Experimental Verification of An Electro-Hydraulic Actuation System Driven by An Integrated Electro-Hydraulic Unit

Authors

  • Shaoyang Qu Maha Fluid Power Research Center, Purdue University, Indiana, USA
  • Federico Zappaterra Maha Fluid Power Research Center, Purdue University, Indiana, USA
  • Andrea Vacca Maha Fluid Power Research Center, Purdue University, Indiana, USA
  • Zifan Liu Bosch Rexroth, South Carolina, USA
  • Enrique Busquets Bosch Rexroth, South Carolina, USA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13052/ijfp1439-9776.2427

Keywords:

Electro-hydraulic actuator, Electro-hydraulic unit, Throttle-less actuation, Mobile hydraulics, Energy recuperation, Four-quadrant linear actuator

Abstract

This paper proposes an electro-hydraulic actuator (EHA) system, and a novel-designed electro-hydraulic unit (EHU) consisting of a fixed-displacement hydraulic gear machine and a variable-speed electric machine. The novel EHU design integrates an electric machine and a hydraulic machine in a single housing, targeting optimal compactness, power density, and component reduction. The EHA system features an open circuit design, where hydraulic hoses connect the EHU with a tank, a valve manifold, and the hydraulic cylinder. In this way, the proposed EHA technology can be used to implement distributed hydraulic actuation in a vehicle without requiring changes to the hydraulic actuators or at the overall layout of the hydraulic components with respect to the original vehicle design. A dedicated test rig is developed to verify the performance of the proposed EHA system. The efficiency of the EHA is measured in a steady state and under a realistic duty cycle of a commercial compact loader. The efficiency of the EHA system based on the measurements on the test rig can reach 54% with up to 20 kN load and 6 kW power level. Furthermore, the EHU is implemented on the reference machine to drive the boom function. Preliminary results on the performance of the EHU show an efficiency of up to 68% under different loading conditions.

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Author Biographies

Shaoyang Qu, Maha Fluid Power Research Center, Purdue University, Indiana, USA

Shaoyang Qu is currently a system engineer in Bosch Rexroth US, drive control – mobile hydraulics team. He got the Ph.D. degree in the School of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University, where he worked in Maha Fluid Power Research Center on electrification of mobile hydraulics since 2018. Before that, he attended Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, where he received his B.E. in Mechanical Engineering and B.S. in Business administration in 2018. His work mainly focuses on the R&D work on electrified solutions of the state-of-the-art hydraulic systems and the development of next generation electrification platforms.

Federico Zappaterra, Maha Fluid Power Research Center, Purdue University, Indiana, USA

Federico Zappaterra completed his studies in Italy where he graduated with a master’s degree from Polytechnic of Turin. Currently he is a research assistant at Maha Fluid Power Research Center where he focuses on the design of electro-hydraulic unit and electrified system for mobile fluid power applications.

Andrea Vacca, Maha Fluid Power Research Center, Purdue University, Indiana, USA

Andrea Vacca is a the Maha Fluid Power Faculty Chair and a Professor at Purdue University. He leads the Maha Fluid Power Research Center which has more than 25 graduate researchers working on various topics related to fluid power and motion control technology.

Dr. Vacca completed his studies in Italy (Ph.D. from the University of Florence in 2005) and he joined Purdue University in 2010. Fluid power technology has been Dr. Vacca’s major research interest since 2002. Dr. Vacca authored the textbook “Hydraulic Fluid Power” by Wiley and about 200 technical papers, most of them published in international journals or referred conferences. He is the Chair of the Fluid Power Systems and Technology Division (FPST) of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and a former chair of the Fluid Power Division of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). Dr. Vacca is also one of the Directors of the Global Fluid Power Society (GFPS). Furthermore, he is also the Editor in Chief of the International Journal of Fluid Power. Dr. Vacca received the 2019 J. Braham medal of the Institution of the Mechanical Engineers (IMechE).

Zifan Liu, Bosch Rexroth, South Carolina, USA

Zifan Liu, has been the system engineer with responsibilities on electronics and electrification at Bosch Rexroth North America since April 2018. Zifan has been involved in the development of electrification platform, eLION, of Bosch Rexroth, including electric components and software packages. Zifan also assists with the setup of customer vehicles and calibrates various Bosch Rexroth functional bundles with specific focus on next generation electric systems in off-highway applications.

Enrique Busquets, Bosch Rexroth, South Carolina, USA

Enrique Busquets has been the engineering director with regional product and business development responsibility on electronics, software, telematics, and electrification at Bosch Rexroth North America since April 2021. Additionally, Enrique has been responsible for the testing and validation infrastructure in North America since 2018 and innovations since 2016.

Previously, Enrique Busquets was the engineering manager responsible for systems and software development at Bosch Rexroth North America from 2018 to 2021. The technology focus was on mobile applications with electronified hydraulics and electrified systems.

Enrique holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at El Paso and a master’s, and doctorate degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University with emphasis on hydraulics and electronic controls.

In addition to his professional activities, Dr. Enrique Busquets is the Bosch Rexroth industry sponsor and representative at the Maha research center and the National Fluid Power association.

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Published

2023-05-03

How to Cite

Qu, S. ., Zappaterra, F. ., Vacca, A. ., Liu, Z. ., & Busquets, E. . (2023). Experimental Verification of An Electro-Hydraulic Actuation System Driven by An Integrated Electro-Hydraulic Unit. International Journal of Fluid Power, 24(02), 327–360. https://doi.org/10.13052/ijfp1439-9776.2427

Issue

2023: Vol 24 Iss 2

Section

IFK2022

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