0000000000190870

AUTHOR

Rafael Tavares

Modeling of an active torsion bar automotive suspension for ride comfort and energy analysis in standard road profiles

Abstract Chassis technology is evolving towards active suspension, in which actuators can provide forces to each wheel individually. This overcomes the traditional trade-off between comfort and handling, at the expense of increased complexity and electric consumption. To reduce power demand, regenerative solutions capable of harvesting a certain amount of energy otherwise dissipated in vehicle suspensions and to enhance vehicle dynamics for improving ride comfort and road safety at the same time have been researched. In this paper, an active suspension based on a torsion bar is modeled and analyzed under the excitation from standardized road profiles according to the ISO 8608 norm. A skyhoo…

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Dissipation in suspension system augmented by piezoelectric stack: port-Hamiltonian approach

Analysis of damping in semi-active and active suspension systems is prerequisite for an advanced control and, eventually, energy harvesting functions. This paper addresses the damping in suspension system augmented by the piezoelectric (PE) stack. The Hamiltonian system approach with port-power modeling of single subsystems is used for describing and studying the dissipative properties of piezoelectric stack element, integrated in series with a standard quarter-car suspension. The slightly improved, compared to the underlying passive suspension system, frequency response of the sprung mass acceleration is demonstrated. Moreover, the overall power flow in the system, caused by the disturbing…

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Frequency-domain experimental setup for mechatronic and suspension system components

This paper presents a frequency-domain experimental setup for modal analysis of mechatronic and suspension system components. Design, instrumentation and dynamic behavior of the one degree-of-freedom (DOF) system, capable of providing both, periodic and application-specific, excitation forces is described. The excitation is realized by an electromagnetic modal shaker with additional assembly and interface components designed and instrumented for frequency -domain analysis of vertical dynamics. Frequency response functions (FRFs) of the implemented system are experimentally measured and the associated basic model parameters are calculated, correspondingly identified. Accurate fit between the…

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A Fractional-Order Control Approach to Ramp Tracking with Memory-Efficient Implementation

We investigate the fractional-order (FO) control of arbitrary order LTI systems. We show that, for ramp tracking or input disturbance rejection, it is advantageous to include an FO integrator to the open-loop if we have to increase the order of integration further than one. With the lower phase-loss of the FO integrator it is easier to guarantee a desired phase margin. Furthermore the flat phase response around the crossover-frequency (iso-damping property) can be achieved for a wider frequency range such that the closed-loop is more robust wrt. amplitude and phase margins. The drawback of the FO approach is the increased implementation effort and the algebraic decay, which slows down the t…

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Modeling and field-experiments identification of vertical dynamics of vehicle with active anti-roll bar

This paper deals with modeling and identification of vertical dynamics of the ground vehicle equipped with two active anti-roll torsion bars. A series of field tests of a full-scale drive have been performed, from which multiple displacement and acceleration data of the unsprung and sprung masses have been collected for each vehicle corner. The standard full vertical vehicle model is extended by the developed model of an active anti-roll torsion bar and valve-controlled semi-active shock absorbing damper. Along with the three-dimensional damping map, the nonlinear progressive stiffness of the elastomer-based decoupling unit are identified from the available data. The multi-channel and multi…

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Energy harvesting using piezoelectric transducers for suspension systems

Abstract Energy harvesting by using functional materials in suspension systems bear potential to win-back certain (even if low) amounts of vibrational energy, otherwise dissipated via the conventional (passive) dampers. Piezoelectric (PE) ceramics are functional materials that can be used for transforming mechanical energy into electrical and vice versa. In this paper, we study the capabilities and efficiency of energy harvesting (EH) with PE transducers under two different kinds of external excitation: i) Periodic and ii) stochastic. An appropriate nonlinear lumped parameter electromechanical model (LPEM) is brought into the two-port network notation. Laboratory experiments were conducted …

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On Energy Harvesting Using Piezoelectric Transducer with Two-Port Model Under Force Excitation

Piezoelectric (PE) materials are functional materials that can be used for transforming mechanical stress into electrical energy, that can then be stored and used for powering other devices. In this paper, we provide experimental investigation of PE transducers used for energy harvesting under external force-controlled excitation. The lumped parameter electromechanical model (LPEM) has been assumed and brought into a generalized two-port network notation. Laboratory experiments using a universal test machine (UTM) were performed and used for the parameter identification of the model. The two-port model formulation is validated by comparing results of numerical simulations and experimental d…

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