Parametric analysis of the potential of energy harvesting from commercial vehicle suspension system

An accurate estimation of the harvestable energy from a vehicle suspension under typical operating conditions is vital for design and implementation of efficient energy harvesters in vehicles. In this study, a generic three-dimensional model of a commercial vehicle is formulated by integrating nonlinear models of suspension components and tires to determine the harvestable power considering the effects of suspension parameters and road characteristics. The component characteristics of the suspension system and tires are obtained through the reported laboratory-measured data acquired under an extensive range of loading conditions. The vehicle model is subsequently employed to investigate the harvestable energy potential considering variations in the driving speed, chassis load, road waviness and roughness, suspension and tire stiffness, compression mode damping ratio, and asymmetric suspension damping over the most possible ranges of running conditions. The results suggested significant influences of these parameters, while the driving speed, damping asymmetry factor, compression mode damping ratio, and road condition revealed the most pronounced effect on the harvestable power. The results obtained in terms of root mean square and power spectral density of harvestable power are also indicative that rough terrains yield incomparably larger magnitudes of energy dissipation than relatively smooth road classes defined in ISO 8608:1995, and thereby suggestive of the greater potential of energy recovery from commercial vehicles on off-road surfaces.