In order to compute the forces which are transmitted through rubber bushings with a commercial multiboby dynamic analysis(MBDA) program, a rubber bushing model is needed. The rubber bushing model of MBDA programs such as DADS or ADAMS is the Voigt model which is a parallel spring-damper system. The damping characteristic of the Voigt model is proportional to the frequency. However, experiments do not support this proportionality. Alternatively, the viscoelastic characteristic of rubber bushings can be denoted by the complex stiffness. It is the desire of this paper to develop a viscoelastic rubber bushing model for MBDA programs. Firstly, a methodology is proposed to calculate the complex stiffness of rubber bushings considering static and dynamic load conditions. Secondly, a viscoelastic rubber bushing model is developed which utilizes standard elements provided by DADS. The proposed methods are applied to the rubber bushings of the lower control arms of a rear suspension of a 1994 Ford Taurus model. In conclusion, the forces computed for the rubber bushing model are analyzed and compared with the Voigt model in time and frequency domains.
