Model-based damper control for semi-active suspension systems

This Thesis presents new approaches for control of semi-active suspension systems. In particular, towards maximizing the utilization of these fast modern devices, it focuses on three aspects: semi-active device modeling, force tracking control and vertical dynamic suspension control. In the first part the dynamical properties of the semi-active devices are analyzed and modeled. In the second part the obtained damper model is integrated into a controller structure, which consists of a feedforward and feedback part. The hysteresis effects of the device are taken into account in the control design structure and, therefore, the force tracking can be improved independently from the global suspension controller. In comparison to existing strategies, the third part of this Thesis presents a global suspension control concept, based on the optimality principle, which takes into account the damper limitations.