Conceptualization and Modeling of a Flywheel-Based Regenerative Braking System for a Commercial Electric Bus

The following article illustrates the detailed study of the development of a unique flywheel-based regenerative braking system (f-RBS) for achieving regenerative braking in a commercial electric bus. The f-RBS is designed for installation in the front wheels of the bus. The particular data values for modeling the bus are taken from multiple legitimate sources to illustrate the development strategy of the regenerative braking system. Mechanical components used in this system have either been carefully designed and analyzed for avoiding fatigue failure or their market selection strategies are are explained. The positioning of the entire system is decided using MSC Adams View^®, hence determining a suitable component placement strategy such that the f-RBS components do not interfere with the bus components. The entire system is modeled on MATLAB Simulink^® with sufficient accuracy to get various results that would infer the performance of the system as a whole. The overall efficiency of the developed system in terms of battery consumption is also computed in this study.