Copyright © IFAC Low Cost Automation.

Buenos Aires. Argentina, 1995

THE possmlLITlES OF A POSITION CONTROLLED AcruATOR WITH

SWITCHING VALVFS

Uwe Becker and Eckehard Schnieder

Institute of Control and Automation, Technical University Braunschweig. Germany

Abstract: The increasing popularity of automatic control systems has led to more widespread
use of eledrohydraulic systems especially in those fields where good dynamic performance and
a favourable power/weight ratio are required. In fluid technology the use of microelectronics
for acquisition, conditioning and processing of signals allows improVed performance and
quality. Especially when using switching valves, the electrohydraulic interface offers features
well suited to universal digitisation, in the information and control loop up to the hydraulic
performance circuit This paper presents some simulation and test results of a position
controlled actuator with switching valves.

Keywords: E1ectro-hydraulic systems, Hydraulic actuator, Pulse modulation, Position control,

Valves.

lINTRODUcnON performance circuit, and on the other, they are

relatively inexpensive, especially in high numbers.
In order to consolidate and/or expand the use and
application spectrum of fluid technology and in order to
maintain competitiveness also in competition to electric
drives, it is necessary for development work to exploit
the advantages of fluid technology, for example the
higher power to weight ratio, reduced build volume,
lower weight per unit power and excellent response
time etc..

The increasing use of microelectronics in connection

with fluid technology offers an exellent opportunity to
meet increased requirements made on the quality and
performance of technical processes. In order to improve
Fig. 1 Structure of an electrohydraulic control loop
the efficiency of digital techniques in fluid technology,
the objective must be total digitisation, from the electric
The more well known advantages comprise simple
signal loop through to the hydrauic performance circuit
design, high dynamics, great robustJ}.ess and reliability,
!Figl/.
low leakage rates and the posslbility, by suitable
configuration and control of 2/2 way switching valves,
In principle closed control loops utilise analog valves
of contructing non-coupled hydraulic resistances with
(continuous proportional and servo valves). Their uses
which any overlap ratio can be built up.
in mass produced products (e.g. cars) or also in flexible
automation systems of the low cost sector, are primaril y
There are also a number of disadvantages which have
limited by the relatively high costs. Switching valves
to date prevented the widespread implementation of
can offer a realistic alternative. On the one hand they
switching valves as quasi-analog controllers of fluid
allow total digitisation through to the hydraulic
III
flows and pressures. These disadvantages include in
particular the noise emissions, the non~ntinuous
control and up to now the lifetime of the valve.
2 AcruATORS wrm: SWITCHING V ALVFS
Fig. 2 shows a number of examples of electrohydraulic
actuators controlJed using switching valves (Uihmann,
1994). A number of different combination alternatives is
shown for the hydraulic control of synchronised and
differential cylinders as have been used in the pasL In
this it can be assumed that the valves are controlJed by
methods based exclusively on pulse width modulation
(PWM) and/or some variation thereof, as for example
differential PWM and the use of double pulses with a
scan internal (Tersteegen, 1992; Kilrten 1993).
Furthermore, the methods available to date have always
assumed that a switching valve is either completely open
or completely closed. This created additional
disadvantages depending upon application requirements,
for example in cylinder control. Where high speeds are
required so is a high throughput, i.e. a valve is required
with a longer stroke. This results in relatively large
switching time. This of course is disadvantageous to the
response time of a drive. Good response resolutions
would require the fustest valve possible with the smaIJest
stroke.
As this simple discription illustrates, these demands
place contradictory requirements on switching valves,
which can obvi~ly not be made arbitrarily fasL For this
reasons a control technique is sought which can meet
these requirements, i.e. which offers quasi-proportional
control of the flow over a wide range.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ if~ m w
~ rfh ~ ~
m
~ r-w
Fig 2. Electrohydraulic actuators with switching valves (examples)
112
3 BEHAVIOUR OF THE SWITCHING VALVES
In the following three figures (see also Becker, 1994) the
behaviour of the valves is again descn"bed in
applications where there is no requirement for the valve
to be completely open or closed. Fig. 3 shows the plot
t
6/ [mm]
0.014
0.01
0.006
0.002
o
o 0.002 0.004 0.006
t/ [s]
Fig. 3. Non~mpletely closing valve
for a non~mpletely closing valve. Fig. 4 shows the
plot of a non-oompletely opening valve, and fig. 5 shows
the plot for various fixed intermediate positions. In the
example shown with the intermediate positions, the
pulse frequency is 5 kHz. This frequency, with
corresponding pulse widths is very much higher than
previous frequencies as applied in standard techniques
and also is far beyound the range of a completely closing
and opening valve. Fig. 6 shows again the response of
the valve to a very small pulse as a funtion of pressure.
This is because a direct measurement of the piston stroke
in the valve is not possible.
~
rn
 Using the tread theory (representation of a flow field
6/[mm] with lines of flow, which are compiled into a flow

10.01. thread) and with the help of the continuity and Bernoulli
equations for frictional flows.

0.01 Fig. 7 shows a direct comparison between steady-state

0.006 Q I Vmin

0.002
0

0 0.002 0.004 0.006

7;1.
t/ Is]

Fig. 4. Non-oompletely opening valve 4,8

6/mm

1
2.4

025
o 2 3 4 5 6 7
0.2 t/ms

0.15 T,= 0,8 Tw Fig. 7. Comparison between steady-state and non-steady

flow
0.1 Tee 0,75 Tw
(Q-~) and non-steady flow. Bearing in mind the non-
0.06
T,cO,7Tw steady-state fraction when calculating the flow at higher
pulse frequencies means that simulation could be
0 imprOVed again and now displays a very good match
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
with the actual flow measurements.

Fig 5. Various fixed intermediate positions

..
Ums

4 CONrROUlNG A CYliNDER

Fig 8 shows the test co~~ration with four 212 way

x.x.x
~
I.-~PIA
IAN
11 V \
pressu~
V'~
\
'"
0u!PUf
NI ~ ...(.
I,.prBSSURl

PU~

11 Fig. 8. Test configuration

5_
Fig. 6. Pulsed controlled valve (small pulse)
As a comparison of simulated and measured values
shows, the exact prediction of the trougbflow behaviour
requires the non-steady-state fraction to be taken into
account in the flow calculation.
switching valves, while fig. 9 shows the corresponding
upper level the simulation block diagram. A sliding
mode controller was used which sends the controlled
variable to the individual valves. Fig. 10 and 11 show
examples of the response of the cylinder to a control
error, as well as the behaviour of the switching valves.
Fig. 11 shows that within 30 ms the control error of

113
 x

X3~--------------------------------------------------~
U2.4 X2~----------------------------------------------------~
X=Xl~------------------------------------------------------------~
controller controller
output input

Fig. 9. Upper level simulation block diagram

1 mm is equalised out by a large number of pulses in that

time period and also that due to the high number of
pulses the switching behaviour of the valve is not clearly
recognisable. In these initial simulations it is clear that
this method offers the possibility of fast and excellent
0,8
position control.
0,6
6/mm

b: 0,15
0,1
11)
~
62.~
0,4

0,2

o
~
O,OS
o ,(),2 0~~5:----:':10:--~1:":5:---::20~---:2~5---::3O';:-----:35:--~40::----l
.(l,OS V tlrns
.(),1 •
.(l,15 61• 3 Fig. 11. Response of a control error
,(),2

.(l,25
5 CONCLUSION
o 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
tlrns Using this new control method for switching valves it
• should be possible to expand their areas of application.
Initial tests in the use of this new control method have
Fig. 10. Valve stroke shown that for slider-type switching valves the results
are very promising. In order to utilise this method in
general for switching valves it is necessary to undertake
additional theoretical and experimental tests.

IJ4
A calculation performed by a company has shown that a
block of four switching valves can be manufactured for
approx. half the price of one corresponding proportional
valve.

REFERENCES

Liihmann, B. (1984). Digital gesteuerte

Hydraulikventile und ihre Anwendung.
Ph.D.Thesis, TU Braunschweig, Germany.

Tersteegen, 1.(1992). Pulsmodulierte Ansteuerung von

Schaltventilen eines elektrohydraulischen
Positionierantriebes. DLR Braunschweig,
Germany, DLR-FB 92-18.

Kiirten, T. (1993). Modellbildung, Simulation und

digitale Regelung hydraulischer Antriebe
mit elektrohydraulischen Schaltventilen.
Phd. Thesis, Universitat Duisburg, Germany.

Becker, U., Schnieder, E. (1994). Modulation

Techniques to Control Fast Switching valves.
IFAC Workschop on Trends in Hydraulics and
Pneumatic Components and Systems.
Clicago, n., USA.

115