Modelling and Experimental Study of a Passive Frequency-Dependent Vehicle Suspension Damper

The recent trends in the automotive industry have enforced chassis solutions beyond the reach of conventional systems. Thus, extending the functionality of passive hydraulic dampers is vital in improving their effectiveness while maintaining low production and operating costs. This paper presents a general structure of a passive shock absorber with so-called frequency-dependent (FD) damping characteristics and points to constitutive elements of the valves used in this type of an adaptive damper. A mathematical description of FD damper is provided together with a model developed in the Siemens AMESim environment. The performance of the model was verified against the data from tests with a real, commercially available FD shock absorber. Furthermore, in order to emphasise its efficiency, the authors have carried out a study involving quarter car models (QCM) with and without the FD damper, respectively. The results have clearly shown major advantages of utilising FD dampers in a suspension.