Applied Energy 210 (2018) 16–27

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Applied Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apenergy

Optimized design and characterization of motor-pump unit for energy- MARK

regenerative shock absorbers
⁎
Renato Galluzzi , Yijun Xu, Nicola Amati, Andrea Tonoli
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (Mechatronics Laboratory), Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi, 24, Turin, Italy

H I G H L I G H T S

• The energy dissipated in automotive suspensions can be recovered.

• The motor-pump unit is a key element for energy regeneration and damping control.
• The proposed design of this unit aims to maximize energy regeneration.
• The construction and testing of a prototype validate the research.

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The constant need to reduce emissions in the automotive sector has driven the electrification of powertrain and
Regenerative chassis. To comply with this trend and decrease the bound even further, the present paper proposes the use of
Automotive hydraulic regenerative shock absorbers for automotive suspension systems. The conversion of linear into angular
Shock absorber motion and the suitable control of an integrated electric machine allow to transform part of the vibrational
Electrohydrostatic actuation
energy into electricity. In these damping devices, the key element is the motor-pump unit that is interfaced onto
Energy harvesting
a conventional hydraulic cylinder architecture. Hence, the proposed research focuses on this component by
Efficiency
investigating different design aspects in all the domains of interest. The objective is to optimize the energy
conversion efficiency of the unit without affecting its damping control property. To give means of validation, a
motor-pump prototype is built and experimentally characterized through a dedicated test rig.

1. Introduction
Vehicle suspension systems play a fundamental role in filtering the
vibrations induced by the road irregularities onto the automotive
chassis. They are designed to meet requirements of road holding, ride
comfort and handling performance. Conventional suspension systems
basically consist of an elastic member (spring), a damping element
(shock absorber) and kinematic linkages. These systems are purely
passive: the damping task is achieved by converting the vibrational
power into waste heat. Although simple and cost-effective, passive
suspensions have a fixed response and cannot adapt to a variety of road
unevenness and vehicle dynamic conditions. To address this short-
coming, semi-active and active damping technologies have been de-
veloped in the last two decades.
In addition, vehicle CO2 emissions have become a relevant aspect
during the past decade: regulations in this matter are more strict mainly
due to environmental concerns worldwide. In Europe, for instance, the
emission average to be achieved by all registered cars is 130 g/km. By
2020, this value will be reduced to 95 g/km and by 2025, it will be
decreased even further (68–78 g/km) [1]. The awareness in CO2
emissions has pushed the electrification of the automobile as a means
towards improved energy efficiency.
As demonstrated by Zuo and Zhang [2], the average power dis-
sipated by the suspension is proportional to the tire stiffness, the vehicle
speed and the road roughness index defined by ISO [3]. For a typical
passenger car that travels at a speed of 32 km/h (the average speed of
the New European Driving Cycle), the average dissipation on four
corners is 133 W on an ISO C-class road. According to the analysis
presented in our previous works [4], the total recovery of the energy in
the aforementioned condition would lead to a CO2 emission reduction
slightly above 6 g/km for a D-class vehicle.
This background motivates the development of regenerative solu-
tions, i.e. devices able to vary their damping behavior while converting
part of the otherwise-dissipated power into electricity. These technol-
ogies exploit the intrinsic reversibility of electric machines and a sui-
table transmission system for their integration into the vehicle.

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: renato.galluzzi@polito.it (R. Galluzzi), yijun.xu@polito.it (Y. Xu), nicola.amati@polito.it (N. Amati), andrea.tonoli@polito.it (A. Tonoli).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.10.100
Received 4 August 2017; Received in revised form 3 October 2017; Accepted 29 October 2017
0306-2619/ © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
R. Galluzzi et al. Applied Energy 210 (2018) 16–27

Nomenclature lg gear axial length

lm active length
Ap piston cross section lp pocket depth
As slot cross section λp PM flux linkage amplitude
Aw wire cross section μf dynamic viscosity
αg1 outer gear aspect ratio Nc number of coils
αg2 inner gear aspect ratio Ng number of inner gear teeth
αt teeth aspect ratio Nt number of turns per coil
Az magnetic vector potential z component Ωg angular speed
cp linear damping coefficient p number of pole pairs
cref linear damping reference Pg harvested power
csc maximum rotary damping coefficient Pm,avg average power loss
Dp pocket diameter Qg input flow rate
dp minimum distance between ports q quadrature axis
Ds shaft diameter R phase resistance
d direct axis R1l outer gear lobe radius
ΔPg input pressure drop R1o outer gear outside radius
δg pulsation index R1r outer gear root radius
eg gear eccentricity R2i inner gear inside radius
ηe electrical efficiency R2o inner gear outside radius
ηg pump total efficiency R cyl,i cylinder inside radius
ηhm hydro-mechanical efficiency R cyl,o cylinder outside radius
ηt total conversion efficiency R ext external impedance
ηv volumetric efficiency Rp,i port inside radius
fa axial viscous drag function Rp,o port outside radius
Fp piston/damping force ρCu copper resistivity
fv chamber volume function ρcyl cylinder mass density
Fj emptying rate function of the jth chamber τ electrohydrostatic transmission ratio
ga axial clearance Ta axial viscous drag torque
gi inside diameter clearance Tm electromagnetic torque
go outside diameter clearance Tro radial viscous drag torque
gt inter-teeth clearance Θ0 initial temperature
γp port opening angle Θc winding temperature
Idc DC bus current θg pump shaft angular position
Jcyl cylinder moment of inertia Θp PM temperature
Kλ PM flux per unit length Vj volume of the jth chamber
K cp coil packing factor Vdc DC bus voltage
Ke back-EMF constant Vg volumetric displacement
Kt torque constant vp piston/damping speed
l cyl cylinder length
l et end-turn length

Karnopp’s research [5] was the first to examine the feasibility of
using a permanent-magnet linear motor with variable resistors to sub-
stitute the conventional dampers. Gysen et al. [6] developed an active
electromagnetic suspension that employs a brushless tubular perma-
nent-magnet actuator to control the roll and pitch of the vehicle. Linear
motors seem a straightforward choice for damping in most ground
vehicles due to their simple integration into the suspension layout and
lack of a transmission system. However, their force density is limited for
the task and thus, they work inefficiently and add a substantial heft to
the vehicle chassis.
In conventional suspension layouts, rotary electric motors require
complex systems to convert the linear motion between the wheel hub
and the upper strut mount into an angular displacement. In this regard,
the state of the art exploits mainly mechanical or hydraulic working
principles.
The rack pinion mechanism can be used for linear-to-rotary con-
version. In recent works [7,8], it has been enhanced with clutch systems
to allow unidirectional angular motion on an electric machine and
improve efficiency. Ball screw transmissions are also common for mo-
tion conversion: the literature offers prototypes with rotating screw [9]
or rotating nut [10]. Furthermore, unidirectional rotary motion has
been also implemented [11,12]. Although promising, electro-
mechanical technologies can be complex and difficult to integrate into
the suspension. Moreover, in a high-cycle task like vehicle damping,
component wear and fatigue are critical aspects that have not been fully
addressed.
Hydraulic shock absorbers with controllable damping and energy
harvesting features employ the electrohydrostatic actuation principle.
They use a hydraulic actuator directly interfaced to a motor-pump unit
by means of a hydrostatic circuit to convert the linear motion of the
piston into rotation. The intrinsic lubrication of fluid-based solutions
overcomes the main tribology concerns of electromechanical systems.
Moreover, since the fluid is used as a means for power transmission, the
actuator offers better flexibility for its placement within the suspension.
Many recent works have addressed the design and implementation
of hydraulic regenerative shock absorbers. In previous works, it has
been studied for lead-lag motion damping in helicopter rotor blades
[13]. Fang et al. [14] and Li et al. [15] assessed the damping and re-
generative capabilities of prototypes with external hydraulic rectifiers.
Zhang et al. [16] exploited the intrinsic fluid rectification of twin-tube
shock absorbers to yield and validate a prototype. However, Levant
Power Corporation has lead the development in this field with their
GenShock solution [17]. From the scientific point of view, they have
provided useful guidelines to optimize the hydraulic pump for a re-
generative damper [18].
The motor-pump unit is the core element in hydraulic regenerative

17
R. Galluzzi et al. Applied Energy 210 (2018) 16–27

dampers, as the energy harvesting capability is heavily influenced by convert the kinetic energy of the suspension into electricity that can be
this component. Hydraulic, mechanical and electric subsystems must be stored in a battery.
integrated and optimized to maximize energy regeneration, while pre- In addition, the twin-tube architecture provides unidirectional mo-
serving the damping functionality. Nevertheless, the state of the art tion of the motor-pump group. The fluid flow is rectified with the
does not offer clear guidelines on the design of the motor-pump group aperture of the base check valve during rebound and the piston check
as a whole. Some of the previous research works deal with the design valve during compression. This working principle is already covered by
and validation of single subsystems. Others deal with system integra- previous research works [4,16].
tion at a proof-of-concept level and with the partial or total use of off- Fig. 1 also depicts the prototype implementation of the described
the-shelf components. system. The motor-pump group is fixed onto the shock absorber tube
To address these shortcomings, the present paper establishes a novel with a manifold. This approach yields a compact system and minimizes
system-level approach that investigates the role of different design as- the introduction of losses due to hydraulic lines. Furthermore, it pro-
pects on the performance of the motor-pump group. The unit is entirely vides modularity because the motor-pump group unit can be installed
designed to guarantee damping and energy harvesting features, while on any shock absorber tube. For this reason, this research deals with the
complying with important design constraints such as envelope and optimization of this unit, disregarding the selected shock absorber ar-
supply voltage. The study focuses on the subsystems of interest (hy- chitecture.
draulic pump, electric motor and power stage) to yield an optimized In general, the power conversion from the hydraulic domain of the
prototype. Subsequently, the device is numerically and experimentally pump to the electrical domain of the battery is inevitably affected by
characterized in different working points of the force-speed plane. different loss terms.
Unlike previous works, the study is focused on the partial and total The hydraulic power applied to the pump is initially reduced by a
efficiency terms calculated on each working point. The obtained effi- volumetric loss due to internal leakages. The volumetric efficiency is
ciency maps give means for validation. Furthermore, they prove to be given by
an adequate tool to identify the most critical aspects of the design. Vg Ωg
Although the design and characterization are based on a particular case ηv = ,
Qg (1)
study, the followed approach can be extended to any motor-pump unit
for hydraulic regenerative dampers. where Qg is the flow rate across the pump, Ωg its angular speed and Vg
The remainder of this research is organized as follows. In Section 2, its fixed volumetric displacement.
it gives an overview of the system and the efficiency terms that play a Subsequently, a hydro-mechanical loss term considers the pressure/
fundamental role in the performance of the unit. Then, relevant design torque drop due to hydraulic minor losses and mechanical friction af-
and construction aspects are analyzed for the different subsystems in fecting the rotating elements. The hydro-mechanical efficiency associated
Section 3. Finally, Section 4 deals with the experimental validation of a to these phenomena is
motor-pump prototype.
Tm
ηhm = .
Vg ΔPg (2)
2. System overview
Here, Tm is the electromagnetic torque of the motor and ΔPg the pump
pressure drop.
The present research focuses on the design and optimization of the
Finally, a third loss term considers the conversion from the me-
motor-pump unit employed in the regenerative shock absorber shown
chanical domain of the motor to the electrical domain of the battery,
in Fig. 1. The system exploits a conventional twin-tube shock absorber
i.e.
architecture connected to the hydraulic ports of a pump. During vehicle
cruise, the piston of the shock absorber oscillates inside the tube at a Vdc Idc
ηe = ,
speed vp due to the ground irregularities. This motion leads to an oil Tm Ωg (3)
flow rate Qg that drives the hydraulic pump and therefore, the linear
in which Vdc and Idc define the voltage and current of the power stage
movement is transformed into a rotary motion Ωg . Since the pump is
DC bus, respectively. This electrical efficiency can be attributed to motor
mechanically coupled to an electric machine, a suitable control strategy
and power-stage losses.
of the latter device allows to modify the damping characteristic of the
The product of the three aforementioned terms yields the total
shock absorber. Furthermore, the electric motor acts as a generator in a
conversion efficiency of the motor-pump unit:
portion of the damping quadrants. Hence, the system is also able to
Vdc Idc
ηt = ηv ηhm ηe = .
ΔPg Qg (4)

3. Design

The design of the motor-pump unit requires a system-level approach

to comply with different requirements in all the domains of interest. A
possible design method is outlined in Fig. 2. It considers three different
specification sets:

1. Damping requirements. The device must be able to work within a

Fig. 1. Layout of a hydraulic regenerative shock absorber. Concept scheme (a): battery
(1), power stage (2), electric motor (3), hydraulic pump (4), pressure-relief valves (5),
check valves (6), piston (7), gas accumulator (8), base (9). Prototype side view (b):
manifold (10), motor-pump unit (11), spring holder (12), rod (13), external tube (14),
anti-roll bar bracket (15), wheel hub bracket (16).
defined force-speed envelope to guarantee its damping function-
ality.
2. Target envelope. The prototype must fit onto the shock absorber and
avoid any interference in static and dynamic conditions, such as
suspension deflection and steering.
3. Power supply requirements. Assuming that the power stage of the
device is connected to a battery that is shared among different

18
R. Galluzzi et al.
Fig. 2. Design method for the motor-pump unit.
accessories, the design should account for intrinsic limitations like
DC voltage, state of charge and charge-discharge rates to work re-
liably.
The first specification set is used to establish the design of the pump
in terms of gear geometry and clearances. The characteristics of the
resulting device, together with the damping constraints, are used to
settle the electromagnetic design of the machine. The number of turns
of the electrical machine windings, instead, is selected to meet the DC
supply voltage limitation. Once that motor and pump are fully de-
signed, they are validated with a thermal analysis in the worst-case
working condition.
A mechanical integration step aims to minimize the bulk and mass
of the final actuator, since both motor and pump designs must comply
with the established geometric constraints. Thus, finding a configura-
tion that satisfies damping, DC voltage and mechanical packaging re-
quirements usually requires multiple iterations.
The components of the power stage are selected according to the
electric machine parameters and the supply requirements. Finally, a
suitable control strategy is implemented considering the damping en-
velope and the physical limitations of the subsystems.
A correct design of the motor-pump group must favor the force-
speed envelope that the regenerative shock absorber should span. A
feasible choice is to constrain this working area as purely regenerative,
i.e. the battery can only absorb power from the system. Thus, the device
must be able to ideally satisfy the working region bounded by max-
imum damping c p,max , maximum force Fp,max and speed vp,max , as seen in
Fig. 3 (left).
Considering a fixed displacement Vg and a piston cross section Ap ,
the ideal transmission ratio of the system is given by
Vg
τ= ,
Ap (5)
and hence,
19
Applied Energy 210 (2018) 16–27
⎧Tm = τFp .
⎨ Ω = vp/ τ (6)
⎩ g
Furthermore, the damping coefficient imposed by the electric ma-
chine [10] is ideally expressed as
Kt K e
cp = ,
τ 2 (R + R ext ) (7)
where Kt is the torque constant of the electric motor, K e the back
electromotive force (EMF) constant, R is the phase resistance and R ext is
the impedance imposed by the power stage output. This formulation
implies that the power flows from motor to battery, as the latter ele-
ment acts as a power sink. Hence, the maximum attainable damping
c p,max is limited by the short-circuit response, i.e. R ext = 0 . Conversely,
the open-circuit response (R ext → ∞) will lead to a null damping coef-
ficient c p,min .
Since the linear-to-rotary conversion is not perfectly efficient, the
working envelope will be inevitably reshaped, as shown in Fig. 3
(right), because
1. the pump leakage paths will increase the effective damping speed,
thus lowering the slope of any attainable damping behavior, and
2. the hydro-mechanical losses on the motor and pump will add up to
the output force and increase the output damping behavior.
Note that the former phenomenon has a deeper impact at low speed,
while the latter has more presence as speed increases. Hence, it is ex-
pected that the maximum damping will be lower due to volumetric
losses and the minimum damping will be non-null due to hydro-me-
chanical losses. It is worth observing that, although the coefficient c p,min
penalizes the conversion efficiency of the device, it also provides a
passive damping action that is useful to maintain the vehicle stability in
the case of system failure.
3.1. Hydraulic pump
The present study considers the use of a gerotor pump. These fixed-
displacement devices offer important advantages with respect to other
hydraulic pump types [19,20], such as reduced tooth wear, low amount
of components to machine and versatility for integration into any fluid
power system. Moreover, they are suitable for the low-mid pressure
range (up to 150 bar).
In gerotor pumps, the inner and outer gears rotate with pure relative
rolling motion. This type of motion ensures reduced wear and larger
mechanical efficiency with respect to systems with sliding elements.
The outer gear presents an additional tooth with respect to the inner
gear. Assuming that the pump shaft moves the inner gear at a speed Ωg ,
the relative rolling motion between gears takes place at rather low
speed, which also favors the mechanical efficiency:
Fig. 3. Force-speed maps of the regenerative shock absorber limited by damping, force
and speed values.
R. Galluzzi et al. Applied Energy 210 (2018) 16–27

Ng ⎞ Ωg Note that the function fv depends on the geometric features of both

Ωg,rel = Ωg ⎛⎜1− ⎟ = , gears. In turn, The kinematic flow rate of the pump is expressed as
⎝ Ng + 1 ⎠ Ng +1 (8)
Ng
where Ng is the number of teeth of the inner gear. Qg (θg ) = Ωg ∑ Fj (θg ),
A gerotor pump is mainly characterized by its volumetric dis- j=0 (14)
placement Vg . In this design, Vg is limited by the maximum angular
speed that the motor-pump group can achieve. At low pressure, lea- where
kages are small and the maximum angular speed can be approximated dVj ⎞
as Fj (θg ) = −min ⎜⎛ ,0⎟
⎝ dθg ⎠ (15)
vp,max
Ωg,max ≅ . is a nonlinear function that denotes the volumetric emptying rate of
τ (9)
each chamber. The volumetric displacement is calculated as the ratio
This maximum angular speed constraint has to be pushed as high as between the flow rate and the angular speed:
possible to lower the required damping torque and hence, minimize the
envelope of the electric motor. Nevertheless, the design must also ac- Qg (θg )
Vg (θg ) = ,
count for the limitations in the filling capability of the gerotor unit at Ωg (16)
high speed [21], as well as the maximum supply voltage for the electric
and, in formal terms, the design target is its average value per revolu-
machine.
tion
After the target volumetric displacement has been defined, the
pump design must define the gear geometric features presented in Fig. 4 1 2π

and the following clearance dimensions between the gears and the
Vg =
2π
∫0 Vg (θg )dθg.
(17)
casing:
Another important aspect to consider is the pulsation index

• Inside diameter clearance. Difference between inner gear and shaft δg =

max(Vg (θg ))−min(Vg (θg ))
,
diameters: Vg (18)
gi = 2R2i−Ds, (10) which gives an indication of the flow ripple. The minimization of this
where Ds is the shaft diameter. phenomenon is desirable in shock absorbers because it could introduce

• Outside diameter clearance. Difference between pocket and outer gear unwanted vibrations into the suspension.
Fig. 5 illustrates the kinematic features for the designed pump. In
diameters:
this case, the selected profile yields a pulsation index of 4.36%. The
go = Dp−2R1o, (11) pulsation index is greatly influenced by the tooth profiles. The
where Dp is the pocket diameter. smoothness of the volumetric displacement function Vg (θg ) is de-
• Axial clearance. Difference between pocket depth and gear axial termined by the shape of the emptying function Fj (θg ) given by the
teeth geometry and the angular spacing between chambers established
length
by the number of teeth.
ga = l p−lg, (12) Additionally, previous analyses [18] demonstrate that the inter-
where l p is the pocket depth. teeth clearance gt and the teeth aspect ratio

3.1.1. Gear geometry

Notice that the pump preserves Ng + 1 fluid chambers sealed by the
teeth tips of both gears disregarding the angular position of its shaft
(θg ). The volume of any chamber is a generalized periodic function with
appropriate angular offset

2πj ⎞
Vj = fv ⎜⎛θg + ⎟ ∀ j ∈ [0,Ng ].
⎝ Ng + 1⎠ (13)

Fig. 5. Volumetric features of the designed pump. The volume and emptying function are
Fig. 4. Gear profile of the gerotor pump with Ng = 6 . Outer gear: outside radius R1o , lobe plotted for chamber 0 (solid) and the remaining chambers (dash-dot). The volumetric
radius R1l and root radius R1r . Inner gear: outside radius R2o and inside radius R2i . displacement (solid) is compared to its average value (dash-dot). Vertical-axis units are
Eccentricity eg , inter-teeth clearance gt , gear length lg and volume of the jth chamber Vj . normalized.

20
R. Galluzzi et al. Applied Energy 210 (2018) 16–27

R1l
αt =
R1r (19)

are relevant for the volumetric efficiency. The minimization of gt

shrinks the inter-teeth passage cross section, while the reduction of α t
increases the passage length. The final outcome is the diminution of
leakages in the tooth tip area.
The gear aspect ratios are another relevant design choice:

⎧ αg1 = R1o / lg .
⎨ α = R2o / lg (20)
⎩ g2
Their selection is driven by considerations on mechanical losses and
inertial contributions. Viscous drag can be split in two main torque
losses: radial and axial components. Radial drag affects only the outer
gear and originates from the thin fluid film between the pocket and the
gear outside diameter. Its contribution reported to the output shaft of Fig. 6. Hydraulic port geometry. Inside radius Rpi , outside radius Rpo , opening angle γp ,
the pump is approximated as minimum distance dp and gear eccentricity eg .

2
3
Ng ⎞ 4πμ f lg R1o
Tro ≅ ⎛⎜ ⎟ Ωg,
⎝ Ng + 1 ⎠ go (21)
where μ f is the fluid dynamic viscosity. Eq. (21) assumes a homo-
geneous distribution of the gap between the outer gear and the
pocket along their circumference. However, this simplification does not
affect the dependence with lg and R1o 3
. plements an efficient method that first identifies the common areas
Similarly, axial drag acts on the cross sections of both gears due to
the film between them and the casing. It yields a cumbersome analytic
expression because it is predominantly influenced by the geometries of
the gears and the casing (hydraulic ports and grooves). Nevertheless, it
can be stated that the axial viscous drag is a function of R1o 4 4
and R2o ,
since their cross section depends on the squared radius and the trans-
formation of linear variables into the rotary domain requires another
squared radius term.
To analyze the inertial contribution, the moment of inertia of a
generic hollow cylinder is reported:
πρcyl l cyl 4 4
Jcyl = (Rcyl,o −Rcyl,i ),
2 (22)
where ρcyl is its mass density, l cyl its length, and R cyl,o and R cyl,i its out-
side and inside radii, respectively. Hence, it can be deduced that both
4 in Pumplinx. Since the software does not consider fluid-body interac-
gear moments of inertia depend on R1o .
All in all, the outlined scenario points towards the minimization of
αg1 and αg2 within the established envelope limits.
3.1.2. Hydraulic ports
Twin-tube dampers provide an intrinsic fluid flow rectification.
Nevertheless, a symmetric port architecture as the one in Fig. 6 sim-
plifies the applicability of the device for bidirectional operation, since it
yields the same hydraulic behavior in both directions.
Despite its machining complexity, the selected geometry ensures
proper fluid filling and seal. The port depth is also crucial to guarantee
a correct fluid fill. According to typical pump design guidelines [20],
the port depth must be at least equal to the length of the rotors. The
resulting geometry can be replicated on the bottom of the gear pocket
as shadow groove features. This operation is recommended to reduce
viscous drag.
3.1.3. Clearances between gears and case
One of the most challenging steps in the design process is the de-
finition of the clearances between the gears and the pump casing. The
accomplishment of this task was aided by Simerics Pumplinx. This
computational fluid dynamics package is able to obtain reliable simu-
lation results, yet keeping a relatively low computing overhead with
respect to other software alternatives. The program requires the 3D
geometry of the fluid. Then, a mesh is created for each fluid domain:
ports, shadow ports, gerotor chambers and clearance gaps. Particular
attention is devoted to the number of cell layers within these gaps; at
least three cell layers are needed to accurately reproduce leakage flow
[22]. The generated meshes must present a gradual cell density tran-
sition [21]. The fluid domains are interfaced with mismatched grids,
which are useful to couple static and moving domains. Pumplinx im-
between mismatched grids and then treats them like generic interfaces.
Therefore, the problem solution is fully conservative, fully implicit and
fast [23].
The software also needs the parameters of the employed fluid. Oil
properties are a determining factor for the efficiency characteristics of
the pump. Low-viscosity oils will induce more leakages and reduce
viscous drag, while the opposite is true for high-viscosity fluids.
Nonetheless, viscosity is heavily affected by temperature.
To understand the effect of clearances, different models are simu-
lated with the (laminar) flow and cavitation modules. The models are
initialized with constant pressure drop values between the pump ports
(ΔPg ) and constant inner gear angular speeds (Ωg ). After the initial
transient is vanished, the average values of the gerotor torque (Tm ) and
the flow rate across the ports (Qg ) are extracted. The clearances, in-
stead, are imposed in the geometry using the gerotor template mesher
tions, the clearances remain constant as initially imposed at every time
step. Diameter clearances are set with the bodies perfectly centered
with respect to their rotation axes. The axial clearance is imposed as
equally distributed among the front and the back sides of the gears. In
practice, this is not always true because pressure unbalance in both
axial and radial directions will displace the gears from their nominal
position. Limitations in the representation of this phenomena will affect
results, especially those concerning the mechanical viscous losses.
A first set of simulations was devoted to assess the diameter clear-
ances gi and go . From the results, it was observed that the inside dia-
meter clearance has no effect on both the volumetric and hydro-me-
chanical efficiency terms. Thus, gi is selected to provide a tight fit
without interference to minimize inner gear radial play, yet allowing its
axial motion on the shaft for pressure balancing. The outside diameter
clearance, instead, has a heavy influence on the hydro-mechanical
losses, while volumetric ones are negligibly affected. This is expected,
as the radial viscous drag torque on the outer gear is inversely pro-
portional to go (Eq. (21)). More importantly, the selection of go must
consider the creation of a thin fluid film to lubricate and support the
outer gear under pressure load.
Subsequently, a sensitivity analysis was carried out to understand
the optimal axial clearance of the gerotor unit. Models with different
axial clearance values were simulated at two different angular speeds.
For each speed, three damping coefficients spanning a portion of the
damping envelope were selected. Accordingly, the pressure drops were

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R. Galluzzi et al. Applied Energy 210 (2018) 16–27

80

70

60
efficiency [%]

50

40

30

20
0 50 100 150 200 250
axial clearance [%]
Fig. 7. Hydraulic pump efficiency with different normalized axial clearance values.
Minimum angular speed, minimum (square), mild (triangle) and maximum (circle)
damping coefficients. Results are interpolated with a piecewise-cubic function (solid).
The axial clearance axis is normalized with respect to the selected value.

Fig. 9. Hydraulic pump efficiency map in the force-speed plane. Maximum damping
calculated following the ideal expression behavior cp,max (dashed) and damping behavior due to hydro-mechanical losses cp,min
τc p Ωp (dash-dot) linearized for low speeds. Axis units are normalized with respect to Fp,max and
ΔPg = vp,max .
Ap (23)

Figs. 7 and 8 show the results at both test speeds for different
clearance gap lengths. The results show the total efficiency of the
gerotor pump, intended as
ηg = ηv ηhm.
At high speed, the test with the highest damping yields a pressure
drop that goes well beyond the design limit ΔPg,max . Hence, this dataset
was discarded.
It is observed that the efficiency is a convex function of the axial
clearance. Lower values favor volumetric over hydro-mechanical effi-
ciency. On the contrary, large gaps reduce viscous drag at the cost of
increasing internal leakages. The obtained results are helpful to define
an axial clearance value in simultaneous agreement with all the se-
lected working points.
80
70
60
efficiency [%]
3.1.4. Pump design verification
To verify the design, the identified pump configuration was simu-
lated at different working points. Results were interpolated to generate
(24) an efficiency map in the force-speed plane, as seen in Fig. 9. For this
purpose, the piston cross section is useful to convert hydraulic variables
into the mechanical domain:
⎧ Fp = Ap ΔPg .
⎨ v = Qg / Ap (25)
⎩ p
The units in numerical and experimental plots have been normal-
ized to protect proprietary data. However, force and speed values can
be associated to the typical damping characteristics in the automotive
field [24]. The maximum force usually ranges from 1 to 4 kN, de-
pending on the size of the vehicle, while the speed reaches up to 2 m/s.
The behavior spans a relevant portion of the force-speed plane.
Furthermore, the maximum damping coefficient specification c p,max lies
inside the obtained map, while the damping behavior due to hydro-
mechanical losses can be linearized at low speed to obtain c p,min .
This result defines the design objective of the electric motor. The
maximum rotary damping provided by the motor must counteract

leakages and account for hydro-mechanical loss, i.e.

50
τ2
csc = (c p,max−c p,min ).
ηv (26)
40
The selected design constraint yields a motor able to accomplish the
30 damping task with the minimum footprint. Alternatively, it is possible
to optimize the machine to match the maximum efficiency point of the
pump map. However, this choice would potentially lead to a motor with
20
larger geometric envelope.

10 3.2. Electric machine

0 50 100 150 200 250
axial clearance [%] The electric machine was designed to comply with the damping
Fig. 8. Hydraulic pump efficiency with different normalized axial clearance values. specification in Eq. (26) when in short circuit. Thus, the motor does not
Maximum angular speed, minimum (square) and mild (triangle) damping coefficients. require active power to operate within the damping specifications.
Results are interpolated with a piecewise-cubic function (solid). The axial clearance axis In this case, a brushless permanent-magnet (PM) topology is ad-
is normalized with respect to the selected value.
vantageous to maximize the torque-to-mass ratio. Specifically, the

22
R. Galluzzi et al.
design targets an inner rotor, radial flux, surface-mounted PM motor
due to its construction simplicity. A fractional-slot profile reduces Joule
losses and cogging torque [25]. The stator of the machine is devised
with M270-35A steel and the rotor uses NdFeB PMs of grade N45SH and
soft iron.
3.2.1. Electromagnetic design
The stator outside diameter was constrained to match the cross
section of the gerotor unit (gears, o-ring seals and screws). Hanselman’s
analytical procedure [26] provides a starting point in the definition of
the machine 2D geometry by optimizing the PM flux paths and the
torque per unit length. Afterwards, COMSOL Multiphysics (AC/DC
Module) helps to refine the 2D design through magnetostatic finite-
element analysis (FEA) models. The obtained FEA results for the de-
signed motor are illustrated in Fig. 10.
Once the motor cross section is fully defined, its active length is
determined to match the target damping coefficient. The short-circuit
rotary damping coefficient of the machine is a particular case of Eq. (7)
in which R ext = 0 and τ = 1. For a brushless PM motor
3p2 λ p2
csc = .
2R
where p is the number of pole pairs of the machine and λ p is the PM flux
linkage amplitude.
Assume that each motor phase is constituted by Nc coils in series,
each one of Nt turns and active length l m , located inside slots of cross
section As . The PM flux linkage is calculated from the magnetic vector
potential component Az orthogonal to As :
Nc Nt plm
λp =
As ⎝
⎛ ∫A + Az dA− ∫ − Az dA⎞.
As ⎠ (28)
s and PM losses are obtained by implementing the discretized Bertotti
The superscript signs are used to denote the winding direction.
Since the magnetic vector potential Az does not depend on the number
of turns per coil or active length, Eq. (28) is rewritten as
λ p = Kλ Nt l m,
where the PM flux per unit length constant Kλ depends on the estab-
lished 2D geometry layout.
The phase resistance is computed as
2Nc Nt ρCu
R= (l m + l et ),
Aw
where ρCu is the copper resistivity and l et is the end-turn length. The
wire cross section Aw can be expressed in terms of the slot area and the
coil packing factor K cp :
Fig. 10. Electric machine magnetostatic FEA results. The color map denotes the magnetic
flux density norm, whereas the contours belong to the magnetic vector potential. The
letters and signs indicate the winding phase and direction.
Applied Energy 210 (2018) 16–27
K cp As
Aw =
Nt (31)
Substituting Eqs. (29) and (30) into (27) yields
3p2 Nc K cp Kλ2 As ⎛ l m2 ⎞
csc = ⎜ ⎟,
4ρCu ⎝ l m + l et ⎠ (32)
and thus, the constraint on csc can be used to determine the active
length of the machine l m .
3.2.2. Winding number of turns
The number of turns per coil Nt is calculated from a constraint on the
battery supply: the DC bus voltage is limited to 48 V (mild hybrid stan-
dard) and the machine EMF should not exceed it for safety reasons, hence
Vdc = 3 pλ p Ωg,max , (33)
where λ p is a function of the number of turns per coil, as already de-
monstrated in Eq. (29).
3.2.3. Thermal analysis
(27) A worst-case-scenario was simulated with Motor-CAD to validate
the electric machine design. This software is based on lumped-para-
meter thermal network (LPTN) models which are the most used and
friendly solutions for a fast- and low-computation time thermal analysis
[27]. The problem formulation requires the machine and winding
geometry, the power losses and a working duty cycle.
For that purpose, the prototype mechanical layout is reproduced in
the program. Then, the machine losses are calculated when it works as a
generator. Joule losses are computed using the phase resistance. Iron
equations [28] in a dedicated FEA model, where different currents and
speeds are applied to the machine. The resulting efficiency map of the
machine is plotted in Fig. 11. The behavior at low angular speed and
high current is dominated by Joule losses, whilst iron and PM losses
(29) take place predominantly at high speed and low current.
To assess the duty cycle of the motor-pump unit, a quarter car model
can be built in Simulink with the parameters of the designed motor-
pump unit [4]. The model is set assuming motor short circuit to have
maximum dissipation in the stator windings. Furthermore, the vehicle
(30)
Fig. 11. Efficiency map of the electric machine working as a generator. Axis units are
normalized with respect to Tm,max and Ωg,max .
23
R. Galluzzi et al. Applied Energy 210 (2018) 16–27

Table 1
Thermal simulation data.

Description Symbol Value Unit

Initial system temperature Θ0 50 °C

Final winding hotspot temperature Θc 137.7 °C
Winding temperature limit Θc,max 180 °C
Final PM temperature Θp 123.5 °C
PM temperature limit Θp,max 150 °C

speed and the road roughness index must be selected to reproduce a

worst-case scenario.
After the simulation, the average power dissipation and angular
speed of the machine are extracted from Simulink. Motor-CAD is in-
itialized with these data and the initial system temperature. The si-
mulation results after the initial transient show that the tested config-
uration is able to withstand the described working conditions because
the two most critical points, i.e. the winding hotspot and the PM stay
well below their temperature thresholds (see Table 1).

3.3. Power stage and control

In literature, many regenerative shock absorbers exploit a diode

rectifier connected to a passive load or a DC-DC converter that feeds the
battery [8,16]. Despite its simplicity, this solution intrinsically excludes
the possibility to work in active mode. Furthermore, in our case, the
resistance of the windings is in the order of few milliohms due to the DC
bus voltage constraint. Hence, the use of a diode rectifier severely pe-
nalizes the conversion efficiency because its conduction losses are
comparable or larger than the motor Joule losses. This phenomenon
affects also the short-circuit damping, since this additional conduction
resistance adds up to the denominator of Eqs. (7) and (27).
To provide full-active functionality, a power stage with a three-
phase full bridge is necessary. The employed power unit presents an
inverter constituted by three MOSFET phase legs (IXYS FMM150-
0075X2F). These switches were carefully selected to comply with the
motor ratings and provide a low conduction resistance.
For the control task schematized in Fig. 12, the power stage uses a
32-bit floating-point digital signal processor (TI TMS320F28335). The
position feedback is accomplished with an array of three Hall-effect
latches (Allegro A1210) and a PM array fixed to the end of the rotor.
The DC bus and phase currents are measured using Hall-effect current
probes (AMPLOC AMP25).
The adopted strategy exploits field-oriented control with a current
loop constituted by a proportional-integral (PI) compensator and back-
calculation anti-windup. The control routine runs synchronous to the
phase switching frequency (40 kHz) and the PI compensator is tuned to
mitigate the electromagnetic pole of the machine and yield a closed-
loop bandwidth of 500 Hz. Furthermore, the electric machine is con-
trolled exclusively in the constant-torque region and hence, the direct-
axis current reference is always null. To assess the performance in the
damping quadrant, the quadrature-axis current is assigned through a
reference damping coefficient cref . According to this method, the elec-
tromagnetic damping torque of the machine is proportional to the an-
gular speed Ωg :
Tm = τ 2cref Ωg. (34)
In this control scheme, the direct and quadrature axes of the ma-
chine are loaded with the impedances synthesized by the power stage:
⎧ R d,ext = −Vd/ Id ,
⎩ R q,ext = −Vq / Iq
⎨ (35)
Fig. 12. Block diagram of the control strategy for the motor-pump unit.
open circuit. In contrast, energy regeneration is possible through the
quadrature axis only if R q,ext > 0 , and the harvested power is ideally
given by
3
Pg = R q,ext Iq2.
2 (36)
Note that the power term in Eq. (36) is not a power dissipation per
se, but rather a transfer from the motor phases to the DC bus. In prac-
tice, however, the variables in Eq. (36) are difficult to obtain and af-
fected by the conduction and switching losses in the power stage.
Hence, the harvested power can be directly calculated with the DC bus
voltage and current values, since these variables are easy to obtain and
free of any loss component:
Pg = Vdc Idc. (37)
3.4. Mechanical packaging
The layout of the motor-pump prototype is depicted in Fig. 13. All in
all, the design yielded a compact unit with a total length of 90 mm,
maximum diameter of 88 mm and total mass of 3.5 kg.
Internally, the casing separates electric machine and pump gears,
but these two sections are oil-filled. This design choice minimizes
friction losses because the seal element between shaft and case can be
omitted. The rotor shaft transmits the torque from the pump gears to
the electric machine through a rectangular key. Permanent magnets are
glued onto this shaft, which is supported by two ball-bearing units
axially preloaded by a wave spring. In addition, the electric machine
stator is locked between the casing and the motor cover using a spacer
to ensure torque transmission.
The pump cover is integrated to a manifold that allows the in-
stallation of the motor-pump unit onto the outer tube of a shock ab-
sorber. Axial and radial o-rings on the pump and motor side, respec-
tively, guarantee the fluid seal towards the exterior. A position sensor
array is fixed on the motor cover. The sensor and phase wirings are
brought outside through four sealing cable glands.

where V and I denote voltage and current values and subindexes d and q 4. Experimental validation
indicate direct or quadrature axis, respectively. Since current is ideally
null for d , the impedance R d,ext is infinite and thus, the direct axis is in The experimental characterization of the prototype aims to validate

24
R. Galluzzi et al.
Fig. 13. Isometric cut view of the motor-pump unit. Pump port plugs (1), pump cover
manifold (2), casing (3), gerotor gears (4), ball bearings [× 2 ] (5), stator (6), motor spacer
(7), wave spring (8), position sensor (9), drain cap (10), cable gland [× 4 ] (11), motor
cover (12), permanent magnet [× 10 ] (13), winding coil [× 6 ] (14), key (15), rotor shaft
(16).
the proposed design and identify the main aspects that hamper its
performance. This task is carried out with the system layout shown in
Fig. 14. A driving motor-pump unit is connected to the prototype with
two hydraulic lines. The speed of the driving unit is controlled with a
dedicated inverter, while the prototype unit is electrically connected to
its power stage fed by a battery. To replicate the behavior of the pro-
totype on a shock absorber, one of the hydraulic lines is connected to a
gas-loaded accumulator. This allows to stabilize the low-pressure side
and avoid pump cavitation. During the tests, the driving unit imposes a
hydraulic flow rate, which in turn induces an angular speed on the
prototype rotor. If the power stage simultaneously sets constant
damping coefficients on the tested electric machine, it is possible to
attain different points in the force-speed plane and characterize the
prototype efficiency therein.
The complete test rig setup appears in Fig. 15. The driving system
uses an inverter-controlled Kollmorgen AKM42G brushless PM motor
coupled to a Casappa PLP10 pump. The hydrostatic circuit is devised
with two G3/8 flexible pipelines and a FOX GR2 accumulator. The
length, cross section and profile of the hydraulic circuit is carefully
chosen to minimize unwanted pressure losses. Calculations in the
worst-case condition demonstrate that the used layout introduces a
global loss (friction and minor components) below 5% of the measured
pressure drop.
The prototype unit is controlled by its dedicated power stage
Fig. 14. Test rig layout. Inverter (1), driving motor (2), driving pump (3), hydraulic lines
(4), prototype pump (5), prototype motor (6), gas-loaded accumulator (7), prototype
power stage (8), battery array (9).
25
Applied Energy 210 (2018) 16–27
Fig. 15. Test rig setup. Motor-pump prototype (1), power stage (2), driving motor-pump
unit (3), current probe (4), hydraulic lines (5), hand pump to fill the circuit (6), battery
array (7), data logging PC (8), driving motor switchboard (9), control PC (10), gas-loaded
accumulator (11).
connected to four lead acid car batteries (12 V) in series. A PC is used to
monitor and control both the driving unit inverter (via RS232) and the
prototype power stage (via CAN). The test rig also includes different
sensors to characterize the prototype motor-pump unit. Two pressure
sensors (GEFRAN TK) measure both branches of the hydraulic circuit.
The flow rate is measured with a turbine flow meter (KEM HM11).
Battery voltage and current are also obtained with dedicated probes.
The angular speed of the prototype is monitored from one of the Hall
latches with a voltage probe. These signals are recorded in time using a
PC equipped with LMS SCADAS data acquisition hardware.
The testing procedure is as follows:
1. The driving motor is controlled to work at a constant speed value.
2. The power stage imposes a set of reference damping coefficients on
the prototype, starting from zero. This allows to cover different
points of the characteristic.
3. For each imposed damping coefficient, sensor measurements are
acquired.
4. The driving motor speed is changed and the acquisition procedure is
repeated (steps 1–3).
5. In post-processing, the sensor data is interpolated and subsequently
used to calculate the different efficiency contributions according to
Eqs. (1)–(4).
6. The interpolated sensor data is used to calculate the different effi-
ciency contributions according to Eqs. (1)–(4).
7. The efficiency values can be plotted on a force-speed plane. Eq. (25)
is useful in this regard to convert hydraulic variables into the linear
mechanical domain.
The characterization of the motor-pump unit is carried out in a
single force-speed quadrant because the device intrinsically yields the
same hydraulic behavior in both directions.
Fig. 16 exhibits the experimental map for each efficiency con-
tribution: volumetric, hydro-mechanical and electrical. The normalized
speed of the characterized area starts at 15%. This value is dictated by
the minimum measurable flow rate. By converse, the maximum speed
of 40% is related to the angular speed limit of the driving motor-pump
unit. The characterized area covers force values between 30.6% and
142.1%, which confirms the ability of the device to span different
damping characteristics. Furthermore, the maximum force of the pro-
totype is kept below 150% to limit the pressure drop and the motor
current.
Experimental results show that the volumetric efficiency tends to
R. Galluzzi et al.
Fig. 16. Experimental volumetric, hydro-mechanical and electrical efficiency maps of the motor-pump prototype. Axis units are normalized with respect to Fp,max and vp,max .
Fig. 17. Experimental total conversion efficiency map of the motor-pump prototype. Axis
units are normalized with respect to Fp,max and vp,max .
decrease as the damping value increases due to leakages. In contrast,
the hydro-mechanical efficiency is null-valued in the lower limit of the
map. This purely-dissipative behavior is attributed primarily to viscous
drag. As the damping increases, the drag plays a less-substantial role in
the total power. Conversely, electrical losses due to Joule effect dom-
inate as the damping rises because the electric machine works closer to
the short-circuit damping condition. In contrast, when the reference
damping is null, the power stage imposes null current, i.e. infinite im-
pedance, and the electrical efficiency tends to unit.
Consequently, the total conversion efficiency map in Fig. 17 depicts
the superposition of all these contributions: its low-region behavior is
dominated by hydro-mechanical losses. Then, the total conversion ef-
ficiency reaches a maximum and then drops again due to the influence
of leakages and electrical losses.
Table 2 proposes a quantitative analysis of the obtained data. It
26
Applied Energy 210 (2018) 16–27
Table 2
Statistic features of the experimental efficiency map: average (avg), standard deviation
(std), minimum (min), maximum (max) and optimal (opt). The optimal values are ob-
tained in the point where ηt = maxηt . All the values are percentages.
Feature Volumetric Hydro-mechanical Electrical Total
avg 85.6 44 78.3 28
std 6 17.4 7.5 8.4
min 69.7 0 50.1 0
max 98.5 80 100 41.7
opt 85.5 62.4 78.2 41.7
contains the average, standard deviation, minimum, maximum and
optimal values of the total conversion efficiency and its components for
the characterized envelope. It is observed that, for the tested region, the
volumetric and electrical terms keep a standard deviation below 8%
and relatively low difference between the maximum and minimum
values (below 50%). Conversely, hydro-mechanical efficiency has a
deviation of 17.4% and sweeps a wide range between 0% and 80%. The
steadiness of volumetric and electrical results is expected because the
characterized region does not cover very large damping coefficients.
Larger leakage and electrical losses will appear at damping values that
overcome those of the present experimental characterization. Never-
theless, if the control strategy prioritizes energy regeneration, the
damping request will be set predominantly near the maximum-effi-
ciency region of the map in Fig. 17. In this context, it is seen that the
maximum conversion efficiency assumes an optimal value of 41.7%.
Therein, the hydraulic losses correspond to 15% of the input power,
electrical losses are 12% and hydro-mechanical losses assume a larger
portion of 32%. This fact indicates that the most critical aspect of the
design regards the hydro-mechanical efficiency.
This statement is confirmed by the total efficiency map obtained
from numerical analysis, as shown in Fig. 18. The maximum conversion
efficiency in this case is 48.7%, against 41.7% obtained in the experi-
ments. The difference can be mainly attributed to larger hydro-me-
chanical losses. This phenomenon is expected because the pump gears
can move axially and radially within the clearance gaps, thus increasing
viscous drag. As stated in Section 3, these phenomena are not re-
produced by the used simulation tools. At 40% of speed, the minimum
force, which is dictated by these losses, reaches 34.8%. In experiments,
this force is larger (70%). Thus, the damping span of the device is
shifted to higher force values, as observed in Fig. 17, and the total
conversion efficiency is penalized.
R. Galluzzi et al.
Fig. 18. Theoretical total conversion efficiency map of the motor-pump prototype. Axis
units are normalized with respect to Fp,max and vp,max .
The obtained results highlight the importance of the experimental
characterization of the prototype: hydro-mechanical efficiency is
identified as the main responsible of performance reduction. This
phenomenon is more evident in the real prototype due to the limita-
tions of the used design tools. Hydro-mechanical efficiency can be
further enhanced by introducing roller bearing elements on the peri-
meter of the pump outer gear, reducing the contact surface between the
gears and the case and improving radial and axial pressure balance on
both pump gears.
5. Conclusions
The present paper described in detail a method to design a motor-
pump unit for hydraulic regenerative shock absorbers. A system-level
approach was followed to guarantee the damping functionality and
maximize the energy regeneration capability of the system, while sa-
tisfying design constraints such as geometric envelope and supply vol-
tage. After a mechanical packaging step, a prototype was built and
experimentally characterized. The obtained results were post-processed
in the form of efficiency maps. They put in evidence the role of the
different components on the total conversion efficiency. The prototype
was able to span a considerable portion of the force-speed plane and
yielded a maximum conversion efficiency of 41.7%. Furthermore the
hydro-mechanical losses were identified as the most critical aspect of
the design.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to gratefully thank Piero Conti, Giordano
Greco, Andrea Nepote and Fabio Cotto from Magneti Marelli for their
valuable support throughout this research activity. This work was funded
by Magneti Marelli Shock Absorbers in the context of the research
27
Applied Energy 210 (2018) 16–27
contract 236/2016 between Politecnico di Torino and the funder.
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