ACTIVE SUSPENSION SYSTEMS
ABSTRACT
Among the various Automobile technologies one of biggest boon has been in the suspension systems. The earlier suspension systems consisting of a combination of leaf springs, coil springs, special suspension mountings or replaced now by the new ËœActive Suspension Systems' which has improved the driving comfort and vehicle stability tremendously. This also maintained the vehicle height at a known level. In addition to this vehicle height is lowered at high speeds for greater stability. The driver can vary the spring settings through switches according to the road conditions. This has helped the automobiles to be run faster, safer even under the worst road conditions giving greater comfort than ever before. As one of the important components of a vehicle, a suspension system plays a crucial role in handling performance and ride comfort characteristics of a vehicle. In a conventional passive suspension system which comprises of only springs and dampers, it is difficult to build a trade-off to resolve the conflicting requirements of ride comfort and good handling performance. Active or adaptive suspension is an automotive technology that controls the vertical movement of the wheels via an onboard system rather than the movement being determined entirely by the surface on which the car is driving. The system therefore virtually eliminates body roll and pitch variation in many driving situations including cornering, accelerating and braking. This seminar deals with general information of Active suspension System, Autonomous Adaptive Control (AAC) method and other systems, applications, future design advancements. Different advantages and disadvantages of the mechanism are also discussed here. Active control suspensions offer a wider range of comfort and control than most current suspension systems. Offers unmatched vehicle handling performance. They may eventually find their way into more common production vehicles