Optimal Suspension Parameter Distributions and Roadway Profiles for Isolation of Heavy Trucks

Heavy trucks are known to have ride problems and are difficult to isolate from roadway unevenness. Heavy trucks are rich in modal density and are stiffly sprung, a combination that makes isolation difficult. Due to their inherent mass, trucks create roadway unevenness as they move along a roadway. Each following truck is excited by the unevenness created by the preceding one, and the road condition worsens over time. It is shown that trucks create roadway profiles from which perfect isolation is possible by having the proper parameter distribution in the suspension units. One distribution is best for rigid body isolation and one is best for ‘beaming’ isolation.