DEVELOPMENT OF HYDRO-ELASTIC STRUT MOUNTINGS FOR VEHICLE SECONDARY RIDE ENHANCEMENT: FROM CONCEPT TO PROTOTYPE EVALUATION

Hydroelastic mounts are becoming commonplace in powertrain mounting systems, but their characteristics make them suitable for solving other vibration problems in vehicles. This paper describes the development of a hydroelastic mount that improves a secondary ride when used as a strut mount on suspensions with telescopic dampers. The performance limitations of conventional bushes are discussed, leading to an explanation of the rationale behind the hydroelastic strut mount. A ride model is described, including hydroelastic mounts, with ride predictions for suspensions using conventional and hydroelastic bushes. Finally, the results of these trials are presented, demonstrating an improvement in the ride quality of the vehicle. (A) For the covering abstract see IRRD E100043.