Advanced Fluid Power Systems and Actuators

A special issue of Actuators (ISSN 2076-0825). This special issue belongs to the section "Precision Actuators".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 November 2021) | Viewed by 21630

Special Issue Editors

School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ulsan, Ulsan 680-749, Korea
Interests: IPMC modeling and control; SMA; electro active polymer; pneumatic artificial muscle; fluid power; energy harvesting; power assistant robot; rehabilitation robot; magneto-rheological fluid, electro-conjugate fluid
School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ulsan, 93 Daehak-ro, Nam-gu, Ulsan 680-749, Korea
Interests: energy management systems; hydraulic systems; PEM fuel cell vehicles; renewable conversion systems

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Hydraulic and pneumatic actuators play an important role in widespread industrial applications such as power transmission, renewable energy systems, construction machineries, transportation, and automation. Therefore, contributions from all fields related to fluid power systems and actuators are welcome to this Special Issue:

  • Theory, applications, and case studies of hydraulic/pneumatic systems and actuators;
  • Fluid power transmissions, machines, and actuators;
  • New design for hydraulic/pneumatic systems and actuators;
  • Friction estimation in hydraulic/pneumatic systems and actuators;
  • Energy regeneration and efficiency improvement in hydraulic/pneumatic systems;
  • Energy management in hybrid hydraulic/pneumatic systems;
  • Fault diagnosis and isolation (FDI), fault estimation, and fault-tolerant control in hydraulic/pneumatic systems and actuators;
  • System identification and optimization for hydraulic/pneumatic systems and actuators;
  • Intelligent and precision tracking control for hydraulic/pneumatic actuators;
  • Intelligent hydraulic machines: safety and reliability for human–machine interactions;
  • Noise and vibration suppression using hydraulic/pneumatic systems.

Prof. Dr. Kyoung Kwan Ahn
Dr. Truong Quang Dinh
Dr. Tri Dung Dang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Actuators is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • system modelling and control of hydraulic systems
  • hydraulic/pneumatic actuators/systems
  • efficiency improvement of fluid power systems
  • parameters estimation in hydraulic/pneumatic systems and actuators
  • energy management of fluid power systems
  • fault-tolerant control of fluid power systems
  • system identification of fluid power systems
  • intelligent control of fluid power systems
  • model-based control of fluid power systems
  • vibration suppression of fluid power systems

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 5690 KiB  
Article
Design and Experimental Verification of Pressurized Cylinders in Hydraulic Rubber Hose Pressure Washers
by Xiaoxiao Niu, Guangfa Hao, Chengliang Zhang and Lei Li
Actuators 2021, 10(7), 139; https://doi.org/10.3390/act10070139 - 24 Jun 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2379
Abstract
Hydraulic rubber hoses are subject to great hydraulic impact during the actual working process, which causes a great potential safety hazard. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out pressure tests on hose assemblies to ensure its quality, so providing a high pressure for [...] Read more.
Hydraulic rubber hoses are subject to great hydraulic impact during the actual working process, which causes a great potential safety hazard. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out pressure tests on hose assemblies to ensure its quality, so providing a high pressure for the hydraulic hose has become the key technology of this problem. Aiming at solving the problem of detection of pressure resistance in hydraulic rubber hose cleaning machines, this paper analyzed the pressurization mechanism of the hydraulic pressurized cylinder and proposed a method of continuous pressurization. This paper also theoretically analyzed the pressure expansion of the rubber hose, and the conclusion is that for the maximum hose capacity (hose size is Φ25 mm × 6 m), the volume of water required to provide water in the hose from 10 MPa to 100 MPa is 0.59 L. The pressurized cylinder was designed and checked theoretically and analyzed by the finite element method. It is concluded that the maximum stress of the pressurized cylinder is concentrated at the bottom of the high-pressure chamber, and the outlet hole at the bottom of the cylinder barrel of the high-pressure chamber is the weakest part of the pressurized cylinder. The performance of the supercharging cylinder is verified by experiments, which proves the feasibility, rapidity and stability of the supercharging cylinder. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Fluid Power Systems and Actuators)
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23 pages, 10884 KiB  
Article
Flywheel-Based Boom Energy Recovery System for Hydraulic Excavators with Load Sensing System
by Jiansong Li, Yu Han and Shaohui Li
Actuators 2021, 10(6), 126; https://doi.org/10.3390/act10060126 - 09 Jun 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2512
Abstract
A hydraulic excavator (HE) is a typical piece of construction equipment and is widely used in various construction fields. However, the poor energy efficiency of HEs results in serious energy waste and has aroused the attention of researchers. Furthermore, rising fuel prices and [...] Read more.
A hydraulic excavator (HE) is a typical piece of construction equipment and is widely used in various construction fields. However, the poor energy efficiency of HEs results in serious energy waste and has aroused the attention of researchers. Furthermore, rising fuel prices and increasing stringent waste gas emission legislation sparked demand for ways to improve energy efficiency. Recovering the otherwise wasted boom potential energy of a conventional HE by proper methods offers the potential to improve the fuel efficiency of HEs. In this paper, a mechanical energy recovery system consisting of a pump/motor and a flywheel is presented for HEs using a load sensing system. When the boom moves down, the boom potential energy is converted into mechanical energy by the boom cylinder and the pump/motor to accelerate the flywheel. When needed, the captured energy stored in the flywheel is converted back into a form of pressure energy to directly drive the boom cylinder up without throttling the main valve. In the lifting process, a compound circuit that consists of a throttling control circuit and a displacement control circuit is presented. A control strategy is proposed to optimize the energy recovery and reuse procedure. A 4-t HE is used as a study case to investigate the energy-saving potential of the proposed system. Numeric simulations show that the proposed system, when compared with a conventional load sensing system, can reduce as much as 48.9% energy consumption in a non-loaded cycle of boom lifting and lowering process. As to a fully loaded case, the energy-saving rate is 16.9%. This research indicates the flywheel-based scheme is promising for developing an energy-efficient fluid power system for HEs and reducing energy consumptions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Fluid Power Systems and Actuators)
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23 pages, 4289 KiB  
Article
Active Disturbance Rejection Control for Position Tracking of Electro-Hydraulic Servo Systems under Modeling Uncertainty and External Load
by Manh Hung Nguyen, Hoang Vu Dao and Kyoung Kwan Ahn
Actuators 2021, 10(2), 20; https://doi.org/10.3390/act10020020 - 22 Jan 2021
Cited by 28 | Viewed by 4463
Abstract
In this paper, an active disturbance rejection control is designed to improve the position tracking performance of an electro-hydraulic actuation system in the presence of parametric uncertainties, non-parametric uncertainties, and external disturbances as well. The disturbance observers (Dos) are proposed to estimate not [...] Read more.
In this paper, an active disturbance rejection control is designed to improve the position tracking performance of an electro-hydraulic actuation system in the presence of parametric uncertainties, non-parametric uncertainties, and external disturbances as well. The disturbance observers (Dos) are proposed to estimate not only the matched lumped uncertainties but also mismatched disturbance. Without the velocity measurement, the unmeasurable angular velocity is robustly calculated based on the high-order Levant’s exact differentiator. These disturbances and angular velocity are integrated into the control design system based on the backstepping framework which guarantees high-accuracy tracking performance. The system stability analysis is analyzed by using the Lyapunov theory. Simulations based on an electro-hydraulic rotary actuator are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control method. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Fluid Power Systems and Actuators)
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16 pages, 3611 KiB  
Article
A Boom Energy Regeneration System of Hybrid Hydraulic Excavator Using Energy Conversion Components
by Tri Cuong Do, Duc Giap Nguyen, Tri Dung Dang and Kyoung Kwan Ahn
Actuators 2021, 10(1), 1; https://doi.org/10.3390/act10010001 - 22 Dec 2020
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3636
Abstract
In this paper, a novel design of an energy regeneration system was proposed for recovering as well as reusing potential energy in a boom cylinder. The proposed system included a hydraulic pump/motor and an electrical motor/generator. When the boom moved down, the energy [...] Read more.
In this paper, a novel design of an energy regeneration system was proposed for recovering as well as reusing potential energy in a boom cylinder. The proposed system included a hydraulic pump/motor and an electrical motor/generator. When the boom moved down, the energy regeneration components converted the hydraulic energy to electrical energy and stored in a battery. Then, the regenerated energy was reused at subsequent cycles. In addition, an energy management strategy has been designed based on discrete time-optimal control to guarantee position tracking performance and ensure component safety during the operation. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed system, a co-simulation (using MATLAB and AMESim) was carried out. Through the simulation results, the maximum energy regeneration efficiency could achieve up to 44%. Besides, the velocity and position of the boom cylinder achieved good performance with the proposed control strategy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Fluid Power Systems and Actuators)
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16 pages, 10142 KiB  
Article
A Compact Adjustable Stiffness Rotary Actuator Based on Linear Springs: Working Principle, Design, and Experimental Verification
by Cong Phat Vo, Van Du Phan, Thanh Ha Nguyen and Kyoung Kwan Ahn
Actuators 2020, 9(4), 141; https://doi.org/10.3390/act9040141 - 18 Dec 2020
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3991
Abstract
Inspired by improving the adaptive capability of the robot to external impacts or shocks, the adjustable stiffness behavior in joints is investigated to ensure conformity with the safety index. This paper proposes a new soft actuation unit, namely Adjustable Stiffness Rotary Actuator (ASRA), [...] Read more.
Inspired by improving the adaptive capability of the robot to external impacts or shocks, the adjustable stiffness behavior in joints is investigated to ensure conformity with the safety index. This paper proposes a new soft actuation unit, namely Adjustable Stiffness Rotary Actuator (ASRA), induced by a novel optimization of the elastic energy in an adjusting stiffness mechanism. Specifically, a stiffness transmission is configured by three pairs of antagonistically linear springs with linkage bars. The rotational disk and link bars assist the simplified stiffness control based on a linear transmission. To enhance the elastic energy efficiency, the force compressions of the linear springs are set to be perpendicular to the three-spoke output element, i.e., the output link direction. Besides, the ASRA model is also formed to investigate the theoretical capabilities of the stiffness output and passive energy. As a simulated result, a high passive energy storage ability can be achieved. Then, several experimental scenarios are performed with integral sliding mode controllers to verify the physical characteristics of the ASRA. As trial results, the fast transient response and high accuracy of both the position and stiffness tracking tests are expressed, in turn, independent and simultaneous control cases. Moreover, the real output torque is measured to investigate its reflecting stiffness. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Fluid Power Systems and Actuators)
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21 pages, 6383 KiB  
Article
Fault Estimation and Fault-Tolerant Control for the Pump-Controlled Electrohydraulic System
by Hoai An Trinh, Hoai Vu Anh Truong and Kyoung Kwan Ahn
Actuators 2020, 9(4), 132; https://doi.org/10.3390/act9040132 - 05 Dec 2020
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2853
Abstract
This paper proposes a fault estimation and fault-tolerant control strategy with two observers for a pump-controlled electro-hydraulic system (PCEHS) under the presence of internal leakage faults and an external loading force. The mathematical model of the PCEHS is dedicatedly derived in the state-space [...] Read more.
This paper proposes a fault estimation and fault-tolerant control strategy with two observers for a pump-controlled electro-hydraulic system (PCEHS) under the presence of internal leakage faults and an external loading force. The mathematical model of the PCEHS is dedicatedly derived in the state-space form for developing control methodology. Two different observers are developed in which an extended state observer is applied to estimate the internal leakage flow rate, and a disturbance observer is used to deal with the external loading force. Then, the proposed control is designed based on the backstepping sliding mode technique in which estimated information from the observers is taken into consideration to guarantee the working performance of the system. With the proposed methodology, the robustness and stability of the controlled system are theoretically analyzed and proven by the Lyapunov theorem. Comparative simulation results are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology through different testing conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Fluid Power Systems and Actuators)
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