Multi-model Switching Control Study of a Full-Car Suspension System for Balancing Ride Comfort and Handling Stability

Abstract The cooperative control of ride comfort and handling stability in automobile suspension systems presents a significant challenge in intelligent chassis system design. This complexity arises from the high degrees of freedom, diverse operating conditions, and inherent trade-offs between performance metrics in full-car suspension systems. In this paper, a novel switching control strategy is proposed to better balance ride comfort and handling stability for a full-car suspension system. The system integrates a ride comfort controller and an anti-rollover controller, guided by a new rollover risk assessment indicator that requires fewer state variables. First, a vehicle suspension simplification model approach is introduced, reducing the fourteen-degree-of-freedom full-car suspension model to three two-degree-of-freedom models: vertical, pitch and roll. Based on these simplified models, vertical, roll, and pitch controllers are designed, simplifying the controller design process for full-car suspension systems. The ride comfort controller is constructed using the modal energy method in conjunction with the simplified model controllers, while the roll controller functions as the anti-rollover controller. The proposed rollover risk assessment indicator serves as the switching criterion between handling stability and ride comfort control. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed switching control strategy effectively adapts to various road conditions, enabling the semi-active variable damping suspension system to perform multi-modal switching. Compared to a well-tuned passive suspension, vertical, roll, and pitch accelerations are reduced by 14.13%, 13.02% and 13.08%, respectively, significantly improving ride comfort. Additionally, the system effectively mitigates rollover risk, achieving reductions in roll angle, roll speed, and roll acceleration by 19.69%, 16.40%, and 29.96%, respectively, thereby greatly enhancing vehicle safety. Overall, the proposed switching control strategy achieves a successful balance between ride comfort and handling stability, enhancing overall driving performance.