Abstract
Keywords: suspension, shock-absorber, PM synchronous machine
One of the main trends in today´s vehicle production is to develop and correct the vehicle´s own convenience, in safe operation. One segment is the suspension, since it can ensure the necessary conditions for other safety systems like ABS, ESP, steering system, etc. Simultaneously the suspension has to hold the body of the vehicle in comfort. Nowadays passive suspension systems cannot fulfil these conflicting requirements, it is becoming more urgent to introduce active and semi-active suspensions in practical use. The connection with other safety systems makes the suspension an excepted part of the X-bywire system. This way we can incorporate more functionality in the suspension, since we can access additional information for being to be used as input data for the active suspension system. A permanent magnet synchronous tubular machine (TLSM) - used as an actuator (motor) - is capable of acting as an active element in the suspension (shaft displacement, vehicle tilting). When used as a generator, there is no external energy consumption of the machine itself, it is also capable of acting as a semi-active element. Proper electronic control allows continuously variable acting force between Fmin(~0N) and Fmax, which is covered by switching the stator windings between short-circuit and opencircuit. When used in generator mode, such a configuration produces electrical energy that may be dissipated or recuperated by the vehicle power network. By storing this energy via charging the batteries, the tubular generator behaves as an actuator at the same time. The acting force of such a motor depends mostly on geometry and saturation value of the material that is used for constructing the stator.