In this module, you will learn about the elasto-kinematic behavior that the suspension exhibits during wheel motion, and how this behavior can be quantified. You will learn about how the different components handle motion and load changes that occur in the system. Towards the end of this module, you will study the suspension architectures of some popular vehicles. These are the topics that you will cover during this module,

• Suspension kinematics - Deals with the understanding of various suspension geometries, their behavior in dynamic conditions, understanding the coordinate system used to fix the suspension geometry, diving into basic suspension components like springs, dampers, ARBs (Anti Roll Bar)

• Steering kinematics - Involves the concept of understeer and oversteer in static and dynamic conditions, the influence of suspension kinematic in the steering behavior of your vehicle, understanding the combined working of suspension and steering system

• Load transfer and control - Lateral and longitudinal load transfer in a vehicle with the former leading to the cornering characteristics of the vehicle and the later deals with the pitching oscillations in the vehicle

• Suspension compliance - Understanding the influence of the elasticity in the suspension links and other components in the overall suspension characteristics

This module will deal primarily with the force and moment generating mechanisms of tyres. You will study about different mathematical models that can be used to capture tyre behaviour. 

The following topics are covered in this module,

• Tyre structure - Understanding why a tyre looks the way it does, contact patch significance, use of tread in tyres, rolling resistance parameter

• Tyre nomenclature - Understanding the tyre specification code, how that will influence the selection of tyres for your vehicle 

• Tyre coordinate system - Which will make you represent, slip, skid, aligning moment in a geometrical force diagram

• Mechanics of force and moment generation - Understanding the various forces that can act on a tyre, and the momentum it generates to keep the tyre in the same position, significance of slip in dynamic conditions

• Tyre modelling in MATLAB - Diving into the mathematical modeling of tyres in MATLAB and the significance of them, the influence of abs(anti-lock braking system), and idle force in tyre models

• Various methods for tyre models - Lateral brush tyre model, longitudinal brush tyre model, and Pajecka’s magic formula

In this module, you will learn how the suspension isolates the passenger compartment from various disturbances. We will also develop mathematical models to study the ride quality of vehicles. These are the topics that are covered in this module,

• Excitation Sources - You will learn about the importance of wheel-balancing and their effects such as mass imbalance, dimensional and stiffness variation in tyres

• Road profile modeling in MATLAB, ISO road standards, and how ISO classifies the road based on Power Spectral Density

• Detailed study of quarter car suspension model-  Equations of motion and the parameters used to evaluate the suspension performance such as vibration isolation, suspension travel, and road holding

• Mathematical modelling of Bounce-Pitch model and the way to calculate the pitch and bounce oscillation center of the vehicle

• Various testing methods to measure the ride perception and human response to vibration. Basic knowledge about ISO vibration limits

In this module, you will learn about the directional response of the vehicle to driver commands. Mathematical models will be used to simulate handling behavior under steady-state and transient conditions. The topics that you will study in this module are,

• Study of steady-state handling behavior of the vehicle when it turns at low speed and high speed and the development of lateral force and slip angle at tyres

• Significance of understeer gradient in steady-state handling and the response of the vehicle in understeer, oversteer, and in neutral steer

• Various methods to measure understeer and a detailed study about the constant radius cornering method

• State-space representation of the 2-DOF bicycle model and overview of the unit step response of the first and second-order systems

• Suspension effects on handling the vehicle and development of understeer budget. Study about various contributors to understeer and tuning the component level parameters to achieve the target understeer

• Detailed study about the transient handling of the 2-DOF Bicycle Model and its derivative notations for yawing moment and lateral force

• Overview of the four-wheel steering system and its state-space representation

• Vehicle rollover analysis-quasi static rollover of rigid and suspended vehicle and the significance of the rollover threshold. Transient rollover model in which the inertia force is also considered and study about the effect of rollover threshold with respect to frequency and damping