Research on a novel displacement-dependent semi-active valve damping control mechanism used in the seat suspension system

Abstract

The passive suspension seats have been widely used in off-road vehicles, but the drivers still suffer from the greater vibration and shock transmitted from the rough road, adversely affecting the drivers’ health and vehicle handling safety. Although active suspension seats have been researched and developed in engineering and academia for more than 30 years, they have rarely been applied in the industry due to the complex electrical structures and high costs. In this paper, a novel valve damping control system (VDCS) used in the off-road vehicle seat suspension is proposed and studied, which is a mechanical semi-active damping control system without ECUs and sensors. Firstly, the structures and working principles of VDCS are described in detail. Then, the dynamics model of the seat suspension system with VDCS is established, and simulation and experimental research are performed to evaluate its shock and vibration isolation performance. The results show that a seat suspension with VDCS is much better for isolating vibrations and shocks than one with a traditional manual adjustment damper in the whole workspace.