Analysis of the Flexible Control Characteristics and Control Method of Electromagnetic Variable Inertance Shock Absorber

doi:10.3901/JME.260259

Abstract

Abstract: To address the issue of significant impact occurring when the inertance device reverses at high speed or when the inertance coefficient is adjusted over a wide range, an electromagnetic variable inertance shock absorber for vehicle suspension is proposed. This shock absorber achieves real-time adjustment of the damping coefficient by varying the resistance of an external circuit, thereby indirectly controlling the system’s equivalent inertance. The inertial flywheel is flexibly coupled to the system through damping effects, effectively avoiding the mechanical shock associated with direct mechanical connections during adjustments. On this basis, the shock absorber is integrated into the quarter-vehicle suspension model. It was found that the damping and inertance of the suspension are coupled, and that changes in damping affect both the resonance peak value and resonance frequency of the suspension system. In order to achieve the desired control effect, a semi-active control strategy based on self-sensing estimation is proposed. This strategy can accurately estimate the motion state of the shock absorber and output positive power, thereby improving the desired control force tracking performance. Finally, the bench tests for characteristic verification and performance evaluation of variable inertance shock absorber were conducted. The experimental results show that the proposed variable inertance shock absorber can adjust the damping and inertia characteristics of suspension in real time, with its damping performance significantly outperforming that of passive suspension when using the proposed semi-active control strategy.

Key words: electromagnetic suspension, variable inertance, self-sensing estimation, semi-active control

CLC Number:

TH39

TAN Xingui, LI Qiang, TAN Bohuan, LIU Jingang, NING Donghong, LIU Pengfei. Analysis of the Flexible Control Characteristics and Control Method of Electromagnetic Variable Inertance Shock Absorber[J]. Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 2026, 62(9): 172-181.

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URL: http://www.cjmenet.com.cn/EN/10.3901/JME.260259

http://www.cjmenet.com.cn/EN/Y2026/V62/I9/172

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