Design and Dynamic Simulation Research of a Bionic Three-Link Tube Shock Absorber

Background: Shock absorbers are the main damping component of vehicle suspension system, whose excellent passive characteristics can greatly improve and guarantee the ride comfort and handling stability of vehicles. Therefore, it is of great significance to research and develop a shock absorber with excellent passive characteristics. Objective: The purpose of this paper is to propose and design a bionic three-link tube shock absorber with good buffering and vibration reduction performance and bionic adaptive characteristics. In addition, the passive characteristics of the purposed shock absorber are studied. Methods: The bionics idea is applied to the development of vehicle shock absorbers. A three-link mechanism with dampers and springs is abstracted and designed according to the structure and the function of kangaroo legs. A bionic three-link tube shock absorber is constructed based on the traditional tube shock absorber structures and the three-link mechanism. Three-dimensional modeling and three-dimensional dynamic simulation of the shock absorber are carried out by CATIA and ADAMS. Results: The body acceleration are greatly reduced relative to excitations; the dynamic displacement decreases sharply under greater excitation, but there is slight increase under smaller excitation; the motion function and joint change characteristics of the proposed shock absorber are similar to those of kangaroo legs to a certain degree. Conclusion: The results show that the structure design of the bionic three-link tube shock absorber is reasonable and workable, the shock absorber presents good buffering and damping performance and some bionic adaptive characteristics, however, there is still room for further optimization of the structure design.