MR Damper Characterization for Implementation of Semi-active Suspension Control

The paper proposes experimental method to characterize the Magnetorheological (MR) damper for realization of the suspension control for multi-axle military vehicle. An ac-curate model of MR damper based on the laws of physics to be embedded in real time controller for suspension system increases the computational load and implementation intricacies attracting higher costs and attendant issues. This paper presents a novel practical based approach to characterize MR dampers using simple experimental set up which, additionally, with the help of simulation technique, aids to assess the dynamic range of MR damper for various parameters of suspension system for vibration control in respect of multi-axle vehicle vehicles. The paper reports experimental investigation for characterization of MR damper through quarter car model. Equivalent damping coefficient is estimated using work diagrams. The governing equations of a quarter car model are formulated analytically and the damping coefficients obtained by experimental investigation have been used for simulation study. Performance analysis in terms of body acceleration, amplitude gain, suspension working space and normalized tyre forces has been carried out. The analysis reveals that with variation of current, there is effective reduction in amplification of the sprung mass displacement at the sprung mass fundamental frequency and improvement in ride comfort. Proposed approach is helpful to achieve better controllability of the MR damper without re-lying on the software based techniques for accounting the behaviour of MR fluid. The method finds practical application for implementation in military multi-axle vehicles.