LPV gain-scheduling controller design for a non-linear quarter-vehicle active suspension system

Abstract

There always exists a conflict between ride comfort and suspension deflection performances during the vibration control of suspension systems. Active suspension control systems, which are designed by linear methods, can only serve as a trade-off between these conflicting performance criteria. Both performance objectives can only be accomplished at the same time by using a nonlinear controller. This paper addresses the non-linear induced L2 control of an active suspension system, which contains non-linear spring and damper elements. The design method is based on the linear parameter varying (LPV) model of the system. The proposed method utilizes the bilinear damping characteristic, stiffening spring characteristic when the suspension deflection approaches the structural limits, mass variations and parameter-dependent weighting filters. Simulation studies both in time and frequency domain demonstrate that the active suspension system controlled by the proposed method always guarantees an agreement between acceleration (comfort) and suspension deflection magnitudes together with a high ride performance.