actuators

Article
Comfort-Oriented Semi-Active Suspension Configuration with
Inerter-Based Network Synthesis
Yalin Li 1,2 , Shichang Han 1,2,3, *, Junlin Xiong 1,2 and Wenbo Wang 1

1 Faculty of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology,
Kunming 650504, China; liyalin666@gmail.com (Y.L.); kmustxjl@163.com (J.X.);
wenbo_wang@kust.edu.cn (W.W.)
2 Yunnan International Joint Laboratory of Intelligent Control and Application of Advanced Equipment,
Kunming 650504, China
3 Yunnan Dahongshan Pipeline Co., Ltd., Kunming 650302, China
* Correspondence: han_shichang@163.com; Tel.: +86-135-7717-7144

Abstract: This paper presents a comfort-oriented semi-active suspension system composed of a

network-synthesized passive section and a controllable section based on a semi-active inerter. Firstly,
the semi-active suspension system is divided into a passive part and a controllable part. For the
passive part, first-order and second-order robust positive real controllers are designed. The problem
with H2 cost is considered, and the bilinear matrix inequalities (BMI) are solved using an iterative
method to obtain two admittance functions. The admittance functions are physically realized as
two mechanical networks composed of mechanical passive elements such as inerter, spring, and
damper (ISD). Then, the parameters of these mechanical elements in those networks are optimized
by Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). Secondly, a semi-active inerter based on Sky-hook control is
introduced for the semi-active part of the suspension system. Finally, the semi-active ISD suspension
structure is verified by a quarter vehicle model. The simulation results show that the first-order
and second-order suspension systems optimize the RMS of the spring mass acceleration by 14.2%
and 23.9%, respectively, as compared to traditional suspension systems. Furthermore, frequency-
domain analysis also shows that both suspension systems effectively reduce the value of spring mass
acceleration in the low-frequency band.
Citation: Li, Y.; Han, S.; Xiong, J.;
Wang, W. Comfort-Oriented
Keywords: semi-active suspension; inerter; network synthesis; robust positive real controllers;
Semi-Active Suspension Sky-hook control
Configuration with Inerter-Based
Network Synthesis. Actuators 2023,
12, 290. https://doi.org/10.3390/
act12070290 1. Introduction
Academic Editor: Ioan Ursu The vehicle suspension system plays a crucial role in supporting the static weight
of a vehicle while determining its overall performance regarding the ride-comfort and
Received: 1 June 2023 road-holding. Nowadays, vehicle suspension systems can be categorized into three types:
Revised: 5 July 2023
passive suspension, semi-active suspension, and active suspension. Active suspension pro-
Accepted: 12 July 2023
vides optimal performance but also requires a lot of energy to drive [1]. Passive suspension
Published: 16 July 2023
is less expensive and does not require additional energy input to operate compared to active
suspension. However, passive suspension has limitations when a vehicle requires greater
performance [2]. Comparatively, a semi-active suspension can provide better performance
Copyright: © 2023 by the authors.
than passive suspension while incurring less energy consumption compared to an active
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. suspension [3–5]. To achieve the required performance, semi-active suspensions mainly utilize
This article is an open access article adjustable mechanical elements, such as semi-active damping [6–8], a semi-active spring [9], or
distributed under the terms and a semi-active inerter [10,11].
conditions of the Creative Commons In recent years, network synthesis has regained its position as a research hotspot with
Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// the proposal of the inerter [12]. The emergence of inerters has completed the mechanical–
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ electrical analogy, making it possible to apply electrical network synthesis to mechanical
4.0/). networks [13,14]. Papageorgiou and Smith [15] were the first to propose a procedure for

Actuators 2023, 12, 290. https://doi.org/10.3390/act12070290 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/actuators

Actuators 2023, 12, 290 2 of 15

the synthesis of positive real controllers based on matrix inequalities, in which the H2
and H∞ problems were considered. Passive elements were used to realize the admittance
function. The feasibility of this procedure was verified in the design of quarter vehicle
passive suspension. Chen et al. [16] investigated the effect of admittance functions of
different orders on the performance of the suspension system, finding that the performance
improves with an increase in the order of the admittance functions, but the structure
also becomes more complex. Wang et al. [17], using up to four elements, investigated the
network synthesis problem of biquadratic impedances and derived the sufficient conditions
for the implementation of arbitrary biquadratic impedances. Chen et al. [18] designed
the structure of the ISD suspension system using Linear Matrix Inequality (LMI) and
optimized the ISD suspension using the quantum genetic algorithm. Through simulations,
they demonstrated that the suspension performance can effectively reduce the spring mass
acceleration in the low-frequency band. Based on the inerter, Jason et al. [19] analyzed
the positive-real biquadratic functions that can be implemented by five components in
mechanical networks, and provided their implementable conditions. Based on the research
above, the method of combining the inerter, spring, and damping to construct various
structural forms has shifted from the “structural method” to the “impedance method”, also
known as the “black box method” [20–22].
For traditional semi-active suspensions, the usual focus to improve their performance
is on the semi-active control algorithm and optimization [23]. However, with the advent of
the inerter, a semi-active inerter can be used instead of a semi-active spring or semi-active
damping. Hu et al. [24] proposed a ball-screw semi-active inerter that can continuously
adjust its inertance by adjusting the radius of the flywheel. Li et al. [25] investigated semi-
active suspension with a controlled inerter and designed an H2 state feedback controller.
This resulted in a substantial reduction in the sprung mass acceleration on the spring at
the intrinsic body frequency. Overall, it is clear that suspension systems with semi-active
inerter can perform better than traditional suspension systems. To further explore this
technique, in this paper, we design a semi-active ISD suspension using network synthesis,
where we introduce a semi-active inerter under Sky-hook control.
This article is organized as follows. In Section 2, we model and analyze the proposed
semi-active ISD suspension based on the quarter vehicle model. We will also obtain the
positive real controller’s BMI corresponding to it. In Section 3, we solve the LMI and
implement the solution to obtain the passive configuration of the considered suspension.
In Section 4, the parameters of the mechanical network from Section 3 are optimized using
PSO. In Section 5, we introduce the semi-active Sky-hook control law and simulate the
suspension’s overall performance for analysis. Section 6 concludes the paper.

2. Models of Semi-Active ISD Suspension

2.1. Quarter Vehicle Suspension
The quarter vehicle model considered in this paper is shown in Figure 1a, where ms ,
mu , and k t denote the sprung mass, unsprung mass, and tire stiffness, respectively, and
bsky is the ideal Sky-hook inertance. The sprung mass displacement, the unsprung mass
displacement and the road excitation are denoted by zs , zu , and zr , respectively. k represents
the support spring. The suspension system between the sprung mass and unsprung mass
discussed in this paper is divided into two parallel parts: the passive part and semi-active
part. The passive part is composed of a support spring k and a mechanical network K (s),
while the semi-active part is on the ideal Sky-hook inerter. Figure 1b shows the traditional
semi-active suspension as a reference model, where csemi is a semi-active damper coefficient.
For the suspension system considered in this paper, the admittance of the entire
passive part can be expressed as W (s) = k/s + K (s). In addition, for the semi-active part,
the ideal Sky-hook inerter [26] is chosen, and when the structural optimization of the
passive part is completed, the ideal Sky-hook inerter will be realized using the semi-active
method in order to facilitate the calculation of parameters.
Actuators 2023, 12, 290 3 of 15

bsky
ms zs ms zs

F
k k c
K(s)
F

mu zu mu zu

kt kt

zr zr

(a) (b)
Figure 1. Quarter vehicle suspension model. (a) Semi-active ISD suspension. (b) Traditional semi-
active suspension.

According to Newton’s second law, the kinetic equation of semi-active ISD suspension
can be written in the following form:


 z̈u mz + k(zs − zu ) + Fd = 0

z̈u mu + k t (zu − zr ) − k(zs − zu ) − F = 0

d
(1)


 F̂d = K (s)(sẑs − sẑu )

mz = ms + bsky


where Fd is the force transferred by the mechanical network K (s), and F̂d , ẑs and ẑu are the
Laplace transform of Fd , zs and zu , respectively.
Selecting state variables x = [zs , żs , zu , żu ] T , input u = [ Fd , zr ] T , output y = [żs , zs ,
żs − żu ] T , respectively, kinetic equation for (1) can be written as the following state-
space expression:
 
Fd
ẋ = Ax + B , y = Cx, (2)
zr
where

   
0 1 0 0 0 0  
−k/mz −1/mz 0 1 0 0
0 k/mz 0 0 
A=
 0
, B =  , C = 1 0 0 0 .
0 0 1  0 0 
0 1 0 −1
k/mu 0 −(k + k t )/mu 0 1/mu k t /mu

2.2. Passive Network Synthesis

According to [15], passive networks can be physically implemented using a spring,
damper, and inerter when the transfer functions of the mechanical networks formed by
their series–parallel connections are positive real. The form of admittance K (s) for the
spring, damper, and inerter can be represented by k/s, c, and bs, respectively.
The following matrix inequality gives the positive real condition for the controller:
Given that K (s)  
Ak Bk
K (s) = = Ck (sI − Ak )−1 Bk + Dk (3)
Ck Dk
Actuators 2023, 12, 290 4 of 15

then, K (s) is positive real if and only if there exists Pk = PkT > 0 that satisfies the following
LMI [27]:  T
Ak Pk + Pk Ak Pk Bk − CkT

≤0 (4)
BkT Pk − Ck − DkT − Dk

2.3. Design of Positive Real Controller

Generally, the structure of the passive part K (s) is designed in two ways: In the first
approach, a finite number of mechanical components is selected and combined in different
arrangements, and the other one is formed using a network synthesis method, commonly
known as the “black box method” for network construction. In this paper, the network
synthesis method is used to design the passive part of the structure. It can directly lead to
the network without the need for comparison work, unlike the first approach.
The passive mechanical network is treated as a positive real controller in this paper,
as shown in Figure 2. The solution of the derivative function will be transformed into
the design of a positive real controller. For a given K (s) with order of nk , the state space
expression of the passive network part K (s) can be written in the following form:

ẋk = Ak xk + Bk (żs − żu )
(5)
Fd = Ck xk + Dk (żs − żu )

where Fd and żs − żu are the output and input of the controller; xk is the state vector of
the controller; and Ak , Bk , Ck , and Dk are parameter matrices for substitution. Combin-
ing (2) and (5), a closed-loop system is obtained in the form of the following state-space
expressions: (
ẋcl = Acl xcl + Bcl zr
(6)
żs = Ccl xcl
   
A + B1 Dk C3 B1 Ck B2 T , xcl = [ x, xk ] T .
 
where, Acl = , Bcl = , Ccl = C1 0nk
Bk C3 Ak 0nk
zr is the system input, and żs is the system output. B1 and B2 denote the first and second
columns of matrix B in (2); C1 and C3 denote the first and third rows of matrix C in (2); and
A represents the matrix A in (2), while 0nk denotes a column vector of dimension nk with
all 0 elements.

z zr
Suspension

z s  z u F

K(s)

Figure 2. Block diagram of robust positive real control model.

There exists a positive real controller K (s) of order nk such that the Acl in closed-
loop system is stable and k Tẑr →sẑs k2 < λ when, and only if, there exists Pcl = PclT > 0,
Xk = XkT > 0 satisfying the following LMI [15]:

CclT
   
Acl Pcl + Pcl Acl Pcl Bcl Pcl
TP < 0, > 0,
Bcl cl −I Ccl Q
 T (7)
T

A k Xk + Xk A k Xk Bk − Ck
tr ( Q) < λ2 , ≤ 0.
BkT Xk − Ck − DkT − Dk

The first three LMIs are necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a
stabilizing controller. The fourth LMI further restricts the controller to be positive real.
Actuators 2023, 12, 290 5 of 15

In both of the above LMIs, each LMI contains the product of two unknown matrixes, so
these problems are bilinear matrix inequality problems (BMI). Compared to LMI, BMI is
a non-convex, NP-hard problem and is more difficult to solve with the traditional LMI
algorithm [18]. The details of solving BMI will be discussed in Section 3.2.

3. Network Synthesis of the Passive Part

In this section, both the first-order and second-order positive real controllers are
optimized to improve the ride comfort, and the result obtained from the optimization is
physically implemented.

3.1. Description of Suspension Performance

Ride comfort, road-holding, and suspension technological limitations are three main
performance indices for a suspension system. Note that they are also contradictory factors
to improve at the same time. For the design of suspension systems, these indices can be
expressed in terms of the sprung acceleration, the tire dynamic load, and the suspension
deflection, respectively [2].
In this paper, the design of the suspension is preferential to ride comfort. As shown
in [28], the Root Mean Square (RMS) value of the mass on the spring can be expressed in
the following form:
J = 2π (Vκ )1/2 ksTẑr →ẑs k2 , (8)
where V is the forward speed of vehicle, κ is the road surface roughness, and Tẑr →ẑs
represents the transfer function between the road excitation zr to the sprung mass displace-
ment zs .
In order to reduce the acceleration of the sprung mass and improve the ride comfort,
the network synthesis problem of the ISD suspension can be converted into the minimum
value of k Tzr →żs k2 if the conditions in Theorem 2 are satisfied.

3.2. Solve BMI and Network Synthesis

We consider an instance of the general BMI problem given by (7); the Genetic Al-
gorithm (GA) is introduced to perform the optimization. As a stochastic parallel direct
search algorithm, the GA has a strong global search capability as well as fast convergence
speed [29]. The LMI algorithm and the GA are combined to solve the BMI by determining
the range of parameters of the individual controller, and then, the degenerate BMI is solved
by the LMI algorithm and optimizing iterations in the given iteration range to find an
optimal positive real controller [30]. BMI is converted to LMI using GA. Then, the YALMIP
toolbox in MATLAB is used to solve the LMI [31].
The vehicle suspension parameters selected in this paper are shown in Table 1. The
first-order and second-order admittance K (s) obtained after optimization are given in the
following equations:

1 1
K1nk (s) = , K2nk (s) =
1 1 1 1
+ + (9)
c1 b1 s + c2 b2 s k 2
+ c3
s
where c1 = 1942.146, b1 = 2290.397, c2 = 0.934, b2 = 433.325, k2 = 1762.584, c3 = 5007.5.
Equation (9) is the controller obtained by solving the GA and LMI algorithms, which will
be physically implemented in the following.
Actuators 2023, 12, 290 6 of 15

Table 1. Vehicle suspension parameter.

Parameter Value
Sprung mass ms (kg) 250
Unsprung mass mu (kg) 35
Support spring stiffness k (N/m) 80,000
Tire stiffness k t (N/m) 150,000
Ideal Sky-hook inertance bsky (kg) 120

The performance indices corresponding to the above two equations are J1nk = 1.588
and J2nk = 1.629. Based on the aforementioned network synthesis techniques, the controller
K (s) is realized by springs, dampers, and inerters. The result of the passive part of the
suspension is shown in Figure 3.

b1
k2 c2

c1
b2

(a) (b)
Figure 3. Physical implementation of the K (s). (a) First-order. (b) Second-order.

4. Parameter Optimization for the Passive Part of the ISD Suspension

In this section, parameter optimization of the ISD suspension structure resulting from
the network synthesis will be performed. The ideal Sky-hook inerter suspension, as shown
in Figure 1a and the structures in Figure 3, is combined in the suspension.

4.1. Random Road Input

In the research and design of automotive suspension systems, the performance of
suspension systems is tested on a random road, from which the road roughness is the
excitory input.
In general, power spectral density (PSD) function can be used to describe the ran-
dom road [4]:
n
Gq (n) = Gq (n0 )( )−W , (10)
n0
where n0 is the reference spatial frequency, taking the value of 0.1 m−1 , n is the spatial
frequency, and W is the frequency index—normally, it takes a constant value of 2. Gq (n0 )
denotes the road roughness. the typical road condition can be divided into a number of classes
A–E [32], and its corresponding road roughness is shown in Table 2. The displacement
input model for random road can be expressed as follows:
h q i
żr = −0.111 Vzr (t) + 40 Gq (n0 )Vw(t) , (11)

in which zr (t) is the road vertical displacement, V is the vehicle forward speed, and w(t)
denotes the unit white noise with a covariance of 1 m2 /s. In this paper, a quarter car
suspension sunning on good road conditions is focused upon. Road classes A and B are
selected, and the vehicle speeds are 20 m/s and 30 m/s. The road displacement input with
class B road at 30 m/s is shown in Figure 4. This road displacement will be used as input
for the optimization of the passive part parameters and the numerical simulation of the
semi-active ISD suspension.
Actuators 2023, 12, 290 7 of 15

Table 2. Road classification.

Road Class Gq (n0 )(10−6 )(n0 = 0.1 m−1 )

A (very good) 16
B (good) 64
C (average) 256
D (poor) 1024
E (very poor) 4096

Random road irregularity(Class B, 30m/s)

0.015

0.01

0.005
Road vertical input (m)

-0.005

-0.01

-0.015

-0.02
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
time (s)

Figure 4. Random road irregularity (Class B, 30 m/s).

4.2. Optimization Objectives and Optimization Methods

Although ride comfort is the optimization goal, a balanced performance of ride com-
fort, road-holding, and suspension technological limitations is considered during the
optimization. Parameters of the passive part in the ISD suspension will be optimized using
PSO, taking the ride comfort, road-holding, and suspension technological limitations into
account. The PSO algorithm, simulating the predatory behavior of a flock of birds, is a
type of evolutionary algorithm [33]. PSO has the advantages of fast search speed and high
accuracy. It is suitable for global parameter optimization.
The optimization goal function is chosen as follows, where the road input is taken
as Figure 4.

Y = ρ1 JJASM
∗ + ρ2 JJTDL
∗ + ρ3 JJSD
∗
ASM TDL SD
(12)
s.t : LB ≤ b1 , c1 , b2 , c2 , k2 ≤ UB
where ρi is a weighting factor between ride comfort, road-holding, and suspension techno-
logical limitations. Since the main consideration of this paper is ride comfort, the values
∗ , J ∗ , and J ∗
of ρ1 , ρ2 , and ρ3 are 0.5, 0.25, and 0.25, respectively. JTDL SD ASM denote the RMS
of sprung acceleration, RMS of tire dynamic load, and RMS of suspension deflection ob-
tained from the traditional suspension under random road input, respectively. The JTDL ,
JSD , and J ASM values are the simulation result from the proposed suspension in this paper.
The parameters of the mechanical elements b1 , c1 , k2 , c2 , and b2 in Figure 3 are the quantities
to be optimized.
In order to make the optimized parameters of each component feasible, upper and
lower limits are therefore set for each component. xi represents the parameters of the compo-
nent, which should be located between the lower limit LB and the upper limit UB. Considering
the parameters of conventional suspensions, the range of individual component parameters
is shown in Table 3.
Actuators 2023, 12, 290 8 of 15

Table 3. Range of optimization parameter.

Parameter Variable Lower Limit Upper Limit

Inertance b1 (kg) 100 1000
Damping coefficient c1 (N · s/m) 1000 7000
Inertance b2 (kg) 50 1000
Damping coefficient c2 (N · s/m) 500 6000
Spring stiffness k2 (N/m) 5000 20,000

In the PSO algorithm, each particle’s own state is described by a set of position and
velocity vectors, which represent the feasible solution to the problem and its direction of
motion in the search space [34]. The velocity and position update equations of the particle
are given in the following equations:
(
vi (t + 1) = Wvi (t) + c I (pi − xi (t))R1 + c I I (g − xi (t))R2
(13)
xi ( t + 1 ) = xi ( t ) + vi ( t + 1 )

where i denotes the ith particle, vi (t) denotes the speed of iteration to t, xi (t) denotes the
current position of the particle, pi and g denote the personal best and the global best of
the particle, W is the inertia factor, and c I and c I I are the cognitive and social coefficient,
respectively, which usually take values of c I , c I I are 0.8 and 0.4, respectively. R1 and R2 are
random numbers with values between 0 and 1.
The number of particles is chosen to be 200 and the maximum number of itera-
tions is 200 to find the minimum value of the fitness function given by Equation (12).
The parameters of each component obtained after iterative optimization in MATLAB are
shown in Table 4. So far, the configuration of the passive part, as well as their parameter
is constructed.

Table 4. Parameter optimization result.

Parameter Optimization Results

Inertance b1 (kg) 890.65
Damping coefficient c1 (N · s/m) 2542.12
Inertance b2 (kg) 996.13
Damping coefficient c2 (N · s/m) 2005.21
Spring stiffness k2 (N/m) 5002.92

5. Performance Analysis and Discussion of Semi-Active ISD Suspensions

In this section, the simulation and performance analysis of the semi-active ISD sus-
pension will be performed. The random road in Figure 4 is selected as the input of the
suspension system, and the semi-active ISD suspension proposed is simulated and compared
with the traditional passive suspension and the traditional semi-active suspension. First
of all, the ideal Sky-hook inerter suspension will be realized by the semi-active method.
The maximum and minimum damping coefficient of traditional semi-active suspension are
300 and 2500, respectively. The damping coefficient of traditional passive suspension is 2200.
The other parameters are the same as those of the suspension studied in this paper.
In this figure, the K (s) of the passive part will be replaced by the U1nk and U2nk
mechanical networks, respectively, for the purpose of obtaining the first-order and second-
order suspensions.
Actuators 2023, 12, 290 9 of 15

5.1. Semi-Active Realization of the Ideal Sky-Hook Inerter

The suspension is equipped with a semi-active inerter as shown in Figure 5, whose first-
order and second-order suspension dynamics equations are given in the following equation:


 z̈s ms + k(zs − zu ) + bsemi (z̈s − z̈u ) + U1nk = 0
z̈u mu + k t (zu − zr ) − k(zs − zu ) − bsemi (z̈s − z̈u ) − U2nk = 0

(14)
U =b (z̈ − z̈b ) = c1 (żb − żu )
 1nk 1 s


U2nk =b2 (z̈b − z̈u ) = c2 (żs − żb ) + k2 (zs − zb )
where bsky is the inertance of the semi-active inerter, and Uink represents the forces transmitted
by the first-order and second-order mechanical networks to the suspension system, i = 1, 2.

b1
ms zs zb U1nk
c1

k bsemi K(S)

k2 c2 U2nk
mu zu
zb
b2
kt

zr

Figure 5. Semi-active quarter vehicle ISD suspension.

The inerter is in proportion to the relative acceleration of the two ends. In this case,
the force of the Sky-hook inertance is then in proportion to the acceleration of the sprung
mass, as the acceleration of the sky is zero. Therefore, the Sky-hook inerter can improve
the ride comfort of the vehicle by the force that the Sky-hook inerter produces. The force
conducted by the ideal Sky-hook inerter in Figure 1 is F = bsky z̈s . The force conducted by
the semi-active inerter in Figure 5 is Fsemi = bsemi (z̈s − z̈u ).
In order to make the semi-active suspension has the similar performance as the ideal
Sky-hook inerter suspension, set Fsemi = F, where:

bsky z̈s
bsemi = (15)
(z̈s − z̈u )

Similar to the Sky-hook damping control algorithm, for the Sky-hook inerter control
algorithm, ON–OFF control and continuous control can be introduced according to the
adjustable inertance of the semi-active inerter.
ON-OFF control:

 bmax , if z̈s (z̈s − z̈u ) ≥ 0
bsemi = (16)
bmin , if z̈s (z̈s − z̈u ) < 0


Continuous control:
bsky z̈s

bmin ≤ ≤ bmax , if z̈s (z̈s − z̈u ) ≥ 0


bsemi = z̈s − z̈u (17)


bmin , if z̈s (z̈s − z̈u ) < 0

Actuators 2023, 12, 290 10 of 15

In order to make the force produced by the semi-active inerter equal to the one
produced by the ideal Sky-hook inerter, take bmax = bsky ; in ideal conditions, bmin = 0.

5.2. Suspension Performance Analysis

With two road classes and two velocities, the ISD suspension system is simulated using
both ON–OFF control and continuous control, and the simulation time is chosen to be 20 s.
The RMS values of the performance are shown in Table 5, and the performance
improvement rate of semi-active ISD suspension compared to traditional suspension is
shown in Table 6. Taking the condition of class B road at 30 m/s for example, the system
performance of different suspensions with time is shown in Figure 6. Figure 7 shows the
performance curves in the frequency domain.
As can be seen from Tables 5 and 6, the RMS value of sprung acceleration in Table 5
is the main performance index to the ride comfort as shown in Table 6. The tire dynamic
load reflects the road-holding in Table 6. Compared to the traditional passive suspension,
the ride comfort from the first-order ON–OFF and Continuous ISD suspensions improves
around 19% on the Class A road and 13% on the Class B road, while there is also a slight
advantage compared to the traditional semi-active suspension. On the other hand, the ride
comfort from the second-order ON-OFF and Continuous ISD suspension, compared to the
traditional passive suspension, reduced about 45% on the Class A road and 33% on the Class
B road, respectively. The performance is also much better than the traditional semi-active
suspension. In addition, the semi-active ISD suspension proposed in this paper benefits
the road-holding as well; the tire dynamic loads are smaller than the traditional passive
suspension; and the improvements are over 10% with first-order suspensions and 20% for
second-order suspensions on the Class A road. On the Class B road, improvement depends
on different orders and control methods, which are about 1%, 4%, 7%, and 11%. The road-
holding is about the same level as the traditional semi-active suspension. In both classes
of roads, the velocities contribute little influence to the ride comfort and road-holding
performance. Furthermore, for the suspension deflection, the first-order ISD suspension is
the same as the traditional one, while the second-order ISD suspension needs a little more
space, which is in an acceptable range.
The simulated performances for the traditional and semi-active ISD suspensions on
the class B road at 30 m/s are shown in Figure 6.
It can be seen in Figure 6a that the sprung acceleration curve of the traditional passive
suspension has the largest maximum peak to peak value, followed by the traditional semi-
active suspension. When the first-order semi-active ISD suspension system proposed in
this paper chooses ON–OFF control, its dynamic response of the sprung acceleration will
have a jitter problem during the direction reversing, which is similar to the traditional
ON–OFF type of semi-active suspension. It is caused by the fact that the ON–OFF control
can only switch the inertance. Moreover, ON–OFF control of the inertance may also destroy
control elements such as the control valve of the semi-active inerter. The curves of the
second-order semi-active ISD suspension have a lower maximum peak to peak value than
the traditional suspensions and first-order ones, in which the jitter problem still goes with
the ON–OFF control. Thus, the second-order semi-active ISD suspension with continuous
control performs the best. In Figure 6b,c, the dynamic tire load and suspension deflection
and the response curves of first-order and second-order semi-active ISD suspensions are
consistent with the traditional ones. However, in the suspension deflection curve, the
second-order semi-active ISD suspensions show the largest maximum peak to peak value.
It can also be seen by the RMS value in the Table 5, which means that the second-order
semi-active ISD suspensions need more space in the design.
Actuators 2023, 12, 290 11 of 15

Table 5. RMS value of vehicle performance under different vehicle condition.

Performance Traditional Suspension ISD Suspension (1 nk) ISD Suspension (2 nk)

Conditions
Index (RMS) Passive Semi-Active ON-OFF Continuous ON–OFF Continuous
Sprung
acceleration 0.7873 0.6825 0.6421 0.6378 0.4202 0.4338
(m/s2 )
Class A, Tire dynamic
218.7408 195.4778 195.7847 193.3658 174.3653 171.9115
20 m/s load (N)
Suspension
deflection 0.0021 0.0019 0.0021 0.0020 0.0027 0.0027
(m)
Sprung
acceleration 0.9535 0.8281 0.7688 0.7721 0.5223 0.5306
(m/s2 )
Class A, Tire dynamic
365.1126 338.2103 361.4294 349.0471 337.0507 323.6969
30 m/s load (N)
Suspension
deflection 0.0033 0.0032 0.0034 0.0033 0.0042 0.0041
(m)
Sprung
acceleration 1.2858 1.1300 1.1286 1.1035 0.8276 0.8531
(m/s2 )
Class B, Tire dynamic
265.1425 237.4449 237.2606 234.6618 210.9755 207.4685
20 m/s load (N)
Suspension
deflection 0.0025 0.0024 0.0025 0.0024 0.0030 0.0029
(m)
Sprung
acceleration 1.5593 1.3679 1.3577 1.3373 1.0229 1.0399
(m/s2 )
Class B, Tire dynamic
443.2428 410.1071 435.5959 424.2941 409.5107 391.4729
30 m/s load (N)
Suspension
deflection 0.0039 0.0038 0.0039 0.0039 0.0047 0.0046
(m)

Table 6. Performance improvement rate of the semi-active ISD suspension compared to the tradi-
tional suspension.

Vehicle Performance ISD Suspension (1 nk) ISD Suspension (2 nk)

Speed Index ON-OFF Continuous ON-OFF Continuous
Ride comfort 18.4% 18.9% 46.6% 44.9%
Class A, 20 m/s
Road-holding 10.5% 11.6% 20.3% 21.4%
Ride comfort 19.4% 19.1% 45.2% 44.4%
Class A, 30 m/s
Road-holding 10.5% 11.5% 20.4% 21.8%
Ride comfort 12.2% 14.2% 35.6% 33.7%
Class B, 20 m/s
Road-holding 1.1% 4.4% 7.7% 11.3%
Ride comfort 13.1% 14.2% 34.4% 33.3%
Class B, 30 m/s
Road-holding 1.8% 4.3% 7.6% 11.7%
Actuators 2023, 12, 290 12 of 15

Sprung acceleration,v=30m/s,Class B Traditional semi-active

5 Traditional passive
1nk ISD (ON-OFF)
Sprung acceleration(m/s 2) 4 1nk ISD (continuous)
3 2nk ISD (ON-OFF)
2 2nk ISD (continuous)
1
0

Sprung acceleration(m/s2)
-1 Sprung acceleration,v=30m/s,Class B
5
-2
-3 2.5

-4 0
-5 -2.5
10 -5
6 6.2 6.4 6.6 6.8 7 7.2 7.4 7.6 7.8 8
8 Time(s)

6
Time(s)
4

0 Suspension type

(a)

Traditional semi-active
Tire dynamic load,v=30m/s,Class B Traditional passive
1500
1nk ISD (ON-OFF)
1000 1nk ISD (continuous)
Tire dynamic load(N)

2nk ISD (ON-OFF)

500
2nk ISD (continuous)
0
Tire dynamic load(N)

-500 Tire dynamic load,v=30m/s,Class B

1500
1000
-1000
0
-1500
-1000
10 -1500
6 6.5 7 7.5 8
8
Time(s)
6
Time(s)
4

0 Suspension type

(b)

Traditional semi-active
Suspension deflection,v=30m/s,Class B Traditional passive
1nk ISD (ON-OFF)
Suspension deflection(m)

0.01 1nk ISD (continuous)

2nk ISD (ON-OFF)
0.005 2nk ISD (continuous)
Suspension deflection(m)

0
Suspension deflection,v=30m/s,Class B
-0.005 0.01
-0.01
0
-0.015
10 -0.01
6 6.5 7 7.5 8
8 Time(s)
6
Time(s)
4

0
Suspension type

(c)
Figure 6. Dynamic response for the suspension system. (a) Sprung acceleration. (b) Tire dynamic load.
(c) Suspension deflection.

From Figure 7a, it can be seen that the system responses excited by the road input are
mainly in the frequency band of 1–5 Hz; the semi-active ISD suspension systems proposed
in this paper have much lower PSD amplitude of the sprung acceleration compared to the
Actuators 2023, 12, 290 13 of 15

traditional ones (passive, semi-active), and in the frequency band higher than 5 Hz, PSDs
of the first-order, second-order semi-active ISD and traditional suspension are roughly the
same. For the PSD of tire dynamic load in Figure 7b, it can be seen that the first-order and
second-order semi-active ISD suspensions can significantly reduce the tire dynamic load
in the resonance frequency band compared with traditional suspension, which enhances
the safety of car driving. The second-order semi-active ISD suspension produces a little
deterioration in the frequency band of 0–1 Hz. In addition, the first-order semi-active ISD
suspension with ON–OFF control has a partial deterioration in the middle frequency band
of 6–10 Hz. In Figure 7c, the body resonance frequency of suspension deflection in the
second-order semi-active ISD suspension system is mainly concentrated between the 0 Hz
and 1 Hz band compared with the traditional and first-order semi-active ISD suspensions,
while the PSD of the latter two in the full frequency band have the same curve trend.
It means that the second-order semi-active ISD suspension system has the lowerest reso-
nance frequency and broadest frequency band for vibration attenuation. It can be shown
by our simulation results that the semi-active ISD suspension proposed in this paper can
effectively improve the ride comfort of the vehicle without reducing the road-holding of
the vehicle. Notably, the second-order semi-active ISD suspension system shows a better
performance than the first-order one.

PSD of sprung acceleration,v=30m/s,Class B 105 PSD of tire dynamic load,v=30m/s,Class B

105
PSD of sprung acceleration[(m/s 2) 2/Hz]

4 3.5
PSD of tire dynamic load(N2/Hz)

4 2
3
2 1
3 2.5

2 0
0 2 3 4 5
2 2 3 4 5 1.5

1 1

0.5
0
0 0
0
5 5
10 Suspension type 10
Frequency(Hz) Frequency(Hz) Suspension type
15 15
Traditional semi-active 1nk ISD (ON-OFF) 2nk ISD (ON-OFF) Traditional semi-active 1nk ISD (ON-OFF) 2nk ISD (ON-OFF)
Traditional passive 1nk ISD (continuous) 2nk ISD (continuous) Traditional passive 1nk ISD (continuous) 2nk ISD (continuous)

(a) (b)
10-5
PSD of suspension deflection,v=30m/s,Class B
4
PSD of suspension deflection(m2/Hz)

10-5
3

3 2

2 0
2 3 4 5

0
0
5
Frequency(Hz) 10 Suspension type
15
Traditional semi-active 1nk ISD (ON-OFF) 2nk ISD (ON-OFF)
Traditional passive 1nk ISD (continuous) 2nk ISD (continuous)

(c)
Figure 7. PSD of the suspension system for performance evaluation. (a) PSD of sprung acceleration.
(b) PSD of tire dynamic load. (c) PSD of suspension deflection.

6. Conclusions
In order to improve the ride comfort of the vehicle, this paper focuses on the design of
a semi-active ISD suspension. Firstly, the first and second order passive structures of the
semi-active ISD suspension are obtained by designing the positive real controller. Secondly,
Actuators 2023, 12, 290 14 of 15

the semi-active inerter is used to further improve the ride comfort by the superiority of the
inerter. By simulating the semi-active ISD suspension for a quarter vehicle, the following
conclusions can be drawn:
1. The network synthesis approach is implemented for the optimization of the suspension
construction. The suspension can be realized physically by the network synthesis
method, which is more targeted with suspension performance than the traditional
structure method.
2. The parameters of the obtained ideal Sky-hook ISD suspension are optimized using
the PSO algorithm, and the performance of the obtained suspension structure can
make further improvements to ride comfort while ensuring that the other performance
does not deteriorate.
3. Both the first-order and second-order semi-active ISD suspensions proposed in this
paper can effectively suppress the sprung acceleration in the low frequency band,
which improves the ride comfort of the vehicle. The second-order semi-active ISD
suspensions show better overall performance in both time and frequency domain.

Author Contributions: Conceptualization, Y.L. and S.H.; writing—original draft preparation, Y.L.
and S.H.; writing—editing, Y.L. and S.H.; writing—review, J.X. and W.W. All authors have read and
agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This research was supported by the Science and Technology Program of Science and
Technology Department of Yunnan Province under Grant 202001AU070032.
Data Availability Statement: Not applicable.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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