Theoretical and Experimental Studies of a Switched Inertance Hydraulic System in a Four-Port High-Speed Switching Valve Configuration  

Abstract

Abstract:The switched inertance hydraulic system (SIHS) is a novel high-bandwidth and energyefficient digital device which can adjust or control flow and pressure by a means that does not rely on throttling the flow and dissipation of power. An SIHS can provide an efficient step-up or stepdown of pressure or flow rate by using a digital control signal. In this article, analytical models of an SIHS in a four-port high-speed switching valve configuration are proposed, and the system dynamics and performance are investigated theoretically and experimentally. The flow responses, system characteristics and power consumption can be predicted effectively and accurately by using the proposed models, which were validated by comparing with experiments and with numerical simulation. The four-port configuration is compared with the three-port configuration, and it is concluded that the former one is less efficient for valves of the same size, but provides a bi-direction control capability. As bi-direction control is a common requirement, this constitutes an important contribution to the development of efficient digital hydraulics.

Energy Efficiency and Controllability of Fluid Power Systems

“…The contribution of Pan et al [6] relates to the development of efficient digital hydraulic systems. In particular, they present a study on a switched inertance hydraulic system, which is a novel high-bandwidth and energy efficient digital device which can adjust or control flow and pressure by a means that does not rely on throttling the flow and dissipation of power.…”

“…New approaches for the analysis, modeling, and design of hydraulic and pneumatic components This book contains the successful invited submissions [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] to the Special Issue.…”

A Global Optimisation of a Switched Inertance Hydraulic System based on Genetic Algorithm

“…where twave is the wave propagation time = 2 ⁄ , c is the speed of sound and L is the tube length [8].…”

“…To achieve bi-direction control ability, the four-port SIHS is introduced, as shown in Figure 2, where two inertance tubes and accumulators were used in the system, providing real four-quadrant operation and seamless changes in direction, such as four-port modulating valves. The threeport and four-port SIHS have been investigated analytically and experimentally at the Centre for Power Transmission and Motion Control at the University of Bath [4][5][6][7][8].…”

Wave generation characteristic analysis of piston and flap type wave maker with rotary-valve-control vibrator

“…Ren and Ruan (2016) studied vibration waveforms excited by an electro-hydraulic exciter with a two-dimensional rotary valve theoretically and experimentally. Pan et al (2015, 2017) reported on experimental investigations of a switched inertance hydraulic system with a high-speed rotary valve, which is designed to control the flow and pressure of a hydraulic supply. Liu et al (2016, 2017) designed a rotary valve for application to high energy and variable-frequency vibration condition.…”