ABSTRACT
Abstract. This paper presents control performances o f a semi-active suspension using ER(electro-rheological) fluids for a commercial vehicle seat. A cylindrical ER seat damper is designed and manufactured by incorporating Bingham model o f an arabic gum-based ER fluid. The ER fluid consists o f arabic gum particles(weight ratio: 30%) and silicone oil(viscosity: 0.0027 Pa • s). After evaluating field-dependent damping characteristics o f the ER seat damper, a sliding mode controller is formulated to control the seat vibration due to external excitations. The controller is then experimentally realized and controlled responses are presented in both time and frequency domains. In addition, a full-car model consisting o f primary, cabin and seat suspensions is established and the hardware-in-the-loop simulation(HILS) is undertaken to demonstrate a practical feasibility o f the proposed seat suspension system showing ride comfort quality under various road conditions.
