Abstract:

To overcome the problems such as complex structure, low efficiency of electromechanical conversion in the current self-powered device for magnetorheological (MR) damper, an energy harvester of a disk permanent generator driven by the ball screw is proposed. The structure and principles of the disk permanent generator is studied. The software Maxwell 3D is applied to analyze gap flux density of the disk permanent generator, the basic electromechanical energy conversion relations is theoretically calculated. The electromagnetic finite element model of the disk permanent generator is established and the software of Maxwell 3D is applied to calculate the output voltage of the generator under load and idle load. A generator prototype is fabricated and tested under constant speed excitations and sinusoidal excitations for the purpose of testing the performance of electromechanical conversion. The damping characteristics of the MR damper under sinusoidal inputs is investigated. The results show that the harvesting energy of the proposed generator can meet the electrical energy requirement of the MR damper.

Key words: ball screw, disk permanent generator, self-powered, MR damper