From functional analysis to energy harvesting system design: application to car suspension

In the context of global energy demand increase, working on energy efficiency is essential. This paper deals with energy harvesting on car suspensions. In order to have a real added value, some criteria must be considered: the need to design a system that would be easily integrated into cars, the possibility to locally use the recovered energy to add new functionalities that can improve the security or the comfort of the car, and the necessity to not degrade and, if possible, to improve (semi-active or active dampers) the performances of the suspension. From the mechanical point of view, the functional analysis is used to define and to characterize the main suspension parts, to investigate the connexions and the energy flows and to identify the key elements for energy recovery. Then, quarter car and half car models implemented with Matlab/Simulink software are presented in order to evaluate the quantity of energy that could be recovered. Three locations are presented and evaluated. Simulations results will finally give an overview on the implementation opportunities.