Page 57 - Understanding Automotive Electronics

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2 THE SYSTEMS APPROACH TO CONTROL AND INSTRUMENTATION

Figure 2.11
Frequency Response for Four Different Shock Absorber Damping Constants

A car with a so-called soft suspension yields relatively good ride characteristics.
Unfortunately, a soft suspension tends to have relatively poor handling. The
situation is depicted by the next highest dotted curve in Figure 2.11.
On the other hand, for very high damping coefficient, the response
decreases sharply for frequencies greater than f . This circumstance corresponds to
o
a very stiff suspension in which much of the road force is transmitted by the
shock absorber to the car body, making for a rather rough ride. This situation is
depicted by the lowest dotted curve in Figure 2.11.

44 UNDERSTANDING AUTOMOTIVE ELECTRONICS