Superposition of populations in multi-objective evolutionary optimization of car suspensions

The design of the suspension model of road cars is extremely important for both driver comfort and safety. Road traffic injuries are currently the eighth leading cause of death worldwide and are predicted to become the seventh leading cause of death by 2030, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Among other factors, road infrastructure is one of the most important factors to consider when designing the suspension model, especially as autonomous driving becomes more popular. In addition, there is a growing need to test and study the impact of road roughness and pavement type on autonomous vehicles (AVs). This work provides the following contributions: a platform for suspension system optimization–flexible, highly parameterizable and rich in applications. Our solution implements, tests and optimises the 2, 3 and 4 degrees of freedom (DOF) quarter-car models (QCM) with linear seat suspension and the 5 DOF half-car model (HCM), respectively, based on random road profiles generated according to ISO 8608 standards. In addition, many multi-objective optimization (MOO) algorithms have been implemented and applied in isolation to see their comparative performance (in terms of Pareto fronts, hypervolume, coverage, spread, and epsilon), but most importantly we have also introduced a meta-optimization technique by super-positioning Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II and Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm 2, where each of the algorithms, running concurrently, produces a percentage of the total number of individuals in a generation, percentage that is calculated according to the solution quality of the individuals in the previous generation. The experimental results were obtained by simulating the optimal configurations generated by the MOO heuristic algorithms on different categories of cars (small/medium). Finally, the Taguchi method and regression analysis were used to evaluate the effects of specific parameters on system responses such as sprung mass acceleration and displacement. The Taguchi simulation was performed to experimentally validate the results obtained by metaheuristic optimization methods.