Tradeoff analysis of the energy-harvesting vehicle suspension system employing inerter element

Abstract

This paper explores the vibration isolation performance and vibration energy recovery performance of an energy-harvesting vehicle suspension system employing inerter element. The study takes into account the structural changes in the suspension caused by introducing the inerter as a new type of vibration isolation element. According to the parallel-series combination of an inerter and a damper, two different structures of energy-harvesting suspension dynamic models are constructed. The mechanism of the suspension parameter uptake on vehicle ride comfort and energy-harvesting characteristics is analyzed. A multi-objective optimal design method for the energy-harvesting vehicle suspension system employing inerter element is proposed, which considers both vehicle ride comfort and energy-harvesting characteristics. A trade-off was found between suspension isolation performance and energy-harvesting efficiency. The results indicate that various structures of energy-harvesting vehicle suspension systems employing inerter element exhibit different vibration isolation performances. Compared with the conventional energy-harvesting suspension, the series structure reduces body acceleration by 15.9 %, and the root mean square (RMS) of energy-harvesting power of the suspension is 22.2 W. The parallel structure reduces the RMS of body acceleration by 14.3 % and the RMS of energy-harvesting efficiency is 56.3 %, with the RMS energy-harvesting power of 84.9 W. The parallel structure demonstrates superior overall performance.