Energy Conservation Analysis and Control of Hybrid Active Semiactive Suspension with Three Regulating Damping Levels

Active suspension has not been popularized for high energy consumption. To address this issue, this paper introduces the concept of a new kind of suspension. The linear motor is considered to be integrated into an adjustable shock absorber to form the hybrid active semiactive suspension (HASAS). To realize the superiority of HASAS, its energy consumption and regeneration mechanisms are revealed. And the system controller which is composed of linear quadratic regulator (LQR) controller, mode decision and switch controller, and the sliding mode control based thrust controller is developed. LQR controller is designed to maintain the suspension control objectives, while mode decision and switch controller decides the optimal damping level to tune motor thrust. The thrust controller ensures motor thrust tracking. An adjustable shock absorber with three regulating levels to be used in HASAS is trial produced and tested to obtain its working characteristics. Finally, simulation analysis is made with the experimental three damping characteristics. The impacts of adjustable damping on the motor force and energy consumption are investigated. Simulation results demonstrate the advantages of HASAS in energy conservation with various suspension control objectives. Even self-powered active control and energy regenerated to the power source can be realized.