Study on vehicle body height control using magnetorheological dampers

To address the issues of high energy consumption, complex structure, and slow response associated with traditional body height adjustment methods using active suspension, this paper proposes a method for vehicle body height control using magnetorheological dampers (MRDs). By adjusting the current in the extension and compression phases, the ride height can be effectively controlled. First, a nonlinear suspension model incorporating an MRD is established. The parameters of a Bouc-Wen hysteresis model are identified using a least-squares estimation approach, based on experimental data collected from the RD-1005-3 MRD. Then, a control strategy for vehicle body height adjustment using MRDs is proposed, and a current-switching function is designed. The feasibility of the proposed method is preliminarily verified through simulations on the MATLAB/SIMULINK platform. Finally, a quarter-vehicle suspension test bench is constructed, and a real-time platform for height monitoring and control using MRDs is implemented using the NI LabVIEW real-time environment and the NI-PXI system. The bench experiments verify both the practicality and performance of the proposed control strategy. These results indicate that the method provides a new perspective and an alternative solution for regulating vehicle height.