Simulation research on suspension characteristics of tracked vehicles based on multi-body dynamics theory

A multi-body dynamics method of real body modeling was used. Taking a type of tracked vehicle as an example, full vehicle models of real-body and suspension system were built and nonlinear characteristics of suspension system were analyzed. Dynamics characteristic of the full tank vehicle model was analyzed in simulation by changing suspension parameters. Comparison results of simulation and field-testing show that multi-body modeling method is valid in researching vehicle suspension dynamics. The ride-comfort of vehicle was also studied by multi-body modeling method. A conclusion is drawn from the results that ride-comfort of tracked vehicle can be improve when suspension parameters are changed with different conditions, that is to say if semi-active suspension systems of changing damping ratio is applied to tracked vehicles, their ride comfort will be improved obviously. The model can describe dynamic performance of a real driving vehicle, and this method can be applied to investigate dynamic characteristics of other similar vehicles.