Skyhook control strategy for vehicle suspensions based on the distribution of the operational conditions

Abstract

In this work, a novel distribution-based control strategy of semi-active vehicle suspensions is tested under different conditions. The novelty lies in the use of an appropriate threshold in the operational condition of the control algorithm, with which the operational conditions severity is quantified and the state of the damper is controlled according to the magnitude of the operational conditions and not their sign. The value of the threshold depends on the vibrations induced to the sprung mass by the road profile. In order to be evaluated, the operational conditions of the algorithm are fitted to a t-student distribution. The cumulative distribution function of this distribution is used in order to decrease the fraction of the sample operating with the damper’s stiff state. The strategy is applied to traditional SH control algorithms and is tested using a quarter car model excited by different road excitations. A sensitivity analysis for various threshold values is performed, investigating the impact of adopting the cumulative distribution functioned (CDF) controller to various performance metrics. The results illustrate an increase of up to 13% in the ride comfort of the passengers and increase of 6% in the road holding of the vehicle. Both are achieved by minimizing the switches of the damping ratio up to 80%.