Design and Virtual Validation of a Coil-Spring Cab Suspension System for a Heavy Commercial Vehicle

<p>This paper details a structured methodology for designing and validating a coil-spring cab suspension system<br>for a heavy commercial vehicle (HCV) to enhance driver ride comfort. The design process focuses on isolating the cabin<br>from road-induced chassis vibrations. Key inputs include vehicle weight distribution and data obtained through road load<br>data acquisition (RLDA). A single-degree-of-freedom base excitation model is utilized to set a target natural frequency<br>of 2 Hz for the cab suspension. Detailed calculations determine the stiffness and geometrical parameters for the front and<br>rear coil springs. The performance of the designed system is virtually validated using Multi-Body Dynamics (MBD)<br>analysis in MSC ADAMS. Simulations for standard ride events, such as rough road and low-speed bumps, yield a Ride<br>Quality Number (RQN) between 6.5 and 7.5, indicating satisfactory performance. A comparative analysis confirms the<br>superiority of the four-point coil spring configuration over alternative design schemes. The study concludes that an<br>integrated approach, combining theoretical calculations with advanced CAE tools, is effective for developing a costeffective and performance-optimized cab suspension</p>