Property Analysis of an Electro-Mechanical Regenerative Damper Concept

This study proposes a concept of an electro-mechanical regenerative damper, composed of a gear mechanism and overrunning clutches to achieve uni-directional angular motion of the armature, and asymmetric damping in compression and rebound. An analytical model of the regenerative damper is formulated to derive its force-velocity properties, which revealed predominant inertia damping effect in addition to the electro-magnetic damping. The formulations further revealed that the damping properties of proposed concept could be easily varied through variation in both the electrical circuit and mechanical design parameters. The model is analyzed under harmonic excitations to determine its damping properties and the influences of various design parameters. The results suggest that the total force developed comprises two major components attributed to the generator and the effective inertia. The generator force resembles that of a bilinear asymmetric damper, while the variations in the inertia force exhibit a pattern similar to a ‘high-low’ damper. The proposed concept could thus yield ‘high-low’ damping variations in an entirely passive manner, while offering energy harvesting potential.