Principle, design and validation of a power-generated magnetorheological energy absorber with velocity self-sensing capability

Abstract

Based on the structural design concept of ‘functional integration’, this paper proposes the principle of a power-generated magnetorheological energy absorber with velocity self-sensing capability (PGMREA), which realizes the integration of controllable damping mechanism and mechanical energy-electrical energy conversion mechanism in structure profile and multiple functions in function profile, including controllable damping, power generation and velocity self-sensing. The controllable damping mechanism consists of an annular gap and a ball screw. The annular gap fulfilled with MR fluid that operates in pure shear mode under controllable electromagnetic field. The rotational damping torque generated from the controllable damping mechanism is translated to a linear damping force via the ball screw. The mechanical energy-electrical energy conversion mechanism is realized by the ball screw and a generator composed of a permanent magnet rotor and a generator stator. The ball screw based mechanical energy-electrical energy conversion mechanism converts the mechanical energy of excitations to electrical energy for storage or directly to power the controllable damping mechanism of the PGMREA. The velocity self-sensing capability of the PGMREA is achieved via signal processing using the mechanical energy-electrical energy conversion information. Based on the principle of the proposed PGMREA, the mathematical model of the PGMREA is established, including the damping force, generated power and self-sensing velocity. The electromagnetic circuit of the PGMREA is simulated and verified via a finite element analysis software ANSYS. The developed PGMREA prototype is experimentally tested on a servo-hydraulic testing system. The model-based predicted results and the experimental results are compared and analyzed.

A Review on Structural Configurations of Magnetorheological Fluid Based Devices Reported in 2018–2020

“…In 2018, based on the concept of functional integration, an MRF device was proposed with controllable damping, energy recovery, and velocity self-sensing, shown in Figure 7A (Bai et al, 2018). In this device, a damping mechanism with MRF generates torque, which is then translated to a linear damping force via a ball screw.…”

“…As the inner cylinder is constrained mainly by the MRF and piston, when the center of inner cylinder is shifted from the axis of the device, the movement of the piston rod may be affected, and the outer cylinder can be damaged. Moreover, to optimize the response time of the damper, an MRF damper with a FIGURE 7 | (A) Power-generated MRF absorber (Bai et al, 2018). (B) MRF absorber with center drain hole (Li Z. Q. et al, 2018).…”

“…(C) Outer multi-pole MRF damper (Liu et al, 2018). (D) Internal bypass MRF absorber (Bai et al, 2018). (E) MRF damper with permanent magnet (Lee et al, 2018).…”

Driving Safety Improved with Control of Magnetorheological Dampers in Vehicle Suspension

“…It is worth noting that, similarly to active solutions, semi-active dampers are also supported by an energy harvester, which further improves the performance of semi-active approach. For instance, a novel design of the MR damper was presented in [12], where a controllable damping mechanism was integrated with a converter of mechanical energy to electrical energy.…”

Principle Study of a Semi-active Inerter Featuring Magnetorheological Effect

“…Although the proposed mechanical semi-active inerters will provide (hierarchically) controllable inertance, the response time of the inerter is too long, or the continuously adjustable inertance cannot be achieved. In order to realize a semi-active inerter with properties of simple configurations, fast response, and continuously adjustable inertance, Bai et al (2018) and Tipuric et al (2018) introduced the rapid and continuously controllable MR effect of the smart material-MR fluid (Tang et al, 2000;Chen et al, 2016Chen et al, , 2017Chen et al, , 2018 for adjusting the inertance of inerter. Bai et al (2018) extended a ball screw-type inerter concept using MR fluid, but they have not yet demonstrated its feasibility.…”