Fundamentals of
Fluid Power
Week Four Homework Problems
‘The homework this week is designed to get you up, running and comfortable with Simscape
Fluids (formerly SimHydraulics), the fluid power simulation package used in the course.
1. Install SimHydraulics
Download and install Simscape Fluids following the instructions on the course link titled
“Download and install Simscape Fluids.” Review the Learning Resources as needed.
2. Create your first simulation
Following the "Creating and Simulating a Simple Hydraulic Model” tutorial, build and run the
model. Verify that your scope window outputs match those in the tutorial. Continue to the end of
the tutorial where simulation parameters are changed. Verify that your outputs match the tutorial.
3, Accumulator simulation
The purpose of this simulation is to explore the behavior of a hydraulic accumulator, a fluid power
component that you will learn about later in the course. One purpose of an accumulator is to
smooth out pressure fluctuations, for example those that might be caused by a piston pump. In
this exercise, you will build a simulation with a fluctuating hydraulic pressure source pushing flow
through two fixed orifices arranged in series. You will use a pressure sensor to measure the
pressure between the orifices. You will then add an accumulator to the circuit and observe the
change in pressure ripple as you vary the properties of the accumulator. For a preview of the
accumulator, see here or here.a. Create the simulation shown below
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All of the blocks can be found in the Simulink Library. For now, do not connect the accumulator.
(Tip: to create a new Simscape Fluids simulation, either copy an existing simulation (File > Save
As) or type “ssc_new” at the MATLAB Command Window prompt to generate a new simulation
with a few common blocks included.)
Here are the parameter settings for the blocks:
Hydraulic Fluid: Fluid = SkydrobS
Simulink-PS Converter: input signal unit = Pa
PS-Simulink Converter: Output signal unit = Pa
Constant: Value = 1086 (10 Mpa)
Sine Wave: Amplitude = 1¢6, Frequency = 10 rad/sec (adds a 1 Mpa pressure ripple)
Fixed Orifice (both): Orifice area = 1e-4 m*2
not already set, change the solver to ode23t (Simulation > Model Configuration Parameters)
Change the stop time of the simulation to 8 sec.b. Run the simulation and view the Line Pressure scope output. (You may have to adjust
the Y-axis settings to see the trace.) The pressure will look like this
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Note the 0.5 Mpa amplitude pressure ripple about a mean of 5 Mpa. This is because the two
series connected orifices drop the source pressure by half. Try running the simulation again with
the sine block amplitude set to zero to see the effect of the orifices on a steady pressure source.
, Connect the gas-charged accumulator so that the simulation looks like thispsg} ——»f]
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For the accumulator parameters, start with
Capacity = 5 L (liters)
Preload pressure = 105 Pa
Initial volume = 2.5 L
Run the simulation and notice how the ripple is reduced because of the accumulator.Hh incrrosue
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Note that here it takes a little under 1 s for the pressure to build up because during that time the
accumulator is being filled. The time is affected by the capacity and initial volume of the
accumulator,
d. Design an accumulator that will reduce the pressure ripple amplitude of 0.1 Mpa or less.
Do this by running the simulation by varying the capacity, preload pressure and initial volume
settings of the accumulator. For example, one set of parameters (there are others) that satisfies
the design requirements leads to this result
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5Notes: 1. A high preload on a small capacity accumulator will result in pressure transients at the
start, which should be avoided. 2. Keep the capacity under 50 L. 3, The steady-state conditions
should be reached in the first 8 s of operation.
4, On Your Own
Further explore Simscape Fluids, perhaps by running some of the MathWorks examples, or by
creating examples of your own.