Dynamic Response of a Rigital Displacement Motor Operating with Various Displacement Strategies

Digital displacement technology has the potential of revolutionizing the performance of hydraulic piston pumps and motors. Instead of connecting each cylinder chamber to high and low pressure in conjunction with the shaft position, two electrically-controlled on/off valves are connected to each chamber. This allows for individual cylinder chamber control. Variable displacement can be achieved by using different displacement strategies, like for example the full stroke, partial stroke, or sequential partial stroke displacement strategy. Each displacement strategy has its transient and steady-state characteristics. This paper provides a detailed simulation analysis of the transient and steady…

An analysis of model predictive control with integral action applied to digital displacement cylinders

This article aims to analyze Model Predictive Control (MPC) for the control of multi-chamber cylinders. MPC with and without integral action has been introduced. Three different algorithms have been used to solve the optimization problem in the MPC. The different algorithms have been compared with an industrial solver. The influence of changing mass, choosing a different middle line pressure, system delays, signal noise, velocity estimation, and changing pressure levels has been investigated. It is concluded that for the small prediction horizon used in the paper a simple algorithm such as A can produce results as good as the previously used Differential Evolution algorithm in less than hal…

Classification and Review of Pump-Controlled Differential Cylinder Drives

Pump-controlled hydraulic cylinder drives may offer improved energy efficiency, compactness, and plug-and-play installation compared to conventional valve-controlled hydraulic systems and thus have the potential of replacing conventional hydraulic systems as well as electro-mechanical alternatives. Since the late 1980s, research into how to configure the hydraulic circuit of pump-controlled cylinder drives has been ongoing, especially in terms of compensating the uneven flow requirements required by a differential cylinder. Recently, research has also focused on other aspects such as replacing a vented oil tank with a small-volume pressurized accumulator including the consequences of this i…

Discrete Learning Control with Application to Hydraulic Actuators

In this paper the robustness of a class of learning control algorithms to state disturbances, output noise, and errors in initial conditions is studied. We present a simple learning algorithm and exhibit, via a concise proof, bounds on the asymptotic trajectory errors for the learned input and the corresponding state and output trajectories. Furthermore, these bounds are continuous functions of the bounds on the initial condition errors, state disturbance, and output noise, and the bounds are zero in the absence of these disturbances.

Definition of performance requirements and test cases for offshore/subsea winch drive systems with digital hydraulic motors

Abstract A subsea crane is normally mounted on a floating vessel and equipped with a winch system. The crane can operate in water down to 3000 m. The vessel tends to move up and down due to waves. This heave motion makes offshore lifting operations challenging. In order to ease the winch operation in rough sea, the winch can be equipped with additional systems like active heave compensation and constant tension. In active heave compensation and constant tension system, both motion and force control of the winch are important. This paper presents a digital displacement winch drive system and gives a description of challenges related to subsea lifting operations. The operation challenges are …

Controlling a Negative Loaded Hydraulic Cylinder using Pressure Feedback

Application of Model Predictive Control in Discrete Displacement Cylinders to Drive a Knuckle Boom Crane

In this paper, two Discrete Displacement Cylinders (DDCs) are used to drive the boom of a knuckle boom crane. DDCs operate by connecting one of several available pressure levels to each chamber in order to produce different forces. A trade-off exists with such systems, between the accuracy of tracking and energy dissipation due to switching. A popular way to approach this problem is a Force Shifting Algorithm (FSA). However, in this paper, the trade-off is managed by use of a Model Predictive Control (MPC) algorithm. The tracking accuracy and energy efficiency of the MPC and FSA strategies for DDCs are compared to a PID strategy for standard cylinders. The comparison is obtained by use of a…

Digital Hydraulic Technology for Linear Actuation:A State of the Art Review

This paper analyses the current state of the art in linear actuation with digital hydraulics. Based on the differences in their aims the paper partitions the area into four actuation concepts – parallel valve solutions, single switching valve solutions, multi-chamber cylinders, and multi-pressure cylinders. The concepts are evaluated based on accuracy and smoothness of motion, switching load, reliability, efficiency and the number of components required.

A Self-Contained Cylinder Drive with Indirectly Controlled Hydraulic Lock

This paper presents a self-contained pump-controlled hydraulic linear drive including an innovative load holding sub-circuit. For safety critical applications such as crane manipulators, locking valves or load holding valves are enforced by legislation, but the load holding functionality may also be used actively to decrease the energy consumption for applications where the load is kept stationary for longer periods of time. The system proposed in this paper is based on a simple hydraulic architecture using two variablespeed electric motors each connected to a fixed-displacement pump. This architecture is well-known inacademic literature, but in this paper a novel load holding sub-circuit h…

Feasibility study of electromechanical cylinder drivetrain for offshore mechatronic systems

Currently, there is an increasing focus on the environmental impact and energy consumption of the oil and gas industry. In offshore drilling equipment, electric motors tend to replace traditionally used hydraulic motors, especially in rotational motion control applications. However, force densities available from linear hydraulic actuators are still typically higher than those of electric actuators. Therefore, usually the remaining source of hydraulic power is thereby the hydraulic cylinder. This paper presents a feasibility study on the implementation of an electromechanical cylinder drivetrain on an offshore vertical pipe handling machine. The scope of this paper is to investigate the fea…

Thermo-Hydraulic Modelling and Experimental Validation of an Electro-Hydraulic Compact Drive

Electro-hydraulic compact drives (ECDs) are an emerging technology for linear actuation in a wide range of applications. Especially within the low power range of 5–10 kW, the plug-and-play capability, good energy efficiency and small space requirements of ECDs render this technology a promising alternative to replace conventional valve-controlled linear drive solutions. In this power range, ECDs generally rely on passive cooling to keep oil and system temperatures within the tolerated range. When expanding the application range to larger power classes, passive cooling may not be sufficient. Research investigating the thermal behaviour of ECDs is limited but indeed required for a successful …

Mass Estimation of Self-Contained Linear Electro-Hydraulic Actuators and Evaluation of the Influence on Payload Capacity of a Knuckle Boom Crane

Abstract Self-contained linear hydraulic drives are characterized by having integrated the hydraulic power unit e.g. electrical prime mover, hydraulic pumps etc. and the hydraulic cylinder in a single compact unit. Compared to the hydraulic cylinder itself, the mass of the self-contained linear actuator is significantly larger. For some applications, e.g. crane manipulators the additional mass of the actuators compared to conventional valve-controlled hydraulics, may reduce the payload capacity, which is a central performance parameter. As a case study, a medium sized two link knuckle boom crane is modelled and by assuming the force capability of the hydraulic cylinders to be the limiting f…

Analysis of requirements for valve accuracy and repeatability in high efficiency digital displacement motors

Traditional variable displacement piston machines achieve high efficiency when operating at high displacements, but struggle with poor efficiency at low displacements. The pistons are connected to high pressure and low pressure in conjunction with the output shaft position and the displacement is changed by changing the piston stroke, resulting in almost constant friction, leakage, and compressibility losses independent of displacement. In digital displacement machines, the rotary valve is replaced by two fast switching on/off valves connected to every cylinder. By controlling the fast switching on/off valves, the cylinders can be controlled individually and friction, leakage and compressib…

A Gasless Reservoir Solution for Electro-Hydraulic Compact Drives with Two Prime Movers

Abstract Due to an increased focus on improving the energy efficiency and compactness of hydraulic linear actuators, the electro-hydraulic compact drive (ECD) has received increased attention lately. In this study the ECD consists of variable-speed electric motors and fixed-displacement pumps, which are directly connected to the cylinder, thus controlling the linear motion in a throttleless manner. Furthermore, ECDs are self-contained systems, i.e. based on a fully enclosed oil circuit, in order to avoid external contamination and air to enter the system and to increase system compactness. Conventionally a low-pressure gas-loaded accumulator is used as an oil reservoir to compensate for the…

Presenting a Multi-level Superstructure Optimization Approach for Mechatronic System Design

Synergism and integration in the design process is what sets apart a Mechatronic System from a traditional, multidisciplinary system. However the typical design approach has been to divide the design problem into sub problems for each technology area (mechanics, electronics and control) and describe the interface between the technologies, whereas the lack of well-established, systematic engineering methods to form the basic set-off in analysis and design of complete mechatronic systems has been obvious. The focus of the current paper is therefore to present an integrated design approach for mechatronic system design, utilizing a multi-level superstructure optimization based approach. Finall…