Regenerative hydraulic SUSPENSION: Numerical model and Evaluation of Energy Harvesting Potential using bond graphs

ABSTRACT This paper presents a novel nonlinear bond graph model of the regenerative hydraulic suspension system. The model has been developed in a way that closely follows the physical structure of the underlying system. The proposed regenerative hydraulic suspension bond graph model was simulated for the mathematical approximation of E class road profile according to the ISO 2631–1 standard (10 mm and 3.81 Hz excitation parameters). The obtained simulation results show that the proposed regenerative suspension system can effectively isolate vibrations even on a poor road at a relatively high excitation frequency. The reduction of the vehicle chassis velocity relative to the velocity of the input signal is about 62% (for selected simulation parameters). The proposed regenerative hydraulic system can regenerate a maximum electrical power of 23.9 W and an average electrical power of 19.84 W in an electric generator for a 10 s simulation test. This type of device is more practical to use on lower quality roads for the category of heavy vehicles due to the compromise of vehicle driving comfort and useful power regeneration.