The history and modern tendencies of development of cushioning systems are analyzed in this paper. The development of mathematical modelling as a process is denoted, the methods and means are described and the necessary information of model choosing is presented. It is focused on the development of simulation modelling. The approaches of researchers, recommendations, indexes and specific features of evaluation of motion evenness are described.
The works of many scientists are dedicated to analysis of car vibrations, evaluation of motion evenness and vibration-proof features. Many of them are devoted to investigation of vibrations, to optimization of basic design parameters of the cushioning system of cars and to development of new cushioning systems which allow reducing of vibratory overloading of trucks of general purpose. Taking into account the problems of motion evenness from the point of view of vibration of cushioning parts, the works of scientists are based on the linear theory of cushioning and the simplest one-mass car models are considered. It is also established that the drawback of usage of such theory consists in the fact that it is impossible to overview separately the vibrations of cushioning parts, which weight transfers to elastic elements of the suspension, and non-cushioning parts. The overview of scientific works dedicated to investigation of dynamics of wheeled vehicles allows to show the limited possibilities of traditional passive suspension system according to continuously increasing requirements to modern structures and to substantiate the necessity of usage of controlled cushioning systems. Among the existing variants of controlled cushioning systems, the half-controlled systems, which are the most optimal from the point of view of motion evenness increasing, energy consumption, complexity of structural implementation and usage safety, are of the greatest interest nowadays.
On the basis of analyzed materials, it may be concluded that there exists a great amount of scientific investigations in the field of motor vehicles vibrations many of which are devoted to improvement of vibration-proof features of cars. Also a number of works are dedicated to investigation of vibratory overloading of industrial, construction and agricultural motor vehicles which are engaged in transportation of cargo of general purpose. However, too small attention is payed to development of techniques of determination of design parameters of cushioning systems of trucks which are engaged in transportation of cargo of special purpose, for example, cars transportation, where essentially greater attention should be payed to vibratory loadings which act upon such cargo during uneven motion.