Axiomatic design of a customizable pneumatic automotive suspension with hydraulic ride height regulator

Stiffness has long since governed the way people choose automobiles. Stiffer suspensions allow for the better handling necessary in sporty cars while softer suspensions provide the comfort expected in luxury cars. Automobiles have also been limited by ride height: a higher ride height will yield more clearance from bumps along the ground. However, lower ride height lowers the center of gravity of the car, which is desired for safety. The purpose of this work is to propose a way of using axiomatic design to device a system that uses orifice controlled dampers, pneumatic springs and hydraulic chambers to achieve a fully customizable suspension system and ride height regulation. In addition, a way to create the best possible user experience is proposed by using control theory to keep the car chassis at the same level at all times, thus giving the user the ability to have a smooth ride at any suspension setting, even stiff suspension systems in the case of sporty car settings. To achieve the goals of this work, a short-long arm (SLA) suspension system was modeled and modified. The SLA suspension system is the most common front wheel independent suspension system that is used today.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2005

Author dc:creator

• Wong, Amy L. (Amy Lai)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Nam P. Suh.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/32970

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/32970