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During normal use vehicles are loaded in multiple configurations that directly alter their inertial properties. A method of accurately identifying and tracking these changes would benefit the many vehicle subsystems that rely on the accuracy of these parameters. In this paper a novel method is presented to determine the inertial properties of a vehicle from the measured sprung mass vibration responses, without the need of sophisticated measuring devices or specialized test rigs. After a brief description of the theoretical basis of the method, experimental results are presented which show estimation of the inertial properties is possible. The results validate the accuracy and applicability of the method and illustrate that the vehicle inertial properties can be obtained even when certain system parameters, such as damping coefficients, are assumed unknown.

In this paper, a previously derived theoretical model of an integrated hydraulically interconnected suspension (HIS) half-car system is experimentally validated. The paper outlines the development of the HIS fluid system model and its integration into a four degree-of-freedom, roll-plane half-car system. An experimental approach to validate the model is outlined, and the resulting purpose-built half-car test facility is described in detail. Experimental results from both free and forced vibration testing are presented and compared with model-based simulations. In general, very good agreement is observed. Limitations of the testing approach and reasons for any discrepancies are discussed. Finally, the broader implications of the obtained results in terms of practical HIS system design are considered.