Research on the mode switching control of vehicle electromagnetic suspension employing linear motor

Abstract

An electromagnetic suspension employing linear motor is able to harvest the energy otherwise wasted in the suspension vibration while the vehicle is running on rough road. A switch method of operation modes is put forward to coordinate the contradiction between energy regeneration and vibration isolation. A dynamic model is created to analyse the general properties of energy regeneration suspension under different working modes. Both simulation and experiments are conducted to verify the modelling and advantages. In energy regenerative mode, the dynamic properties of electromagnetic suspension are basically coincident with those of passive suspension, and more than 14 W of electricity is harvested while driving at 20 m s−1 on level C road. In active control mode, the RMS of vehicle body vertical acceleration and tyre dynamic load are decreased by 21.35% and 4.24% respectively, much better than passive suspension, which proves that the mode switching method is simple and effective.