Identification of Vehicle System Dynamics from the Aspect of Interaction between the Steering and the Suspension Systems

Steering and suspension systems of a motor vehicle have very important mutual connections that have direct influence on a vehicle’s steerability, stability, comfort and life expectancy. These mechanical and functional couplings cause an intensive interaction between the two mentioned vehicle systems on a geometrical, kinematical and dynamical level. This article presents a study on nonparametric identification of dynamic interaction between the steering and the suspension system of a passenger vehicle. A specific methodology for experimental research in on-road conditions was designed that was in line with the research objectives and the applied measuring system. Experimental data were acquired for a curvilinear drive, with different constant driving speeds and on different roads. A multiple input/multiple output model for identification of the vehicle dynamics system from the aspect of interaction between the steering and the suspension system was developed. The analysis of experimental data was realized with the selection of a corresponding identification model, decoupling of model inputs and conditioned spectral analysis. The results of the conditioned spectral analysis of experimentally obtained data records indicate the level of interaction between the observed input and output parameters of the steering and the suspension systems to be in the frequency range below 30 Hz.