Energy Harvesting Damper Research Articles

A Composite Vibration Energy-Harvesting Absorber

The significant effect of the closed-detached response on the system is often ignored by traditional vibration control and energy-harvesting devices. In this study, we design a composite vibration energy-harvesting damper by combining the lever-type nonlinear energy sink, the three-spring quasi-zero stiffness structure, and the suspended magneto-electric energy harvester. The analytical as well as the numerical solutions are obtained using the harmonic balance method combined with the arc-length extension method as well as the Runge–Kutta method, respectively. Numerical solutions support analytical solutions. The presence of the closed-detached voltage makes composite system voltage harvesting more efficient. In addition, we investigate the performance of vibration control and energy harvesting by changing the dynamic parameters of the system such as attached mass, stiffness, and fulcrum position. Finally, when compared with the traditional absorber, the proposed absorber shows great improvement either in vibration control or in energy harvesting.

Study of an Energy-Harvesting Damper Based on Magnetic Interaction.

The saving and re-use of energy has acquired great relevance in recent years, being of great importance in the automotive sector. In the literature, it is possible to find different proposals for energy-harvesting damper systems (EHSA)—the electromagnetic damper being a highly recurrent but still poorly defined proposal. This article specifically focuses on studying the concept and feasibility of an electromagnetic suspension system that is capable of recovering energy, using a damper formed by permanent magnets and a system of coils that collect the electromotive force generated by the variation of the magnetic field. To study the feasibility of the system, it is necessary to know the maximum energy that can be recovered through the winding system; however, the difficulties in obtaining the derivative of the magnetic flux and its derivative for each position make the analytical method very tedious. This paper presents an experimental method with which to maximize energy recovery by defining the optimum relative position between magnet and coil.

A novel configuration for high power-output and highly efficient vibration energy harvesting

The most commonly used vibration energy harvesting system is the single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) system. However, the power output of the SDOF system is limited by the mechanical damping ratio and the efficiency is only 50% at the maximal power output. In this paper, we modified the SDOF configuration by adding a spring in series with the energy transducer, which results in a configuration where a parallel energy-harvesting damper and inerter are in series with the spring, similar to the Maxwell model. The parameters of the proposed configuration are analyzed and optimized. The optimization results show the new configuration can produce many times more power output compared with the conventional SDOF system if the primary spring is relatively soft and the added spring is properly selected. In addition, the energy-harvesting efficiency can be significantly increased at the maximal power output. A lab experiment of backpack setup demonstrated 82% power increase and an efficiency of 83%. Lab test using a bridge vibration induced by freight train finds out that the proposed configuration can double the power output compared with the conventional SDOF system. With the augment of a simple spring, the proposed configuration disrupts the fundamental limit on the power and efficiency of the conventional SDOF energy-harvesting system, which opens a new perspective in the energy-harvesting field.

Water Wave Energy Harvesting Power Producing Stations as the Only Solution Avoid Coming Point of No Return

The newly invented and patented as US Patent on energy harvesting power producing apparatus is considered in the paper. This device could have the various applications. The authors consider the most effective application – to use it as the water wave energy harvesting power producing station. Based on analysis of numerous facts, evidences, articles, observations it is confirmed that the point of no return has high probability to happen in coming 20 – 30 years. It means that at a point of no return the catastrophic impact of the damaged Mother Nature would ruin the mankind. In coming point of no return the increase of our planet temperature; increase the climate change, increase of CO2, etc., will happen. Then the people will begin die due to dirty atmosphere, harmful and dangerous water and poisoned food. The authors provide the proof that the water wave energy harvesting power producing stations can guarantee only solution avoid coming point of no return. The proposed device is the vibration energy harvesting damper that is adjustable to a broad range of frequencies. The device includes a support structure that is securable to a vibrating object, a tuned mass retained by the support structure and movable in a rectilinear direction, a magnet vibrationally coupled to and spaced apart from the tuned mass, a coil surrounding the magnet, and at least one biasing assembly connecting two or more of the support structure, the tuned mass and the magnet. The at least one biasing assembly includes a fixed biasing member and an adjustable biasing member arranged in parallel. The adjustable biasing member is configured to adjust the combined stiffness coefficient of the biasing assembly. There were analytical study, design, manufacturing and test provided for proposed advance schemes of the water wave energy harvesting power producing station. It was concluded that such station would be effective to replace fossil-fuel station and solar panel and wind turbine stations.

Magnetic field shielding in electric vehicles by vibration energy harvesting dampers

The passengers of electric vehicles are exposed to strong magnetic fields associating to the vehicle equipment, devices and electric motors. The aim of study is to demonstrate the necessity of an implementation of the authors US Patent which has 4 combined functions in electric vehicle application: mitigate the torsional vibrations of rotating part, serve as a flywheel improving the quality of rotation, generate additional electricity and shielding the magnetic fields. The mathematical modeling, simulation analysis and experimental study were done for electric vehicle. It is shown that the usage of proposed energy harvesting damper could generate up to 11 kW of additional electricity, while reducing the levels of torsional vibrations in driveline, improving the quality of rotation and eliminate the impact of magnetic fields.

Monte Carlo sensitivity analysis of vehicle suspension energy harvesting in frequency domain

Regenerative shock absorbers (RSAs) have still not entered production lines despite the promising potentials in energy efficiency and emission reduction. Vibration energy harvesting from vehicle dampers has been replicating the dynamics of passive viscous dampers. An accurate frequency-based analysis of the harvestable energy and dynamics for vehicle suspensions under typical operating conditions is essentially needed for designing functional Vibratory Regenerative Dampers (VRDs). This paper proposes frequency-based parametrical bandwidth sensitivity analyses of both the vehicular suspension dynamics and energy harvesting potentiality in accordance with the Monte Carlo sensitivity simulations. This provides insights into which suspension parameter could highly broaden the harvestable power magnitude, which contributes positively to conceptualizing an efficient design of a wide broad-banded energy harvesting damper leading to improved harvesting efficiencies in different road conditions. The conducted sensitivity analysis included the change in both frequency and amplitude bandwidth of the dissipative damping power, body acceleration, dynamic tire load, and suspension deflection. During the sensitivity simulations, a 2-DOFs (degrees-of-freedom) quarter-car model is considered, being excited by harmonic excitations. The selected suspension parameters were normally randomized according to the Gaussian probability distribution based on their nominal values and a 30% SD (standard deviation) with respect to the uniformly randomized excitation frequency. The results inferred higher sensitivity change in the harvestable power bandwidth versus the excitation parameters, damping rate, and tire properties. Conversely, the harvestable power hardly broadened with respect to the body and wheel masses and the spring stiffness.

On Energy Harvesting From a Vehicle Damper

Conventional hydraulic dampers reduce vehicle vibration by converting the vibration energy into heat. In addition to wasting energy, the fixed damping characteristics of these dampers cannot adapt to different road conditions. As we know, a suspension with tunable damping provides a more comfortable ride. However, previous works regarding tunable regenerative dampers, which usually consist of a single generator, have some shortcomings, including wasted energy and a limited range of tunable damping. With these problems in mind, a new design principle with multiple controlled transducers is discussed in this article. By controlling the number of switched on transducers and adjusting the value of the external resistance, the damping characteristics can be fine-tuned according to the requirements. With this new design principle, a regenerative damper cannot only tune the damping behavior over a broader range but also harvest as much vibration energy as possible. The design principle was verified by building and testing two different prototypes. The experimental results showed that these two dampers could achieve nearly linear turning of the damping coefficient and harvest more electrical power from vibrations than other type of energy-harvesting dampers.

Analysis of the prospective vibrational energy harvesting of heavy-duty truck suspensions: A simulation approach

Automobiles are considered as a large-scale vibrational source what makes automotive is a target to harvest such a considerable kinetic energy otherwise being dissipated by traditional viscous shock absorbers. The power dissipation during the damping events can be partially regenerated based on linear or rotary electromagnetic energy-harvesting dampers. This paper analytically discusses the potential power content of a class-6 heavy-duty truck with respect to different driving circumstances. Considering variable speed schedules of heavy vehicles, 10 driving cycles are proposed in creating ISO based random road profiles with variable speed vectors including both aggressive and nonaggressive driving trips. Further, the laden and the unladen truck cases were considered in the analysis with respect to 6-DOFs truck suspension model. Additionally, the energy harvesting and truck comfort were investigated over the running conditions. Given the results, a potential power content of 71–434 W and 287–1733 are available for ISO road grades of C and D, respectively, for a fully-loaded truck. The results suggested that the higher power quantity is related to aggressive body-wheel relative movements in which such conditions are found in case of the aggressive driving events and the vehicles with greater mass such as the heavy trucks and off-road vehicles.

Electromagnetic Energy-Harvesting Damper With Multiple Independently Controlled Transducers: On-Demand Damping and Optimal Energy Regeneration

An active or semiactive dampers can change its damping property to maintain the tradeoff between ride quality and road handling; however, semiactive dampers need external power supply and active dampers even require considerable power consumption. A regenerative damper has the ability of tuning the damping without the requirement of an external power supply. The aim of this study is to investigate a novel method to conveniently adjust the on-demand damping according to road condition by regenerating vehicle vibration to electricity. In this paper, we propose an electromagnetic energy-harvesting damper with 12 independently-controlled slot winding transducers (SWTs) to investigate the active control method of damping and energy reclaiming from a regenerative damper. By switching on an appropriate number of SWTs and tuning their external resistance to an optimal value, the energy-harvesting damper can both provide on-demand damping and reclaim as much electrical power as possible. Experiments on an MTS testing system showed that both changing the number of switch-on SWTs and tuning their external resistors can adjust the damping coefficient of the energy-harvesting damper, and, hence, the damping tuning can be extended to a large range. The output electrical power was measured on different shunted external resistors, demonstrating that the maximum reclaim of electrical power can be achieved when the shunted resistor is equal to the internal resistance of the SWT. By appropriately arranging the number of switch-on SWTs and their shunted resistors, the electromagnetic energy-harvesting damper can produce on-demand damping, which tuning method is convenient and almost linear. Moreover, thanks to the multiple independently controlled transducers, the proposed energy-harvesting damper can regenerated as much electrical power as possible from the vehicle vibration.

Damping-tunable energy-harvesting vehicle damper with multiple controlled generators: Design, modeling and experiments

Abstract Hydraulic dampers are used to decrease the vibration of a vehicle, where vibration energy is dissipated as heat. In addition to resulting in energy waste, the damping coefficient in hydraulic dampers cannot be changed during operation. In this paper, an energy-harvesting vehicle damper was proposed to replace traditional hydraulic dampers. The goal is not only to recover kinetic energy from suspension vibration but also to change the damping coefficient during operation according to road conditions. The energy-harvesting damper consists of multiple generators that are independently controlled by switches. One of these generators connects to a tunable resistor for fine tuning the damping coefficient, while the other generators are connected to a control and rectifying circuit, each of which both regenerates electricity and provides a constant damping coefficient. A mathematical model was built to investigate the performance of the energy-harvesting damper. By controlling the number of switched-on generators and adjusting the value of the external tunable resistor, the damping can be fine tuned according to the requirement. In addition to the capability of damping tuning, the multiple controlled generators can output a significant amount of electricity. A prototype was built to test the energy-harvesting damper design. Experiments on an MTS testing system were conducted, with results that validated the theoretical analysis. Experiments show that changing the number of switched-on generators can obviously tune the damping coefficient of the damper and simultaneously produce considerable electricity.

Development of an energy harvesting damper using PVDF film

Summary We report an energy harvesting damper composed of a composite of piezoelectric polyvinylidene fluoride film and silicone rubber for applications in offshore structures. We describe the generation efficiency of sandwiched and coiled sheet geometries. Piezoelectricity was generated by cyclic compressive loading with frequency of 2 Hz and a displacement of 3 mm using a fatigue-testing machine, and the voltage and power were measured. We used digital image correlation and finite element method modeling to investigate the deformation of the silicone matrix. The coiled sheet specimen exhibited higher power with larger and more uniform deformation; however the sandwiched geometry exhibited better durability. The lower power of the sandwiched geometry was attributed to localized deformation because of friction at the interface between specimen and fixture, and the performance of this design was improved via the use of a lubricant. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.