Abstract
A self-oscillating high-voltage generator is proposed to supply voltage for a suspension system in order to control the damping force of an electrorheological (ER) fluid shock absorber. By controlling the output voltage level of the generator, the damping force in the ER fluid shock absorber can be adjusted immediately. The shock absorber is part of the suspension system. The high-voltage generator drives a power transistor based on self-excited oscillation, which converts dc to ac. A high-frequency transformer with high turns ratio is used to increase the voltage. In addition, the system uses the car battery as dc power supply. By regulating the duty cycle of the main switch in the buck converter, the output voltage of the buck converter can be linearly adjusted so as to obtain a specific high voltage for ER. The driving system is self-excited; that is, no additional external driving circuit is required. Thus, it reduces cost and simplifies system structure. A prototype version of the actual product is studied to measure and evaluate the key waveforms. The feasibility of the proposed system is verified based on experimental results.
Highlights
In a vehicle suspension system, the shock system is installed between the carriage and the tires
ER-absorber driver is carried out by linear power supply, which has the apparent drawbacks of low efficiency, (2 kV/div, time: 1 ms/div)
Switchingmode technique is applied to the design for ER driver and a self-excited push-pull-based high-voltage generator is proposed
Summary
In a vehicle suspension system, the shock system is installed between the carriage and the tires. The shock absorber reduces the oscillation energy in the springs and prevents the energy produced from vertical oscillation from being transferred to the carriage This improves stability and comfort during the drive. The intensity of electric field is used to control the behavior of the ER fluid, as well as to adjust the damping factor in the shock absorber [4–7]. A dc/dc buck convertor is used to adjust the input dc level for the high-voltage generator This replaces the conventional linear power supply. The proposed shock absorber with the high-voltage generator has the following advantages: low cost, simple structure, linear control, and high efficiency for power transformation
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