Design and Potential Power Recovery of Two Types of Energy Harvesting Shock Absorbers

Jordi Vinolas,José Luis Olazagoitia,Lincoln Bowen

doi:10.3390/en12244710

Abstract

Numerous authors have studied Energy Harvesting Shock Absorbers (EHSA) over the last decade, proposing different designs with diverse geometries, parameters, and components. This article analyzes the energy recovery potential of two types of rotational EHSA, those that use ball-screw and those based on cable transmission. This paper presents the design, manufacturing and mathematical modeling of both options as well as the estimation of the potential power recovery with both technologies. Two types of vehicles are used as references, each one with the characteristic curves of their shock absorbers. Results are presented for different vehicle speeds and road types. Finally, some qualitative characteristics of both EHSAs are detailed to be taken into consideration for their possible use in vehicle suspension.

Highlights

The recovery of energy from different areas of the vehicle is a topic that has attracted the attention of many researchers in recent years, resulting in a large number of publications
Some qualitative characteristics of both Energy Harvesting Shock Absorbers (EHSA) are detailed to be taken into consideration for their possible use in vehicle suspension
The results shown in this work, both for the Ball-Screw Energy Harvesting Shock Absorber (BS-EHSA) and for the CD-EHSA, make it possible to compare each other because they share the same initial conditions

Summary

Introduction

The recovery of energy from different areas of the vehicle is a topic that has attracted the attention of many researchers in recent years, resulting in a large number of publications. A considerable number of references propose harvesting energy from: the heat given off by the exhaust pipes [1,2,3,4,5], the absorption of the kinetic energy in the brakes [6,7,8,9], the deformation of the tires [10,11], the vibrations of the engine [12,13], the seats [14], and the suspension system of the vehicle [15]. Made a review of all the EHSA technology that have been presented up to the present time These systems usually work generating a magnetic field variation around a winding, resulting in a current and an electrical voltage. Tang et al [18] and Singh et al [19] have proposed linear electromagnetic dampers

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