Regenerative Traction Elevator (2D shaft and energy flow)

Presets

Playback

Time speed

Car, drive and motion

The counterweight offsets part of the car weight, so the motor mostly supplies the difference, friction and acceleration.

Dispatch

Model checks

The science

What is modelled

A one-degree-of-freedom traction elevator: a car and a counterweight joined by a rope over a driven sheave. The sheave force is the gravity imbalance plus inertia plus friction and drag. Motion follows a jerk-, acceleration- and speed-limited profile to the target floor. Motoring power is divided by the motor efficiency; braking power is multiplied by the regeneration efficiency.

Equations

F = (m_car - m_cw) g + (m_car + m_cw + m_rotor) a + F_friction, shaft power P = F v.
Mains power P/η_motor + P_aux when motoring, P η_regen + P_aux when generating.
Energy over a trip: shaft work = change in potential energy of the imbalance + friction losses.

Honest limits

Idealised rope (no stretch or sway), a single efficiency number per direction, no drive losses at standstill. Numbers are illustrative, not a lift design tool.

What to try

Choose Full car and send it down: the heavy descending car turns the motor into a generator and exports energy.
Set the load to 500 kg (the balance point): at cruise the motor only fights friction.
Compare Economy and Express: faster motion costs more energy for the same trip.

Car speed

Mains power (positive = drawing, negative = regenerating)

Cumulative energy imported and exported

Cruise power against passenger load