilitating computer control, and the related parameters of skyhook damping on-off control and linear quadratic regulator optimum control algorithms are determined based on the semi-active suspension dynamic model for a 1/4 vehicle. The modules of data acquisition and preprocessing, control algorithm and communications control of computer and PWM etc. are developed with modularized language Labview, and a comparison test on the systems with and without semiactive vibration control is performed on a 1/4 vehicle suspension tester. The results indicate that the self-made MR shock absorber with its control algorithm developed can effectively suppress the vibration of vehicle.