Proportional-integral-derivative control of nonlinear half-car electro-hydraulic suspension systems

This paper presents the development of a proportional-integral-derivative (PID)-based control method for application to active vehicle suspension systems (AVSS). This method uses an inner PID hydraulic actuator force control loop, in combination with an outer PID suspension travel control loop, to control a nonlinear half-car AVSS. Robustness to model uncertainty in the form of variation in suspension damping is tested, comparing performance of the AVSS with a passive vehicle suspension system (PVSS), with similar model parameters. Spectral analysis of suspension system model output data, obtained by performing a road input disturbance frequency sweep, provides frequency response plots for both nonlinear vehicle suspension systems and time domain vehicle responses to a sinusoidal road input disturbance on a smooth road. The results show the greater robustness of the AVSS over the PVSS to parametric uncertainty in the frequency and time domains.