A Study on Suspension Optimization of the Korean Personal Rapid Transit Vehicle

In this study, running stability and ride quality analyses, applying the 'ISO 3888 (double lane change)' and ' ISO2631-1' (mechanical vibration and shock) tests, were performed for the suspension optimization of the Korean personal rapid transit (PRT) vehicle. The suspension optimization results for running stability and ride quality were derived by applying the multiresponse surface method. From the comparisons of the optimization results for different ratios of the objective functions of running stability and ride quality, we derived the best objective function ratio of 3.9-to-6.1 to improve both the running stability and the ride quality. With the optimized results, the suspension stiffness became 30.68 N/mm, between the value of the S-2 and S-3 models, and the damping coefficient equaled that of the D-1 model. When compared with the suspension of the current PRT vehicle, the roll angle, yaw rate, sideslip angle, and ride comfort were improved by 0.37, 0.37, 2.8, and 5, respectively.