Sensitivity Analysis and Optimization of an Off Road Car Vibration Performance Using DOE and RSM Methods 2012-01-1186

Ride quality is one of the most fundamental properties of a vehicle, therefore this subject is always noticed by automotive engineers. A lot of researches have been done for improving vehicle ride performance but most of them centered on development of control systems such as active and semi active suspension systems. In this research, modification of suspension system parameters has been used for optimization of vehicle ride quality. For this reason, Virtual model of an off road car in ADAMS/Car has been developed. Several different experimental test results have confirmed the validity of the model. To reduce the number of input parameters of optimization, a sensitivity analysis has been performed based on design of experiments (DOE) method. Two level fractional factorial designs have been selected for this purpose.

The sensitivity analysis indicated that five parameters from fifteen selected parameters play major roles. Finally the optimization has been done using response surface methodology (RSM).