Design of the Hybrid Regenerative Shock Absorber and Energy Harvesting from Linear Movement

Abstract

Shock absorbers or dampers are used to maintain the contact between the vehicle’s tires and road surface, to absorb the vibrations generated from the road disturbances and recently they are used in energy harvesting. In this study, a hybrid regenerative shock absorber system containing hydraulic and electromagnetic (EM) damper mechanisms was designed to generate electricity. The energy harvesting was applied from the hybrid regenerative shock absorber using excited linear movement. A total of 0.25W for 0.004 m/s, 0.4W for 0.0045 m/s and 0.66W for 0.005 m/s was harvested using 80Ω and 2Ω external resistors for hydraulic part and for EM part, respectively, at 15 mm amplitude in response to the specified excitation. The mean power for 0.005 m/s was calculated as 0.003W for coil and as 0.56W for generator. The harvested energy was measured as low for measured velocities, however, the amount of harvestable energy rate or efficiency has increased with increasing velocity.