Automotive suspension systems contribute to a car's handling and braking to improve safety, and keep vehicle occupants comfortably isolated from road noise, bumps, and vibrations. When a car moves on uneven terrain, the wheels are subjected to base excitation. For analysis purposes, this can be approximated as harmonic excitation. Because the suspension forms part of the chassis in a car, response of the suspension system to harmonic displacement excitation is a critical subject for analysis.

Component mode synthesis (CMS) is a form of substructure-coupling analysis frequently used in structural dynamics. CMS enables the behavior of the entire assembly to be derived from its constituent components. First, the dynamic behavior of each component is formulated. Then, the dynamic characteristics of the full system model are formed by enforcing equilibrium and compatibility along component interfaces. CMS is more accurate than the Guyan reduction for modal, harmonic, and transient analyses because CMS includes truncated sets of normal mode generalized coordinates, which capture the basic modal characteristics of the components.

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