Design of electromechanical height adjustable suspension

In the general context of vehicles’ fuel consumption and emissions reduction, the minimization of the aerodynamic drag can offer not negligible benefits regarding the environmental issues. The adjustment of the vehicle height is one of the possible ways to provide a reduction of the resistances to vehicle motion, in addition to consequent aspects regarding the increased versatility of the vehicle. The aim of this paper is to present in a systematic way the state of the art of height adjustment systems for passenger vehicles, summarizing the main modes of operations, working principles, and architectures. Particular attention is then given to electromechanical systems, which represent the next trends for future vehicles due to their high reliability and relatively low costs. A design methodology for electromechanical height adjustment systems with the purpose of optimizing their performance is presented. Such procedure is able to reach the most efficient working point even in presence of constraints of different nature. Prototypes have been designed, produced and tested to demonstrate the potentialities of electromechanical height adjustment systems. Furthermore, potential benefits and drawbacks of using such systems are highlighted.