Modified skyhook control of a suspension system with hydraulic strut mount

In this paper, a mathematical model of a quarter-car suspension system equipped with a hydraulic strut mount is investigated. It is assumed that only suspension deflection is measured. In contrast to the conventional suspension model, in which the effect of a strut mount is not included, damping-spring characteristics of the hydraulic strut mount have been added. Then a modified skyhook control for the proposed model is investigated in achieving both the ride quality and the handling performance. An algorithm to find the optimal skyhook parameters using root mean squares value of the sprung mass acceleration, the suspension deflection, and the tire deflection is introduced. Furthermore, a Kalman filter is introduced to estimate the required state variables for skyhook control.