Design, Dimensioning and Simulation of Inerters for the Reduction of Vehicle Wheel Vibrations—Case Studies

Abstract

For the last two decades, a novel mechanical system has received increasing attention—the inerter. An inerter is a system that can store mechanical energy for a rather short amount of time and behaves analogously to a capacitor in electrical engineering. Until today, only a few inerter applications have been reported. In a vehicle suspension, an inerter can be used to reduce wheel vibrations. This paper demonstrates the application potential of the novel mechanical system and describes the design and dimensioning of an inerter for the reduction of these kind of wheel vibrations for two completely different vehicle concepts. The first application concerns a Formula Student race car in which the main objective represents the maximization of the mechanical grip to improve lap times. For the inerter dimensioning in a racing car, lightweight design is a major issue. The second application is an agricultural tractor in which the focus is on the reduction of the ground pressure to protect the environment as well as on a very robust and compact realization of the inerter. A detailed simulation of both cases allows a qualitative and quantitative assessment of the wheel vibration reduction potential. In both applications, a considerable improvement potential could be identified which amounts, in the case of the race car, to a reduction of wheel oscillation of about 21% and for the tractor to a wheel vibration reduction potential of up to 54%.