Study on a novel hydraulic pumping regenerative suspension for vehicles

In order to improve the vehicle fuel economy, ride comfort and handling, this paper presents the design, modeling, and performance study of a novel hydraulic pumping regenerative suspension based on an energy recovery unit and a hydraulic actuator. It can harvest energy from suspension vibration and lessen damping oil temperature rising. In addition, variable damping force can be achieved by controlling the electrical load of the energy recovery unit, and proper asymmetric ratio of compression/extension damping force needed by traditional vehicles can be obtained via the special layout of this suspension. It shows that an optimal regenerative power 33.4 W can be obtained from each regenerative suspension via the GA optimization. The physical based model and parameter study in this paper can be used in the regenerative suspension semi-active controller design and the development of this novel hydraulic pumping regenerative suspension in the future.