Motion Transmissibility Characteristics of Some Linear and Nonlinear Passive Suspension Systems With Elastically Supported Damper

Ruzicka and Cavanaugh have presented a passive suspension system with an elastically supported damper with a view to improve its performance in the region of resonance as well as in high frequency region. In this paper, some linear and nonlinear modified forms of Ruzicka’s model of suspension system have been analysed for their motion transmissibility characteristics. The effect of variation of parameters such as, the support spring stiffness, the auxiliary spring stiffness, damping ratio and nonlinearity coefficient on motion transmissibility of the modified models is studied. From the results of analysis, it is observed that for a certain combination of the suspension parameters, the motion transmissibility of the system can be made almost independent of variation in the damping ratio of the system. The method of nonlinear analysis presented in this paper and the results obtained will provide alternative solutions for the design of passive suspension systems for improved ride comfort characteristics for a large class of road vehicles.