An Efficient Formulation for Studying the Dynamics of Double-wishbone Suspension of Generic Geometry with Jounce and Steering Inputs

Abstract This paper presents a comprehensive theoretical and numerical framework for highly efficient and accurate simulation of the dynamics of complex rigid-body systems. The proposed methodology is demonstrated in the context of a double-wishbone suspension system, which is a representative example of a highly constrained spatial mechanism, since it has five rigid links, a spring and a damper, but possesses only two degrees-of-freedom. The proposed framework is used to simulate the forward and inverse dynamic problems, as well as a combination of both. In the forward dynamic simulation, a system of differential algebraic equations is developed and solved in an efficient manner, reducing the number of ordinary differential equations to be solved to the minimum possible. Consequently, the simulation is found to run 225 times faster than the physical system. The results are verified by comparing them with those obtained from a commercial multi-body dynamic simulator. The proposed framework can be used to simulate similar complex multi-body systems with multiple kinematic constraints.