Self-powered magnetorheological dampers for motorcycle suspensions

Author(s):  
Chao Chen ◽  
Yu Shing Chan ◽  
Li Zou ◽  
Wei-Hsin Liao

Dampers are the parts of suspensions which improve the ride comfort and the safety of vehicles including motorcycles. Magnetorheological dampers are very attractive for motorcycle suspensions, because of their controllable properties and their fast responses. Considerable energy is wasted owing to the energy dissipation by dampers encountering road irregularities and accelerating processes during everyday use of motorcycles. In addition, the current magnetorheological suspension systems depend on the power supply of batteries. Therefore, in this paper, a self-powered magnetorheological damper for motorcycle suspensions is proposed and implemented for the first time. It can convert the wasted mechanical energy into useful electrical energy to power itself. There are great merits in this such as energy saving, independence of extra batteries and less maintenance in comparison with conventional magnetorheological suspension systems, while keeping controllable performances. A customized prototype of the self-powered magnetorheological damper that is compatible with a motorcycle is developed and actually implemented in a motorcycle. Modelling for the self-powered magnetorheological damper is developed and validated by laboratory testing. Laboratory testing showed that the self-powered feature works well to generate the electrical power and to vary the magnetorheological damping force. Preliminary system-level testing showed that a self-powered magnetorheological suspension results in a better ride comfort, compared with that of a magnetorheological suspension without power generation. The results showed that implementing self-powered magnetorheological dampers in motorcycle suspensions is feasible and beneficial.

Author(s):  
Anria Strydom ◽  
Werner Scholtz ◽  
Schalk Els

Magnetorheological (MR) dampers are controllable semi-active dampers capable of providing a range of continuous damping settings. MR dampers are often incorporated in suspension systems of vehicles where conflicting damping characteristics are required for favorable ride comfort and handling behavior. For control applications the damper controller determines the required damper current in order to track the desired damping force, often by using a suitable MR damper model. In order to utilise the fast switching time capability of MR dampers, a model that can be used to directly calculate damper current is desired. Unfortunately few such models exist and other methods, which often negatively affect the computational efficiency of the model, need to be used when implementing these models. In this paper a selection of MR damper models are developed and evaluated for both accuracy and computational efficiency while tracking a desired damping force. The Kwok model is identified as a suitable candidate for the intended suspension control application.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 515-521
Author(s):  
Wanglinhan Zhang ◽  
Xinyu Xue

Research on wearable devices has promoted the development of real-time ultraviolet intensity monitoring technology. This paper proposes a self-powered wearable ultraviolet radiation detector based on T-ZnO nanowires/PVDF composite fabric. The soft fabric base allows the device to attach to various muscles of the human body. Due to the piezoelectric and photoelectric properties, the devices can transform mechanical energy into electrical energy. The output closely relates to the ultraviolet intensity. Therefore, this kind of stable, flexible, and micro device can output piezoelectric voltage as both an energy source and a sensing signal on human bodies. Experiments have proved that the wearable ultraviolet detector has high sensing stability and can work on the skin. The self-powered feature allows it to integrate with wireless transmission equipment, which can upload the ultraviolet intensity data collected by the self-powered wearable ultraviolet radiation detector to the Big Data Cloud. This system will contribute to the formation of the Internet of Things.


Nanoscale ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manikandan Muthu ◽  
Pandey Rajagopalan ◽  
Shujia Xu ◽  
I. A. Palani ◽  
Vipul Singh ◽  
...  

Efficaciously scavenging waste mechanical energy from the environment is an emerging field in the self-powered and self-governing electronics system which solves battery limitations. it demonstrates enormous potential in various fields...


2005 ◽  
Vol 19 (07n09) ◽  
pp. 1381-1387 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. M. DONG ◽  
MIAO YU ◽  
S. L. HUANG ◽  
ZUSHU LI ◽  
W. M. CHEN

MR suspension systems have significant non-linearity and time-delay characteristics. For this reason, linear feedback control of an MR suspension has limited vibration control performance. To address this problem, a four DOF half car suspension model with two MR dampers was adopted. Having analyzed non-linearity and time-delay of the MR suspension, a Human-Simulation Intelligent Control (HSIC) law with three levels was designed. Simulation verified effects of HSIC in solving the problem of non-linearity and time-delay of MR dampers. In comparison, simulation of linear-quadratic gaussian (LQG) without considering the non-linearity and time-delay of MR suspension is also made. The simulation results show that the HSIC controller is faster than LQG controller under bump input and has better stability and accuracy, and it can achieve smaller acceleration peak value and root mean square (RMS) and better ride comfort compared with LQG controller under random input.


2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 619-639 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piotr Krauze ◽  
Jerzy Kasprzyk ◽  
Andrzej Kozyra ◽  
Jaroslaw Rzepecki

The paper presents an experimental analysis of the selected feedback vibration control schemes dedicated to magnetorheological dampers, related to ride comfort and road holding. They were applied in a complex vibration control system installed in a commercially available off-road vehicle. Original shock-absorbers of the vehicle were replaced with magnetorheological dampers. The control system takes advantage of numerous sensors installed in the vehicle tracking its motion, i.e. accelerometers, suspension deflection sensors (linear variable differential transformer) and IMU module. Vibration control algorithms: Skyhook, PI, and Groundhook were tested experimentally using mechanical exciters adapted for diagnosis of a vehicle suspension system. Since the presented semi-active vibration control requires the magnetorheological damper inverse model to be applied, accurate operation of this model significantly influences the quality of vibration control. Therefore, additional analysis was related to application of measurements from accelerometers or suspension deflection sensors in the inverse model. Presented variants of control algorithms were compared by means of transmissibility characteristics evaluated in the frequency domain as well as using ride-comfort- and driving-safety-related quality indices. It was confirmed that the Skyhook control as well as PI improved ride comfort, whereas Groundhook control improved road holding and decreases vibration of the wheels. Furthermore, it was shown that both approaches to the relative velocity estimation, based on accelerometers and linear variable differential transformers, can be used in this application. However, the first solution gives better results in the case of the Skyhook and PI control, whereas application of LVDT sensors is better for the Groundhook algorithm.


Sensor Review ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (6) ◽  
pp. 629-635
Author(s):  
Man Zhang ◽  
Liangping Xia ◽  
Suihu Dang ◽  
Lifang Shi ◽  
Axiu Cao ◽  
...  

Purpose The pressure sensors can convert external pressure or mechanical deformation into electrical power and signal, which cannot only detect pressure or strain changes but also harvest energy as a self-powered sensor. This study aims to develop a self-powered flexible pressure sensor based on regular nanopatterned polymer films. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, the self-powered flexible pressure sensor is mainly composed of two nanopatterned polymer films and one conductive electrode layer between them, which is a sandwich structure. The regular nanostructures increase the film roughness and contact area to enhance the friction effect. To enhance the performance of the pressure sensor, different nanostructures on soft polymer sensitive layers are fabricated using UV nanoimprint lithography to generate more triboelectric charges. Findings Finally, the self-powered flexible pressure sensor is prepared, which consists of sub-200 nm resolution regular nanostructures on the surface of the elastic layer and an indium tin oxide electrode thin film. By converting the friction mechanical energy into electrical power, a maximum power of 423.8 mW/m2 and the sensitivity of 0.8 V/kPa at a frequency of 5 Hz are obtained, which proves the excellent sensing performance of the sensor. Originality/value The acquired electrical power and pressure signal by the sensor would be processed in the signal process circuit, which is capable of immediately and sustainably driving the highly integrated self-powered sensor system. Results of the experiments show that this new pressure sensor is a potential method for personal pressure monitoring, featured as being wearable, cost-effective, non-invasive and user-friendly.


2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 808-821 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angel L Morales ◽  
Antonio J Nieto ◽  
José M Chicharro ◽  
Publio Pintado

Semi-active and active suspensions can improve both ride comfort and handling compared to passive suspensions. The authors have proposed a suspension comprising a pneumatic system capable of changing the stiffness of the suspension and a semi-active magnetorheological damper capable of controlling the suspension damping. Eight configurations of this magnetorheological/pneumatic suspension result from combining two possible stiffnesses (compliant and stiff) and four possible means of producing damping (constant low, constant high, on-off skyhook control and on-off balance control). The minimization of a cost function, which considers both ride comfort and handling, leads to decision maps which indicate the most appropriate configuration depending on vehicle velocity and two pieces of information about the road: the international roughness index and the curve radius. All this information can be gathered from a GPS system and toggling between set-ups is fast, efficient, and easily done by simply opening or closing pipes in the pneumatic system and modifying the current supply in the magnetorheological dampers. The proposed magnetorheological/pneumatic suspension achieves the same roll angle levels as in a comparable passive vehicle while improving ride comfort by reducing acceleration by up to 30%.


2021 ◽  
pp. 107754632110144
Author(s):  
Ruochen Wang ◽  
Yu Jiang ◽  
Renkai Ding ◽  
Wei Liu ◽  
Xiangpeng Meng ◽  
...  

A self-powered electromagnetic vibration suppression and absorption system integrated with a magnetorheological damper and a linear motor is designed to attenuate the negative effect of vertical vibration caused by the increased unsprung mass for in-wheel motor electric vehicles in this article. The magnetorheological damper is used as a suspension damper to suppress body vibration, and linear motor is used as a dynamic vibration absorber, namely, linear electromagnetic dynamic vibration absorber, to absorb tire vibration, and regenerates the vibration power to drive the magnetorheological damper, realizing self-power. Based on power flow theory, the power transfer mechanism of the vertical vibration for in-wheel motor electric vehicles and the regeneration potential are analyzed. The negative effect on the dynamic performance of in-wheel motor electric vehicles is analyzed through the root mean square of dynamic responses. Moreover, the specific structure scheme of the self-powered electromagnetic vibration suppression and absorption system is provided. The influence of system mass, stiffness, and damping of the linear electromagnetic dynamic vibration absorber on the dynamic performance is analyzed, and these parameters are optimized by particle swarm optimization. Simulation results show that in comparison with a passive damper, the self-powered electromagnetic vibration suppression and absorption system can reduce the body acceleration by 17.05%, which is better than the magnetorheological damper (10.08%). The self-powered electromagnetic vibration suppression and absorption system increases the tire dynamic load by 5.62%, but it is 8.68% less than the magnetorheological damper. Additionally, the regenerated power can offset the consumed power adequately to realize self-power. Finally, a bench test is conducted to verify the effectiveness and feasibility of the self-powered electromagnetic vibration suppression and absorption system.


2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 852-870 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piotr Krauze ◽  
Jerzy Kasprzyk ◽  
Jaroslaw Rzepecki

The paper presents an analysis of vehicle vibration, ride comfort and handling which have a decisive influence on health and safety of a driver. Experiments were carried out for a commercially available experimental all-terrain vehicle in the field in hard conditions with retaining the sufficient repeatability. The vehicle is equipped with a complex vibration control system, taking advantage of four automotive magnetorheological dampers. Numerous sensors, which measure acceleration in four points of the vehicle body, near the driver’s seat, feet and hands, body orientation in space and speed of vehicle wheels, are available in the vehicle. They were used for evaluation of magnetorheological dampers’ control signals and analysis of vibration affecting the driver. Constant values of magnetorheological damper control current were used for emulation of different settings of passive suspension. The analysis performed in frequency domain showed how vibration propagates in a medium-sized all-terrain vehicle and indicated that driver’s hands are mostly affected by the road-induced vibration. It was also confirmed that the greatest improvement of ride comfort can be obtained for the soft suspension, i.e. uncontrolled magnetorheological dampers. Furthermore, the Skyhook algorithm was implemented, including the proportional control of the magnetorheological damper force and the inverse Tanh model of the magnetorheological damper. It was validated for the wideband road-induced excitation contrary to the experiments commonly presented in the literature, which are performed only for harmonic excitation. It was shown that the properly tuned Skyhook algorithm enables improving vehicle handling compared to the passive suspension and simultaneously it can maintain the similar or even better results of ride comfort.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (19) ◽  
pp. 6166
Author(s):  
Lingbo Li ◽  
Guoliang Hu ◽  
Lifan Yu ◽  
Haonan Qi

Magnetorheological (MR) dampers, used as intelligent semi-active vibration control devices to achieve low energy consumption, fast response, controllability, and other capabilities are generally installed with a variety of sensors on their exterior to ensure that the damping force can be accurately controlled. However, external sensors are often affected by external complications that reduce the reliability of the damper, and the cost of powering the damper coils in remote locations where power is not available can be significantly increased. Based on these problems, a new self-powered MR damper scheme is proposed. The proposed MR damper has both energy-harvesting capabilities and damping controllability, and greatly improves the stability and application range of the device by converting vibration energy into electrical energy to supply the excitation coil. The MR damper can drive the piston rod in a linear reciprocating motion by external excitation, which converts mechanical energy into electrical energy via a DC brushless three-phase generator after conversion by a double-linkage mechanism. At the same time, the electrical energy generated by the generator is passed into the excitation coil to change the output damping force of the damper. Meanwhile, the damping performance and energy-harvesting efficiency of the new self-powered MR damper is experimentally tested. Experimental results show the damping force of the device reaches 1040 N when the applied current is 0.6 A. The proposed self-powered MR damper has an instantaneous voltage amplitude of 1.782 V and a peak phase power of 4.428 W when the input excitation amplitude is 12.5 mm and the frequency is 3 Hz.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document