Fuzzy Feedback Control for Electro-Hydraulic Actuators

Electro-hydraulic actuators(EHA)have recently played a significant role in modern industrial applications,especially in systems requiring extremely high precision.This can be explained by EHA’s ability to precisely control the position and force through advanced sensors and innovative control algorithms.One of the promising approaches to improve control accuracy for EHA systems is applying classical to modern control algorithms,in which the proportional–inte-gral–derivative(PID)algorithm,fuzzy logic controller,and a hybrid of these methods are popular options.In this paper,we developed a novel version of the fuzzy control algorithm and linear feedback control method,namely fuzzy lin-ear feedback control,to improve the control performance.To achieve the highest performance,wefirst designed a mathematical EHA model based on the Matlab/Simulink software packages thanks to the selected parameters,which are similar to a real EHA system.Then,we respectively applied PID,fuzzy PID(FPID),and fuzzy linear feedback control(FLFC)before comparing them to have a full view of the outstanding advantages of the proposed algorithm.The simulation results showed that the proposed FLFC algorithm is approximately 99%and 77%super-ior in performance to the PID and feedback control algorithms,respectively.

GIANT MAGNETOSTRICTIVE ACTUATOR IN SERVO VALVE AND MICRO PIPE ROBOT

Performance of giant magnetostrictive material (GMM) is introduced. Principleof work, basic structure and key techniques of giant magnetostrictive actuator (GMA) are analyzed.Its dynamic models of magneto-mechanical coupling are established. The structure and principle ofthe pneumatic servo valve and the micro pipe robot with new homemade GMM are presented. Theexperiment is carried out under typical working conditions. The experiment results show that the GMMpneumatic servo valve has wide pressure control characteristics, good linearity, and fast responsespeed. The movement principles of the GMM robot system are reliably feasible and its maximal movingspeed is about 8 mm/s. It is preferable to the driving frequency of the robot within 100 approx 300Hz.

Output Waveform Analysis of an Electro-hydraulic Vibrator Controlled by the Multiple Valves

The existing research of the electro-hydraulic vibrator mainly focuses on system stability, working frequency width and output waveform distortion. However, this high frequency performance of the electro-hydraulic vibrator is difficult to be improved greatly due to fast insufficiently frequency response of the servo valve itself and limited compensation capability of the control structure in the vibrator system. In this paper, to realize high frequency vibration, an improved two-dimensional valve （here within defined as a 2D valve） as a main control component is adopted to the parallel connection with a servo valve to control the electro-hydraulic vibrator, Because the output waveforms of this electro-hydraulic vibrator are incapable to be verified through timely feedback as in the conventional electro-hydraulic servo system, the analysis to the output waveform becomes crucial to the design and control of the electro-hydraulic vibrator. The mathematical models of hydraulic actuation mechanism and the orifice area of the parallel valves connection are established first. And then the vibration process is divided into two sections in terms of the direction of the flow, the analytical expression of the excited waveform is solved. Based on relationships exist between working states and the control parameters the analytical results, the vibration boundary positions and the are derived. Finally an experimental system was built to validate the theoretical analysis. It is verified that this electro-hydraulic vibration system could achieve high working frequency, up to 2 000 Hz. The excited waveform is similar to the sinnsoidal waveform. And the ascent and decent slopes of the waveforms are somewhat asymmetrical. This asymmetry is not only caused by the change of the direction of the elastic force but also dependent on the bias position of the vibration. Consequentky the distortion of effective working waveform is less tha~ 10%. This electro-hydraulic vibrator controlled by the multiple valves could not only greatly enhance the working frequency but also precisely control the vibration characteristic variables such as waveform shape.

Characteristics Prediction Method of Electro-hydraulic Servo Valve Based on Rough Set and Adaptive Neuro-fuzzy Inference System

Synthesis characteristics of the electro-hydraulic servo valve are key factors to determine eligibility of the hydraulic production. Testing all synthesis characteristics of the electro-hydraulic servo valve after assembling leads to high repair rate and reject rate, so accurate prediction for the synthesis characteristics in the industrial production is particular important in decreasing the repair rate and the reject rate of the product. However, the research in forecasting synthesis characteristics of the electro-hydraulic servo valve is rare. In this work, a hybrid prediction method was proposed based on rough set（RS） and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system（ANFIS） in order to predict synthesis characteristics of electro-hydraulic servo valve. Since the geometric factors affecting the synthesis characteristics of the electro-hydraulic servo valve are from workers＇ experience, the inputs of the prediction method are uncertain. RS-based attributes reduction was used as the preprocessor, and then the exact geometric factors affecting the synthesis characteristics of the electro-hydraulic servo valve were obtained. On the basis of the exact geometric factors, ANFIS was used to build the final prediction model. A typical electro-hydraulic servo valve production was used to demonstrate the proposed prediction method. The prediction results showed that the proposed prediction method was more applicable than the artificial neural networks（ANN） in predicting the synthesis characteristics of electro-hydraulic servo valve, and the proposed prediction method was a powerful tool to predict synthesis characteristics of the electro-hydraulic servo valve. Moreover, with the use of the advantages of RS and ANFIS, the highly effective forecasting framework in this study can also be applied to other problems involving synthesis characteristics forecasting.

Disturbance observer based position tracking of electro-hydraulic actuator

A nonlinear controller based on an extended second-order disturbance observer is presented to track desired position for an electro-hydraulic single-rod actuator in the presence of both external disturbances and parameter uncertainties. The proposed extended second-order disturbance observer deals with not only the external perturbations, but also parameter uncertainties which are commonly regarded as lumped disturbances in previous researches. Besides, the outer position tracking loop is designed with cylinder load pressure as output; and the inner pressure control loop provides the hydraulic actuator the characteristic of a force generator. The stability of the closed-loop system is provided based on Lyapunov theory. The performance of the controller is verified through simulations and experiments. The results demonstrate that the proposed nonlinear position tracking controller, together with the extended second-order disturbance observer, gives an excellent tracking performance in the presence of parameter uncertainties and external disturbance.

Dynamic friction modelling and parameter identification for electromagnetic valve actuator

A new modified LuGre friction model is presented for electromagnetic valve actuator system.The modification to the traditional LuGre friction model is made by adding an acceleration-dependent part and a nonlinear continuous switch function.The proposed new friction model solves the implementation problems with the traditional LuGre model at high speeds.An improved artificial fish swarm algorithm(IAFSA)method which combines the chaotic search and Gauss mutation operator into traditional artificial fish swarm algorithm is used to identify the parameters in the proposed modified LuGre friction model.The steady state response experiments and dynamic friction experiments are implemented to validate the effectiveness of IAFSA algorithm.The comparisons between the measured dynamic friction forces and the ones simulated with the established mathematic friction model at different frequencies and magnitudes demonstrate that the proposed modified LuGre friction model can give accurate simulation about the dynamic friction characteristics existing in the electromagnetic valve actuator system.The presented modelling and parameter identification methods are applicable for many other high-speed mechanical systems with friction.

Development of an ε-type actuator for enhancing high-speed electro-pneumatic ejector valve performance

A novel ε-type solenoid actuator is proposed to improve the dynamic response of electro-pneumatic ejector valves by reducing moving mass weight. A finite element analysis (FEA) model has been developed to describe the static and dynamic operations of the valves. Compared with a conventional E-type actuator, the proposed ε-type actuator reduced the moving mass weight by almost 65% without significant loss of solenoid force, and reduced the response time (RT) typically by 20%. Prototype valves were designed and fabricated based on the proposed ε-type actuator model. An experimental setup was also established to investigate the dynamic characteristics of valves. The experimental results of the dynamics of valves agreed well with simulations, indicating the validity of the FEA model.

High precise control method for a new type of Piezoelectric electro-hydraulic servo valve

A new type of piezoelectric electro-hydraulic servo valve system was proposed. And then multilayer piezoelectric actuator based on new piezoelectric ceramic material was used as the electricity-machine converter of the proposed piezoelectric electro-hydraulic servo valve. The proposed piezoelectric electro-hydraulic servo valve has ascendant performance compared with conventional ones. But the system is of high nonlinearity and uncertainty, it cannot achieve favorable control performance by conventional control method. To develop an efficient way to control piezoelectric electro-hydraulic servo valve system, a high-precise fuzzy control method with hysteresis nonlinear model in feedforward loop was proposed. The control method is separated into two parts: a feedforward loop with Preisach hysteresis nonlinear model and a feedback loop with high-precise fuzzy control. Experimental results show that the hysteresis loop and the maximum output hysteresis by the PID control method are 4.22% and 2.11 μm, respectively; the hysteresis loop and the maximum output hysteresis by the proposed control method respectively are 0.74% and 0.37 μm, respectively; the maximum tracking error by the PID control method for sine wave reference signal is about 5.02%, the maximum tracking error by the proposed control method for sine wave reference signal is about 0.85%.

Investigation of Semi-Active Hydro-Pneumatic Suspension for a Heavy Vehicle Based on Electro-Hydraulic Proportional Valve

Hydro-pneumatic suspension is widely used in heavy vehicles due to its nonlinear characteristics of stiffness and damping. However, the conventional passive hydro-pneumatic suspension can’t adjust parameters according to the complicated road environment of heavy vehicles to fulfill the requirements of the vehicle ride comfort. In this paper, a semi-active hydro-pneumatic suspension system based on the electro-hydraulic proportional valve control is proposed, and fuzzy control is used as the control strategy to adjust the?damping force of the semi-active hydro-pneumatic suspension. A 1/4?semi-active hydro-pneumatic suspension model is established, which is co-simulated with AMESim and MATLAB/Simulink. The co-simulation results show that the semi-active hydro-pneumatic suspension system can significantly reduce vibration of the vehicle body, and improve the suspension performance comparing with passive hydro-pneumatic suspension.

Low power linear actuator for direct drive electrohydraulic valves

This paper presents a bi-directional permanent-magnet linear actuator for directly driving electrohydraulic valves with low power consumption. Its static and dynamic performances were analyzed using the 2D finite element method,taking into account the nonlinear characterization and the eddy current loss of the magnetic material. The experiment and simulation results agree well and show that the prototype actuator can produce a force of ±100 N with the maximum power being 7 W and has linear characteristics with a positive magnetic stiffness within a stroke of ±1 mm. Its non-linearity is less than 1.5% and the hysteresis less than 1.5%. The actuator's frequency response(-3 dB) of the displacement reaches about 15 Hz,and the most significant factor affecting the dynamic performance is identified as the eddy current loss of the magnetic material.

A New Type of Automotive Braking Actuator for Decentralized Electro-hydraulic Braking System

This paper presents a new type of automotive braking actuator for a kind of brake-by-wire system called decentralized electro-hydraulic braking system( DEHB) to replace the traditional automobile braking system. The actuator of this system is driven by an electrical motor instead of the conventional vacuum booster to make the brake pressure be linearity controlled quickly. Therefore,the system has the advantages of quick response speed,good control performance and simple structure. Firstly,an overview of the actuator and the whole DEHB system is shown. Secondly,the possibility of this new kind of actuator working for the system is ensured based on some braking theories. Thirdly,the appropriate dynamic simulations are done to get some results to show the relations of different parameters and the effect of braking. Eventually,the proper parameters are determined to build a test bench which shows that DEHB system can achieve the maximum pressure of 13 MPa within 100 ms after parametric optimization,and meanwhile,the actuator is able to reduce pressure quickly after maintaining high pressure. All of the bench test results can meet with the design requirements and real demand of vehicle and this actuator may improve vehicle braking effect in the future. Besides,this actuator can be widely applied to the regenerative braking system because of its linear braking performance.

DYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF ELECTRO-HYDRAULIC PROPORTIONAL PRESSURE-FLOW HYBRID VALVE

The structure principles under the flow and pressure working conditions are studied, in order to investigate the dynamic characteristics of the electro-hydraulic proportional pressure-flow hybrid valve. According to the structure principles under the two different working conditions, the transfer functions under such conditions are derived. With the transfer functions, some structure elements that may affect its performance, are investigated, afterwards some principles of optimality and effective methods for improving the dynamic performance of the valve are proposed. The conclusions can be used to instruct engineering applications and products designing. The test results conform to the results of the theoretical analysis and simulation, which proves the correctness of the study and simulation works.

An Electro-Hydraulic Actuator for the TVC of a Throttlable Kerolox Rocket Engine

An electro-hydraulic actuator for the thrust vector control(TVC)of a throttlable kerolox rocket engine is introduced in this paper.The creative feature is an integrated hydraulic power drive unit,where a constant speed kerosene motor is used to draw high pressure kerosene from the engine and to drive a constant pressure variable displacement piston pump,acting as the power supply for the actuator.Its operational mechanism,to accommodate the varying pressure from the turbo-pump of a throttling engine,lies in a pressure-reducing flow regulator inserted at the motor inlet.Another key point is that the displacement of the motor is reasonably bigger than the pump so that a sufficiently wide range of pressures can be adapted.Modeling analysis and flight test results were well matched,which show the outstanding performance of this novel type actuator.

The Energy Balance of the Electro-Hydraulic Linear Actuation System

The variable gas exchange valve actuation systems have been developed in order to improve the efficiency of the combustion process. The electro-hydraulic valve actuation （EHVA） systems have good power to weight ratio, high maximum force and good controllability. The disadvantages are limited frequency bandwidth and energy recovery. Each component of the EHVA system has certain energy consumption, which is characteristic to the component. In this study the power consumptions of the components are investigated by means of the simulation. The investigated components are a hydraulic pump, a hydraulic accumulator, a control valve, and hydraulic lines connecting the components. The pressure losses caused by the oil flow are most significant in the control valves, 50-60% of the total energy consumption. If the stored kinetic energy of the actuator and moving oil masses could be reused, the energy consumption could be up to 25% better.

New Method to Improve Dynamic Stiffness of Electro-hydraulic Servo Systems

Most current researches working on improving stiffness focus on the application of control theories.But controller in closed-loop hydraulic control system takes effect only after the controlled position is deviated,so the control action is lagged.Thus dynamic performance against force disturbance and dynamic load stiffness can’t be improved evidently by advanced control algorithms.In this paper,the elementary principle of maintaining piston position unchanged under sudden external force load change by charging additional oil is analyzed.On this basis,the conception of raising dynamic stiffness of electro hydraulic position servo system by flow feedforward compensation is put forward.And a scheme using double servo valves to realize flow feedforward compensation is presented,in which another fast response servo valve is added to the regular electro hydraulic servo system and specially utilized to compensate the compressed oil volume caused by load impact in time.The two valves are arranged in parallel to control the cylinder jointly.Furthermore,the model of flow compensation is derived,by which the product of the amplitude and width of the valve’s pulse command signal can be calculated.And determination rules of the amplitude and width of pulse signal are concluded by analysis and simulations.Using the proposed scheme,simulations and experiments at different positions with different force changes are conducted.The simulation and experimental results show that the system dynamic performance against load force impact is largely improved with decreased maximal dynamic position deviation and shortened settling time.That is,system dynamic load stiffness is evidently raised.This paper proposes a new method which can effectively improve the dynamic stiffness of electro-hydraulic servo systems.

Research and Development of Electro‑hydraulic Control Valves Oriented to Industry 4.0:A Review

Electro-hydraulic control valves are key hydraulic components for industrial applications and aerospace,which controls electro-hydraulic motion.With the development of automation,digital technology,and communication technology,electro-hydraulic control valves are becoming more digital,integrated,and intelligent in order to meet the requirements of Industry 4.0.This paper reviews the state of the art development for electro-hydraulic control valves and their related technologies.This review paper considers three aspects of state acquisition through sensors or indirect acquisition technologies,control strategies along with digital controllers and novel valves,and online maintenance through data interaction and fault diagnosis.The main features and development trends of electro-hydraulic control valves oriented to Industry 4.0 are discussed.

RESEARCH ON THE PERFORMANCE OF NEW TYPE OF PROPORTIONAL PESSURE AND FLOW CONTROL VALVE

A new closed loop flow controlling principle through correcting the valve'sopening area while load pressure is changing is carried out. Further more a principle using only oneproportional valve to compound control pressure and flow is suggested. By using very simpleproportional throttle valve in structure, the functions that five kinds of proportional valves orany two of them combined possess can be complimented. After analyzing, comparing, and testing thedynamic and static characteristics of valve with different controlling principles and main valvestructure styles, the optimized structure styles and control methods are achieved.

Separate Control of High Frequency Electro-hydraulic Vibration Exciter

The working frequency of the conventional electro-hydraulic vibration exciters,which consist of a servo valve and a hydraulic cylinder,is generally restricted within a narrow range due to limited frequency response capability of the servo valve itself.To counteract such restriction,a novel scheme for an electro-hydraulic vibrator,controlled by a two-dimensional valve（2D valve） and a bias valve in parallel,is therefore proposed.The frequency,amplitude and offset are independently controlled by rotary speed,axial sliding of the spool of the 2D valve and axial sliding of the spool of the bias valve.The principle of separate control was presented and the regulation approach of frequency,amplitude and offset was discussed.A mathematical model of the hydraulic power mechanism for the proposed vibration exciter was established to investigate the relationship between the amplitude and the axial sliding of the 2D valve＇ spool,as well as that between the offset and the axial sliding of the bias valve＇s spool at various frequencies.An experimental system was built to validate the theoretical analysis.It is verified that the 2D exciter is capable of working smoothly in a frequency range of 5- 200 Hz.And its frequency,amplitude and offset can be controlled respectively by either closed loop or open loop method.There is a linear relationship between the output amplitude and the spool axial opening of the 2D valve until a point when the flow rate becomes saturate and the amplitude remains constant.The offset displacement of the cylinder＇s piston is linearly proportional to the axial displacement of the spool of the bias valve,when the valve opening is less than 25%.Thereafter,the slop of the offset curve decreases and tends to saturate.The proposed electro-hydraulic vibration controlled by the 2D valve not only facilitates the realization of high-frequency electro-hydraulic vibration,the high-accuracy of vibration can also be achieved by means of independent controls to the frequency,amplitude and offset.

Mechanism of electro-hydraulic exciter for new tamping device

A new tamping device which is driven by an electrohydraulic exciter was proposed to overcome the limitations of mechanically driven devices.The double-rod oscillation cylinder drives the tamping arm to realize vibration.A new spin valve was designed in order to fulfill dynamic state requirements of the oscillation cylinder.Parametric analysis was carried out by establishing mathematic model.Then,the relationships among the structure of valve port and the frequency,amplitude,output shock force of the cylinder were researched.An experimental device of the electrohydraulic exciter was established to validate the theoretical results.The signals were acquired by AVANT dynamic signal analyser of vibration.The results show that new tamping device can satisfy all kinds of complex working conditions with the flexible adjustment of frequency and amplitude.

DYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF LARGE FLOW RATING ELECTROHYDRAULIC PROPORTIONAL CARTRIDGE VALVE

A kind of cartridge servo proportional valve is discussed, which can be used for controlling large flow rate with high performance. By analyzing the structure principle of the valve, the transfer fimction of the valve is derived. With the transfer function, some structure elements that may affect its performance are investigated. Through the numerical simulation and test study, some principles of optimality and effective methods for improving the dynamic performance of the valve are proposed. The test results conform to the results of the theoretical analysis and simulation, which proves the correctness of the study and simulation works. The paper provides theoretical basis for engineering applications and series expanding design works