Linear and nonlinear kinematic design of multilink suspension

Journal article, 2023

In the design of suspensions for passenger cars, it is time-consuming to find a solution that works for both kinematics and packaging. The design must provide clash-free packaging within the suspension components and sufficient clearance to surrounding parts, such as the body and the subframe. In addition, the design has to ensure a reasonable kinematic performance, in which the dynamic behaviors of the car are safe and stable at all speeds. The objective of this study was to provide a method that automatically controls specified linear and nonlinear kinematic targets at the same time as engineers test different packaging solutions. The kinematic performance is controlled when design engineers test different packaging solutions by using the proposed method. The method optimizes the linearized constraint matrices by means of given performance targets as input and proposes a hardpoint configuration. The result shows a major potential to reduce design lead time by using this method. We conclude that the design of the suspension architecture can be more efficient and precise by automatic kinematic control.