Regenerative Systems for Vibration Control

The potential for energy regeneration in vibration control systems is investigated. Such control systems hold the possibility of self-sustainability by alternately extracting and releasing energy originating from the vibrating system in a controlled non-passive manner. To be self-sustaining, more energy must on average flow into the control system than flows out. Generally speaking, the performance of such a system will approach that of an active system while theoretically requiring no externally supplied power. As research progresses in this area, an increasing number of viable applications for regenerative vibration control systems are being uncovered. This paper examines two broad applications: base-excited suspensions and periodically excited compound mounts. Some experimental results of the former are presented to support our claims.