Handling and ride comfort optimisation of an intercity bus

In this work the handling and ride comfort characteristics of an inter-city bus have been optimised. A rigid body simulation model of the bus has been used to evaluate the handling in terms of gain and time-lag of the yaw rate response due to a sinusoidal steering wheel input. A similar model but with a flexible bus body structure has been used to calculate the transient response due to obstacles on the road. The resulting discomfort within the bus has been evaluated in terms of vibration dose values according to the ride comfort standard ISO 2631:1997 at three locations within the bus. Both models have been validated against measurements. The stiffnesses of the bellows, the diameters of the anti-roll bars and…