Abstract
Multistage damping adjustment is easier to achieve than continuous adjustment. This paper provides a multistage damping control (MDC) damper based on high-speed on-off valves (HSOVs) and presents a detailed discussion of the challenges associated with achieving continuous damping control (CDC) at the structural level. By controlling the opening and closing of HSOVs, it becomes feasible to achieve rapid switching of multistage damping within a wide range for the damper. A mathematical model of the MDC damper was established, and the influence of orifice diameter and quantity of HSOV on the damping characteristics was analysed. Next, a prototype of a four-stage adjustable damper with three HSOVs was produced, and experimental tests on its damping characteristics were conducted to verify the accuracy of the mathematical model. A multistage skyhook control strategy was designed. The simulation results show that the suspension performance of the four-stage and continuous skyhook is very close to that of a CDC across the entire frequency domain. To further verify the actual damping effect, the four-stage adjustable damper was installed on a quarter-car vibration test bench for vibration testing on speed bump and random road surfaces. The experimental results indicate that the four-stage adjustable damper can achieve comparable damping performance as that of the CDC damper; this technology shows great potential in practical applications.
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