Enhancing the travel comfort of quarter-car model using fractional order terminal sliding mode controller

The active suspension system used in a car model is beneficial to reduce the vibration of the vehicle and enhance the ‎travel comfort. Different types of conventional and intelligent control strategies have been proposed for 2 Degree of ‎Freedom (DOF) quarter car model. In this paper, travel comfort of the passenger is analyzed by designing and simulating the ‎Terminal Sliding Mode Controller (TSMC), Fractional order Sliding Mode Controller (FSMC) and Fractional order Terminal ‎Sliding Mode Controller (FTSMC) for a quarter car model. These controllers are designed for the perturbed condition of the ‎system dynamics and tested for the normal condition. While testing the performance of the controllers, the system is ‎subjected to three types of road disturbance individually. The responses are compared with each other along with the passive ‎system. The results show that FTSMC reduced the vibration more than the FSMC, TSMC, and passive system. Therefore, the ‎minimum vibration due to the FTSMC enhances the travel comfort.