Stability of a Tractor with Implement by Employing Fluid-Based Inerters into Front Axle Suspension

Vibration caused instability of the tractor with implements has always been severe during agricultural work. In this paper, the potential of applying fluid-based inerter into the front axle suspension of tractor to reduce the vibration was studied, where two inerter-based strut layouts were proposed and compared with the conventional layout towards the stability of ploughing depth was studied in pitch plane model, the performance benefits of each layout were optimised and analysed. Meanwhile, the optimum design parameters were identified, respectively. According to the optimization results, over a wide range of static suspension stiffness, the ploughing depth stability of both potential layouts has improved compared to the conventional layout, with a maximum performance improvement of 27.8% and 38.2% respectively.