Study on the influence of bus suspension parameters on ride comfort

This study proposes a three-dimensional vibration model of bus with 10 DOF (degree of freedom) based on Dragan Sekulic model to analyze the suspension parameters directly influenced ride comfort. The suspension parameters which include the stiffness and damping parameters are analyzed based on the weighted r.m.s. (root-mean-square) acceleration responses of the space of a driver, passenger in the middle part of the bus and passenger in the rear overhang according to ISO 2631-1:1997. The results show that both stiffness and damping parameters of vehicle suspension have important influences on ride comfort. Especially, the stiffness and damping values of vehicle suspension are within the value ranges (0.5k0 ≤ k ≤ 0.75 k0) and (0.5c0 ≤ c ≤ 0.75c0) to improve the ride comfort of driver and passengers.