An Experimental Investigation into the Design of a Robust Semi-Active Suspension System for a Quarter-Car Model

In this paper the experimental test of a robust semi-active suspension system using a quarter-car model has been investigated. The performance of the developed suspension system was evaluated under a sinusoidal road disturbance with amplitude of 2 mm (peak to peak) and 3 mm (peak to peak), and within the frequency test range of 1 – 9 Hz. The experimental results show that in the frequency test range of 1 – 4 Hz, the sprung mass acceleration of the semi-active suspension is smaller than the passive suspension. However, the sprung mass acceleration of the semi-active suspension is higher than the passive suspension, in the frequency test range of 5 - 9 Hz. Moreover, the unsprung mass acceleration of the semi-active suspension is smaller than its passive counterpart in all of the frequency test range 1 – 9 Hz.