Modelling and Validation of a Regenerative Shock Absorber System

Abstract— For effective energy regeneration and vibration dampening, energy regenerative suspension systems have received more studies recently. This paper presents the dynamic modeling and a test system of a regenerative shock absorber system which converts vibration motion into rotary motion through the adjustment of hydraulic flow. Hydraulic circuit configuration achieves the one way flow and energy regeneration during both compression and extension strokes. The dynamic modeling is performed for the evaluation of design concept and the feasibility studies of regenerative shock absorber system theoretically. Based on simulated results, the efficiency of hydraulic transmission is optimized and validated in test system. The results show that the performance of hydraulic fluid, the features of rotary motion and the capability of energy regeneration are verified and compared between dynamic modeling and experiments. Meanwhile, the average power of 118.2W and 201.7W with the total energy conversion of 26.86% and 18.49% can be obtained based on experiments under sinusoidal inputs with 0.07854m/s and 0.1256m/s respectively.