NOVATEUR PUBLICATIONS

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INNOVATIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY [IJIERT]

ISSN: 2394-3696
VOLUME 3, ISSUE2, Feb.-2016

DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT OF A REGENERATIVE SHOCK

ABSORBER
K.M.Afzal
M.E. Mechanical (Mechatronics) ,Department of Mechanical Engineering,
SavitribaiPhule Pune University
A.P.Tadamalle
Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Sinhgad College of Engineering Pune, Maharashtra, India

ABSTRACT
Vibrations can be accumulated and converted to power in various forms. It is abundantly available in
nature. Researchers have been working on tapping its potential majorly as it could solve major energy
concerns .They can be captured and harnessed from ambient vibrational sources such as vehicular motion,
railway tracks etc. Once harnessed, a variety of applications be it industrial on the large scale or general
household on the small scale can be run. Regenerative electromagnetic harvesters implemented on
automobiles is one such concept of obtaining electrical output on the large scale, by decreasing the
reliance over the existing battery and hence powering up the peripherals by incorporating appropriate
changes. Also in turn the overall efficiency of the automobile is increased. Much work has been done on a
regenerative electromagnetic shock absorber based on standard data obtained from four wheelers. This
paper attempts to obtain an electrical output through a shock absorber using the electromagnetic induction
principle for two wheelers. By utilizing the design specifications of a conventional hydraulic shock
absorber on the Hero Honda Splendor, a theoretical model is framed which is comparable to the size of the
hydraulic shock absorber. Analytical calculations are done to give an idea about the electrical output
based on the design. Design of the regenerative shock absorber is done on software. Static magnetic field
analysis is carried out at an equilibrium position and the results are plotted. MATLAB was utilized for the
solving of analytical calculations. The analytical calculations performed prove the viability of the design.

KEYWORDSElectromagnetic, Energy Recovery, Regenerative shock absorber, Vibrational Energy.

INTRODUCTION
The percentage of fuel energy in an automobile required to overcome the air drag and resistance due to
road friction is only about 10%-16%. Rest of the energy is wasted through various losses such as driveline
losses, air drag, rolling resistance, engine losses, braking losses, idling losses. Of all these braking losses
contribute about 5.8% of energy lost. Braking loss is considered as the loss of kinetic energy into waste
heat due to vibrational motion of the suspension system. In the past hundred years or so, the automobile
industry has designed optimal suspension and braking systems such as anti-lock braking systems and
active suspensions in order to lessen the amount of waste heat dissipated. Also, regenerative braking has
caught the eye of major researchers in the last few decades and its most important application is the
braking system on electric trains and vehicles. The main drawback of the regenerative braking principle is
that it is not a continuous energy recovery system. Looking at the suspension system to continuously
recover energy while in motion is an objective of many researchers provided all factors such as weight,
damping output etc. are considered thoroughly. Work on such precision actuators is on the primitive scale
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NOVATEUR PUBLICATIONS
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INNOVATIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY [IJIERT]
ISSN: 2394-3696
VOLUME 3, ISSUE2, Feb.-2016

as such continuous regenerative systems have not come into practice yet. The conventional shock absorber
working in tandem with the suspension spring is merely an energy dissipating device. By changing the
internal structure of the shock absorber based on the principle of electromagnetic induction could lead to
obtaining an electrical output. In short, a part of the braking loss can be recovered in an electrical form. If
harnessed, running of peripheral systems such as air conditioning systems, the radio, headlights, tail lamps,
etc could become much easier as this energy recovered would be able to run such applications while also
charging the battery simultaneously due to constant motion of the vehicle. The shock absorbers on two
wheelers can also be used for energy recovery and the energy recovered can run the aforementioned
applications.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Lei Zuo et al. designed an electromagnetic vibrational energy harvester specifically for taking the railway
track deflections/ vibrations as their input. It is designed with a patented multiple motion rectifier which
basically converts the bidirectional motion to a unidirectional output motion. The preliminary design is
made to make sure it runs the high power track side applications such as warning signals, switches and
monitoring systems which require at least 10 W of power to run. Moreover power generated is DC as
implementation of a flywheel is used[1].Lei Zuo et al. also designed and fabricated a 1: 2 model of a linear
generator based electromagnetic shock absorber was done. Finite element method was utilized to analyze
the magnetic field and guide the optimization of the design. Experimental tests conducted on the harvester
show that the available energy that can be harnessed is between 16 64 W at a suspension velocity of 0.25
0.5 m/s.[2]Longzinzhen et al. discussed and analyzed the structure and principle of a regenerative
electromagnetic shock absorber were analyzed in detail. The design consists of two coil winding arrays as
well as two magnet arrays to generate a larger electrical output. Electric power can be re-obtained from the
battery and it is produced due to the relative motion of the coil assembly and the permanent magnet.
Magnetic flux density was obtained by utilizing the ANSYS software and accordingly performance
parameters were obtained.[3]R.A.Oprea et al. provided the theoretical framework for the design of a linear
electromagnetic shock absorber that converts the vibrational energy dissipated into electricity is discussed.
Also, damping effects due to the design are also taken into consideration. Finite Element analysis is used
to obtain the optimum size and configuration including the material to be used. Electro-mechanic and
Thermal characteristics are numerically and experimentally investigated.[4]I. Martins et al. compared the
design of the electromagnetic shock absorber with the hydraulic active suspension to highlight its
commercial usage in the near future. Since active suspensions are too expensive, developments in the
power electronics department and the permanent magnet material properties could be tapped so as to
achieve better results at an affordable price. The analysis done and the experimental results show that the
force values produced by the actuator are suitable and the actuator is oil free. Utilization of such an
electrical system allows easier operation and guarantees regeneration of energy in the near future.[5] Lei
Zuo et al. also employed the mixed motion rectifier patented technology to the conventional shock
absorber by changing the internal structure of the shock absorber with a rack and pinion configuration.
Experimental setup done proved to obtain 15 W of power while driving at a speed of 15mph on a B class
road.[6].

CONCEPT, DESIGN & ANALYSIS

In this section, at first the concept or working principle of the shock absorber is put forward followed by
its design in CAD software. Lastly static magnetic analysis and its results are highlighted and compared
with the analytical parameters.

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INNOVATIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY [IJIERT]
ISSN: 2394-3696
VOLUME 3, ISSUE2, Feb.-2016
A.

Working Principle of the Regenerative shock absorber

The regenerative shock absorber converts suspension vibration between the wheel and the sprung mass
into electrical power. The design consists of mainly a coil windings array and a permanent magnet array.
The permanent magnet array is concentrically placed on a metallic rod which is of high magnetic
reluctance. Along with the permanent magnets the, magnetic permeable spacers are stacked concentrically
on the rod and they are placed in between permanent magnets. The permanent magnets are axissymmetrically magnetized and their orientation takes the form of N-S-S-N. This orientation allows the like
poles to repel each other and the magnetic flux to move radially from the north to south of the permanent
magnet. The coil windings array is basically a plastic tube on which the coils are wound. Plastic tube is
considered due to its high electrical resistivity and less weight. An outer cylinder of magnetic permeable
material is used to encase the permanent magnets array and also to reduce the reluctance of magnetic loops
and thereby increase magnetic flux through the coils.
The electromagnetic induction principle states that there will be a development of voltage across the ends
of a conductor in a magnetic field provided there exists relative motion between the conductor and the
magnetic field. In this case, the relative motion is in between the coil windings array and the permanent
magnet array. The voltage developed at the ends of a single conductor coil depends on the relative velocity
, between the coil and the magnet array, the remanent magnetic field and the length of the conductor
coil, .. Equation (1) gives us this particular relation.
=

(1)

Equation (2) gives us the current produced due to the above emf set up in the coil depends on the electrical
conductivity of the coil , the radial magnetic field of the permanent magnet , the relative velocity
and the area of cross-section of the wire .
=

(2)

The magnetic field induced depends on the turn density, current and the relative permeability of the
conductor material. The length of the coil is given by equation (4).
=

(3)

Where the number of is turns of the coil and is the average coil diameter.
B.

Design Specifications

Measurements from a conventional hydraulic shock absorber are taken. The outer cylinder OD is found
out to be 40 mm and the ID is found to be 35 mm. The axial rod diameter is found out to be 10mm. The
axial rod length is 19cm and the extended length and collapsed length of the shock absorber are both 36cm
and 30cm. By keeping the axial length of axial rod same and changing the OD to 48 mm and ID of 38 mm
so as to make sure that all the necessary components of the assembly fit within the outer cylinder of the
design proposed and by employing the industrial standard N35 grade NdFeB permanent magnet of size
20mmx10 mmx10mm, static magnetic analysis was done. The OD and ID of the permanent magnets and
magnetic permeable spacers is the same. Mild steel spacers are used due to their high magnetic
permeability.The height of the spacers is taken to be 8mm. A copper coil of 30 AWG (American wire
gauge) is considered with 250 - 300 turns for being the conductor. The length of the coil is taken as half of
the length of the permanent magnet and magnetic spacer combined those results to 9 mm. The coils are
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NOVATEUR PUBLICATIONS
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INNOVATIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY [IJIERT]
ISSN: 2394-3696
VOLUME 3, ISSUE2, Feb.-2016

made to align with the permanent magnet array. The distance between respective coils is kept as 1mm. The
coils are positioned such that they are 90 out of phase with each other. The coils adjacent to the
permanent magnets at an equilibrium position will always give an output voltage of 0. Whereas the coils
adjacent to the magnetic spacers will give positive and negative peak to peak values of the voltage
generated.Fig 1. Represents the model of the assembly incorporating all the above components based on
the dimensions selected. The model was designed with the help of CATIA V5 software for better visual
understanding.

Fig 1. Proposed Design

C.Static Magnetic Analysis
Magnetic field analysis was carried out to confirm with the analytical calculations and to optimize the
solution. FEMM 4.2 software was used to showcase the radial magnetic field acting on the coils .Value of
radial magnetic field acing on the copper coil was found out to be 0.157T analytically. The initial
simulation case with no outer cylinder and axial rod material as stainless steel gave us a value of 0.157 T.
By changing the axial rod material to Aluminium we obtain a value of 0.190 T. This is because
Aluminium has high magnetic reluctance and hence the magnetic field is pushed towards the coils. By
applying an outer casing of mild steel due to its high magnetic permeability gives us a magnetic field of
0.240 T.This says that there is more power that can be extracted from this device due to optimizing the
design. Fig 2 Fig 4 show the magnetic flux distribution within the regenerative shock absorber. The outer
tube of mild steel helps in keeping the magnetic flux well within the casing and pushes all the flux through
the coils.

Fig 2. Magnetic field distribution with Stainless steel axial rod

Fig 3. Magnetic field distribution with Aluminium axial rod.

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NOVATEUR PUBLICATIONS
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INNOVATIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY [IJIERT]
ISSN: 2394-3696
VOLUME 3, ISSUE2, Feb.-2016

Fig 4. Magnetic field distribution with Aluminium axial rod and Mild steel outer casing.

MATLAB ANALYSIS
The suspension speed experienced by the shock absorber is within the range of 0.2 0.5 m/s [2].
Analytical calculations were carried out by keeping in mind the above stated information. The voltage
generated within a single coil at 0.2 m/s velocity for a magnetic field of 0.24 T for a length of the
conductor being 22.608 m was found out to be 1.085 V. Similarly for 0.5 m/s the voltage generated gives
an analytical value of 2.713 V.
MATLAB software was utilized to calculate the regenerated voltage for a single coil within the proposed
model. The input displacement was considered to follow a sinusoidal pattern dependant on frequency
given by Equation (4)
= . sin
(. )

(4)

Where Xmax = 10 mm, i.e. the maximum length traversed by every single point on the coil while in
motion.
By differentiating the above, we obtain the velocity experienced by the coil and is given by equation (5)
= . . cos . (5)
The magnetic field itself given by equation (6) will follow a sinusoidal pattern while the coil moves in and
out of a magnetic field emanated from the permanent magnets of different polarity and the value of the
varying magnetic field experienced by the coil is dependent on the motion of the coil within the magnetic
field within a distance of 0 to 10 mm. The magnetic field is given by
= .

(6)

Where L = thickness of spacer plus magnet i.e. 20 mm.

Bmax = 0.24 T, maximum magnetic field obtained by
optimizing the construct of the proposed model.
Then equation (7)gives the regenerated voltage
= . .

(7)

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NOVATEUR PUBLICATIONS
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INNOVATIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY [IJIERT]
ISSN: 2394-3696
VOLUME 3, ISSUE2, Feb.-2016

The frequencies were varied between 5 Hz and 12 Hz and rms values for the regenerated voltages were
calculated for the same. MATLAB analysis shows the RMS voltage results for 5 Hz as 0.9422 V and for
12 Hz as 2.23 V. It was seen that the analytical results and the MATLAB simulation results match.
Fig 5 and Fig 6. Represents the waveforms for excitation frequencies of 5 Hz and 12 Hz respectively.

Fig 5. Waveforms of displacement,velocity, magnetic field & regenerated voltage for excitation
frequency of 5 Hz

Fig 6. Waveforms of displacement,velocity, magnetic field & regenerated voltage for excitation
frequency of 12 Hz

CONCLUSIONS
This paper talks about the choice of materials required for the construction of the regenerative shock
absorber. Moreover, the magnetic field analysis done and the analytical calculations prove that the scheme
for this model is viable.
The analytical calculations give values for the regenerated voltages for 0.2 m/s and 0.5 m/s as 1.085 V and
2.713 V respectively. MATLAB analysis done by varying frequencies as 5 Hz (RMS velocity is 0.223
m/s) and 12 Hz (RMS velocity is 0.538 m/s) and keeping the maximum displacement constant gives the
RMS regenerated voltages as 0.9422 V and 2.23 V. From the waveforms we also understand that as
frequency is increased, output voltage increases.
The MATLAB analytical calculations match the rough general principle calculations and prove the
viability of the design. The proposed model can be validated experimentally by fabricating a prototype and
testing on an electrodynamic vibration shaker.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The author sincerely thanks all his colleagues who made this work reach this particular stage possible.
Also special thanks to Prof. A.P. Tadamalle & my family for their constant support and belief.

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NOVATEUR PUBLICATIONS
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INNOVATIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY [IJIERT]
ISSN: 2394-3696
VOLUME 3, ISSUE2, Feb.-2016

REFERENCES
[1] John J. Wang, G.P. Penamalli , Lei Zhou, Electromagnetic Energy Harvesting from Train Induced
Railway Track Vibrations Proceedings of the IEEE/ASME International Conference on Mechatronics
and Embedded Systems Applications (MESA) 2012, pp. 29-34.
[2] L. Zuo, B. Scully, J. Shestani, Y. Zhou, Desing and characterization of an electromagnetic energy
harvester for vehicle suspensions Journal of Smart Materials and Structures, 2009, Vol 19, pp. 1- 10.
[3] Longxin Zhen, Xiaogang Wei, Structure and Magnetic field analysis of Regenerative Electromagnetic
Shock Absorber, Proceedings of the IEEE, WASE International Conference on Information Engineering,
2010.Vol 3, pp. 152 155.
[4] R.A Oprea, M. Mihailescu, A.I. Chirila, I.D. Deaconu, Design and Efficiency of Linear
Electromagnetic Shock AbsorberIEEE, Proceedings of the IEEE 13th International Conference on
Optimization of electrical and electronic equipment (OPTIM), 2012pp. 630 -634.
[5] I. Martins, J. Esteves, GD Marques, et al. Permanent magnets linear actuator applicability in
automobile active suspensions, IEEE transactions on Vehicular Technology, 2006, vol.55(1), pp. 86 95.
[6] Zhongie Li, Lei Zuo, George Luhrs et al. Electromagnetic energy harvesting shock absorbers.
Design, Modelling & Road tests, IEEE transactions on Vehicular Technology, 2013, vol.62(3), pp. 10651074.

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