Ride comfort and energy harvesting of inflatable hydraulic-electric regenerative suspension system for heavy-duty vehicles

Heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) encounter intense vibrational conditions on rough roads, resulting in ride discomfort and energy dissipation in the suspension system. An inflatable hydraulic-electric regenerative suspension (IHERS), aiming to mitigate the vehicle’s vibration and harvest the dissipated energy, is proposed in this study. The configuration and working principle of IHERS are interpreted followed by a half-car with 5-degree-of-freedom for assessing the IHERS-equipped HDVs. Parametric study was conducted in depth to understand the characteristics of its damping forces. Simulations indicate that the IHERS can provide sufficient resistant forces for HDVs. Moreover, the damping force can be tuned by the external resistance for semi-active suspensions. The efficiency of energy harvesting is 41.9 % for the IHERS-equipped HDVs travelling on the class-C road at 20 m/s. IHERS significantly enhances ride comfort by reducing vertical acceleration by 23.3 % when compared to traditional suspensions in HDVs.