Volvo Trucks North America: Active Cab Suspension

Overview

Volvo Trucks North America is a leader in the design and manufacture of heavy-duty trucks. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, Volvo Trucks first entered the North American market in 1959 and established itself as an integral part of the United States truck market in the mid-1970s through Volvo of America Corporation. Volvo hopes to develop a new, active suspension system for use on its semi-trucks, tailored specifically to enhancing operator comfort. The team was tasked with modeling and simulating such a system, in hopes of determining the real-world feasibility of the project.

Objectives

-Determine if any current active suspension systems would be a direct fit.

-Develop a simulation model of the current passive suspension system.

-Design a controller for use with active force actuators running in parallel to the passive system.

-Develop a simulation model of the designed active suspension system.

-Determine the feasibility of real-world development of an active suspension system.

Approach

-Research current active suspension systems.

-Determine which software package to use when developing simulations.

-Develop a passive-cab simulation.

-Ensure that simulation results meet expected values.

-Develop a controller for an active suspension system.

-Integrate the controller with the passive-cab model.

-Compare results, and determine the real-world feasibility of active suspension.

Outcomes

-Simulations showed that active suspension systems could reasonably reduce cab vibrations by up to 70 percent.

-Research into current active suspension technology suggested that linear electromagnetic force actuators would be the best option for real-world use.

-The physical design of such a system would be difficult, but doable. Efforts may need to be taken to redesign parts of the underlying passive system in order to achieve satisfactory integration.