This paper presents design and control of a quarter-vehicle magneto-rheological (MR) suspension system for ECS (electronic control suspension). In order to achieve this goal, MR shock absorber is designed and manufactured based on the optimized damping force levels and mechanical dimensions required for a commercial mid-sized passenger vehicle. After experimentally evaluating dynamic characteristics of the manufactured MR shock absorber, the quarter-vehicle MR suspension system consisting of sprung mass, spring, tire and the MR shock absorber is constructed in order to investigate the ride comfort and driving stability. After deriving the equations of the motion for the proposed quarter-vehicle MR suspension system, the skyhook controller is then implemented for the realization of quarter-vehicle MR suspension system. In order to present control performance of MR shock absorber for ECS, ride comfort and driving stability characteristics such as vertical acceleration of sprung mass and tire deflection are experimentally evaluated under various road conditions and presented in both time and frequency domain.
