Simulation and experimental investigation of hydro-pneumatic energy harvesting suspension system

Abstract

This article describes a promising hydro-pneumatic regenerative suspension system (HPEHS) that converts the linear oscillation of the suspension system into rotational motion via a hydraulic rectifier to maintain a unidirectional rotational motion of a hydraulic motor connected to an electric generator to generate electricity. The simulation model using the block diagram-oriented environment of MATLAB-Simulink has been created based on the governing equations to investigate the behaviour of the system and validate it. The effect of the sprung mass and the accumulator on the system performance and harvested power of the HPEHS system was investigated. It is found that the motor speed and harvested power increase with increasing sprung mass while the displacement of the sprung mass reduces. The existence of the accumulator in the system minimises the fluctuation in system pressure causing more stability to the suspension system. The average power of the regenerative suspension system is approximately 7.5 W.