Virtual Validation and Optimization of Electric Two-Wheeler for Ride Comfort Analysis

Vehicle ride comfort is a key and important parameter which defines customer perception, reliability, and creates a brand image. In an electric two-wheeler, analysis for ride comfort is more important as the conventional engine is replaced with a battery pack and motor, thus changing the source of vibrations. In the case of electric vehicles, “road-induced” vibrations are the key source of rider discomfort. This paper focuses on developing a virtual simulation-based methodology for suspension tuning and optimization. The complete methodology is divided into two phases. In Phase1, analytical 1D model is built for the identification of vehicle suspension characteristics through a sensitivity study and optimized for multiple road profiles to achieve the ride comfort values as per ISO 2631-1. In Phase2, a detailed two-wheeler multi-body model is built to validate the selected suspension parameters and to study the vehicle ride dynamics. The vehicle ride quality is evaluated by vibration dose value (VDV) calculation which defines the ride comfort index over a continuous exposure of vibration for 8 h and compares it with the ISO 2631-1 standard. Optimization is carried out to determine the possible suspension parameters tuning to achieve the optimal ride comfort values.