Experiment -8

To study the hydraulic circuit with a double acting cylinder in a

regenerative circuit using a 4/3 way valve

8.1 OBJECTIVE:

 To understand different components of the systems and their working principle.

 To construct a hydraulic circuit with a double acting cylinder.
 To study the working principle of the circuit.

8.2 APPARATUS REQUIRED:

Fixed Displacement Pump, Ideal Angular Velocity Source, Solver

Configuration, Pressure Relief Valve, Hydraulic Fluids, Hydraulic Reference, Double-Acting
Hydraulic Cylinder, Translational Spring, Translational Damper, Mechanical Rotational
Reference, Mechanical Translational Reference, Hydraulic Flow Rate Sensor, To Workspace
block, Sine Wave, Simulink-PS Converter, PS-Simulink Converter, 4-Way Directional Valve
(closed neutral).

8.3 PROCEDURE:

 Open the MATLAB.

 Type “ssc_new” in the command window and press enter to open the simulink window.
 The circuit was made according to the circuit diagram.
 The constant value was made as 188.
 The stroke length of the cylinder was changed to 0.5m.
 The damper coefficient was changed to 300 Nm/s.
 The output type was changed to “time series” in the “to workspace block”.
 The “to workspace” block saves the output in the time series form.
 Plots were made from the time series output.
 The displacement and velocity was observed for three different values of masses and
fluids.
 The flow rate distribution was also studied.
 The velocity ratio of the forward and return stroke was studied w.r.t the area ratio.
  The load carrying capacity in the forward and return stroke was studied.
 The difference between regular and regenerative circuit was observed.
 The effect of damping constant and spring constant on the velocity was also studied.

FIGURE 1 Flow chart of the procedure

8.3.1 Working principle of the circuit:

FIGURE 2 Hydraulic circuit diagram

The fixed displacement pump delivers the fluid at a given flow rate by getting an input through
the shaft from the ideal angular velocity source. The constant specifies the value of rpm with
which the velocity source rotates. The fluid from the pump goes to the 4 way direction control
valve (closed neutral) and pressure relief valve. If the pressure in the line builds up more the 50
bar the pressure relief valve opens, directing the fluid flow to the tank. The DCV is switched by
using a sine wave. AB is always connected to the pump. If PA is connected (left envelope), the
pump creates an equal pressure on both the rod side and crown side of the cylinder and as the
crown side area of the piston is more than the rod side piston area the net force on the piston
is towards the rod side and fluid flow from the rod side regenerates to the crown side in
addition to the pump flow. Hence, the net flow to the crown side when the valve is in the left
envelope is, the sum of flow rate of the pump and flow rate from the rod side of the cylinder. If
AT is connected (right envelope), the pump flow entirely goes to the rod side of the cylinder
and the fluid in the crown side of the cylinder returns to the tank. In this case the flow to the
rod side is purely due to the pump and no regeneration takes place. Hence, the expansion
stroke takes place faster than the retraction stroke. The load carrying capacity is also different
during both the stroke which we will analyze further down the section. The piston of the
cylinder is attached to a mass connected with spring and damper parallel in the vertical
direction. If PA (left envelope) is connected the cylinder pushes the mass indicated by the
“mass” block upward against the gravity and the spring force and damping force. When AT
(right envelope) is connected due the gravitational force the mass pushes the piston
downwards thus making the fluid in the cylinder to flow to the tank. In the neutral position all
ports are closed and the pressure builds up in the line which makes the pressure relief valve
and directs the pump flow to the tank (unloading the pump). The hydraulic flow rate sensor
measures the flow rate across A and B (A to B is taken as positive). The hydraulic fluid block
enables us to change the hydraulic fluid used in the circuit. The solver is used in the main line to
solve the vibrational differential equation numerically and produce the output.

8.3.2 Description of components:

Single acting hydraulic cylinder:

A single-acting cylinder in a reciprocating engine is a cylinder in which the working fluid acts on
one side of the piston only. A single-acting cylinder relies on the load, springs, other cylinders,
or the momentum of a flywheel, to push the piston back in the other direction .
Ideal angular velocity source:

The Ideal Angular Velocity Source block represents an ideal source of angular velocity that
generates velocity differential at its terminals proportional to the input physical signal.

Fixed displacement pump:

A fixed-displacement pump is a positive displacement type where the amount

of displacement(gpm) cannot be varied, only by changing the drive speed to the pump. Since
industrial hydraulic systems are usually driven by constant speed electric motors, applications
of a fixed-displacement pump are limited.

A positive displacement pump makes a fluid move by trapping a fixed amount and forcing
(displacing) that trapped volume into the discharge pipe. Some positive displacement
pumps use an expanding cavity on the suction side and a decreasing cavity on the discharge
side.

Pressure relief valve:

A relief valve or pressure relief valve (PRV) is a type of safety valve used to control or limit
the pressure in a system; pressure might otherwise build up and create a process upset,
instrument or equipment failure, or fire.

Ideal translational motion sensor:

The Ideal Translational Motion Sensor block represents a device that converts an across
variable measured between two mechanical translational nodes into a control signal
proportional to velocity or position. The sensor is ideal since it does not account for inertia,
friction, delays, energy consumption, and so on.

Mechanical translational reference:

The Mechanical Translational Reference block represents a reference point, or frame, for
all mechanical translational ports. All translational ports that are rigidly clamped to the frame
(ground) must be connected to a Mechanical Translational Reference block.

Hydraulic reference:

This block represents a connection to atmospheric pressure. It has one hydraulic conserving
port. This is a kind of reservoir in the circuit and it acts like a tank in storing the hydraulic fluid.

Translational damper:

Viscous damping force is a formulation of the damping phenomena, in which the source of
damping force is modeled as a function of the volume, shape, and velocity of an object
traversing through a real fluid with viscosity.
The damper resists the change in displacement w.r.t time.

Translational spring:

A spring is an elastic object that stores mechanical energy by virtue of displacement from its
original length. It exerts an opposing force approximately proportional to its change in length.

4/3 way valve:

This consists of 4 ports and 3 positions. It has one way for pump (P), one for reservoir (R) or
tank (T) and two for the inlet to the actuator. And it has 3 positions: one normal, one cross way,
and one straight way.

Double acting cylinder (simple):

A double-acting cylinder is a cylinder in which the working fluid acts alternately on both sides of
the piston. Factors such as fluid compressibility, friction, and leakages are assumed to be
negligible. Connections R and C are mechanical translational conserving ports corresponding to
the cylinder rod and cylinder clamping structure, respectively. Connections A and B are
hydraulic conserving ports. Port A is connected to chamber A and port B is connected to
chamber B. The block directionality is adjustable with the Cylinder Orientation parameter. In
order to connect the piston in a double-acting cylinder to an external mechanism, such as a
crankshaft, a hole must be provided in one end of the cylinder for the piston rod, and this is
fitted with a gland or"stuffing box" to prevent escape of the working fluid. Double-acting
cylinders are common in steam engines but unusual in other engine types. Many hydraulic and
pneumatic cylinders use them where it is needed to produce a force in both directions. A
double-acting hydraulic cylinder has a port at each end, supplied with hydraulic fluid for both
the retraction and extension of the piston.
8.4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:

The results made in this section are based on comparing

the variation of velocity and displacement with the crown side and rod side area ratio, with
three different masses and fluids, damping constant and spring constant. Also a comparative
study of the regenerative circuit is made with the regular circuit. The flow distribution is also
visualized and the load carrying capacity for the forward stroke and return stroke is justified.
The inferences for these plots are also made in the following section with valid reasoning.

8.4.1 Comparing the velocity with different area ratios

FIGURE 3 Velocity Time curve with mass 5 kg ar(crown side) 0.006 sq.m ar(rod side)0.003 sq.m
FIGURE 4 Velocity Time curve with mass 5 kg ar(crown side) 0.006 sq.m ar(rod side)0.004 sq.m

FIGURE 5 Velocity Time curve with mass 5 kg ar(crown side) 0.006 sq.m ar(rod side)0.005 sq.m
In the above three figure we can clearly see as the ratio of rod side piston area to the crown
side piston area increases the velocity of the forward stroke increases. In other words since the
rod side area is the difference of crown side area and rod area as the rod area decreases the
velocity of the forward stroke increases. That is because the total flow rate to the crown end
(QT) equals the pump flow rate(QP) plus the regenerative flow rate coming from the rod end
(QR) of the cylinder:

Where AP and Ar represents the piston area and rod area respectively. VPext is velocity of
extension of the piston during the expansion stroke.

This expression tells that during the expansion stroke when the pump flow is fixed the
expansion velocity of the piston is inversely proportional to the rod area. This is why when the
rod side area approaches the crown side area which implies the rod area approaches to less
values which makes the velocity of the extension stroke high. Now let us simulate the actual
flow distribution. One more observation is the velocity during the retraction stroke when PB
and AT are connected is reducing with increase in the rod side area. That is because the pump
flow is constant and this is equal to rod side area times the velocity so velocity is inversely
proportional to the rod side area ( Acrown – Arod). When rod area decreases the retraction stroke
velocity also decreases.

For the retracting stroke, only pump flow to the rod side pushes the piston.
Rearranging we get,

This equation tells that when piston area is equal to twice that of the rod area then velocity of
extension and retraction are equal. Figure 3 clearly depicts this.

FIGURE 6 The flow rates on crown side, rod side, pump (note: crown side flow is the sum of other two)

The above plot clearly shows that the crown side flow rate is the sum of pump flow rate and the
regenerative flow rate from the rod side. That is because as there is equal pressure on both the
rod side and crown side of the cylinder and as the crown side area of the piston is more than
the rod side piston area the net force on the piston is towards the rod side and fluid flow from
the rod side regenerates to the crown side in addition to the pump flow. Hence the net flow
rate to the crown side is pump flow rate plus the rod side flow rate.
8.4.2 Comparing the regenerative circuit and regular flow arrangement

Here we compare how the velocity changes in regenerative circuit and normal flow
arrangement. We also compare the load carrying capacity of the regenerative circuit with that
of the normal circuit.

FIGURE 7 Velocity Time curve (regular) with mass 5 kg ar(crown side) 0.006 sq.m ar(rod side)0.003 sq.m
FIGURE 8 Velocity Time curve (regular ) with mass 5 kg ar(crown side) 0.006 sq.m ar(rod side)0.004 sq.m

FIGURE 9 Velocity Time curve (regular ) with mass 5 kg ar(crown side) 0.006 sq.m ar(rod side)0.005 sq.m
FIGURE 10 Velocity Time curve with mass 5 kg ar(crown side) 0.006 sq.m ar(rod side)0.003 sq.m

FIGURE 11 Velocity Time curve with mass 5 kg ar(crown side) 0.006 sq.m ar(rod side)0.004 sq.m
 FIGURE 12 Velocity Time curve with mass 5 kg ar(crown side) 0.006 sq.m ar(rod side)0.005 sq.m

We can see in figures 7, 8, 9 for the normal circuit if we increase the rod side area of the
cylinder the velocity of the extension stroke does not change because velocity during extension
stroke is associated with the pump flow rate the crown side area and does not depends on any
other. But whereas the velocity of the extension stroke in figures 10, 11, 12 increases with
increase in rod side area due to the fact that velocity during extension is inversely proportional
to the rod area.

The load carrying capacity of a regenerative cylinder during the extension is less than that
obtained from a regular double acting cylinder. This is because the load carrying capacity for a
regenerative cylinder equals the pressure times the rod area rather than the pressure times the
piston area. This is due to the same system pressure acting on both sides of the piston during
the extending stroke of the regenerative cylinder. Thus we are not obtaining more power from
the regenerative cylinder because the extension speed is increased at the expense of the load
carrying capacity.

For the regular double acting cylinder the load capacity is equal to P times the crown side area.
8.4.3 Comparing the velocity curve with the spring constant and damping coefficient:

We compare how the velocity profile changes with change in the spring and damping constant.

FIGURE 13 Velocity Time plot with mass 5 kg ar(crown side) 0.006 sqm ar(rod side)0.003 sqm K=100Nm

FIGURE 14 Velocity Time plot with mass 5 kg ar(crown side) 0.006 sqm ar(rod side)0.003 sqm K=500Nm
FIGURE 15 Velocity Time plot with mass 5 kg ar(crown side) 0.006 sqm ar(rod side)0.003 sqm K=5000Nm

FIGURE 16 Velocity Time plot with mass 5 kg ar(crown side) 0.006 sqm ar(rod side)0.003 sqm K=5000Nm
C=500 N/m/s
As the spring constant value increases there is a decrease in the velocity slightly during the
extension stroke. That is because as the cylinder starts to compress the spring, the spring force
increases throughout the compression process. So advancement in each compression state
requires some more pressure by the pump in order to be further compressed, throughout the
compression process. This pressure build up takes some small time until which fluid is
momentarily at rest. Hence the velocity slightly decreases. Also if we increase the spring
constant oscillations are produced. That is because when mass passes the equilibrium position
it has some velocity and it is not at rest. So because of this velocity the spring with high stiffness
makes the mass to oscillate about the equilibrium position until all the energy is dampened out
by the damper. If the damping constant is increased the curve is smooth as seen in figure 14
because the increased value of damping constant enables the energy to be dissipated fast and
thus reduces the oscillations.

8.4.4 Comparing different masses

We compare the behavior of the circuit with different masses.

FIGURE 17 Velocity Time plot with mass 5 kg ar(crown side) 0.006 sqm ar(rod side)0.004 sqm
FIGURE 18 Velocity Time plot with mass 500kg ar(crown side) 0.006 sqm ar(rod side)0.004 sqm

FIGURE 19 Velocity Time plot with mass 2000kg ar(crown side) 0.006 sqm ar(rod side)0.004 sqm
As we increase the mass we can see clearly from the plots that as the mass increases the
velocity with which the mass comes down is higher. That is because in addition to pump forcing
the piston to come down (retract) the mass also exerts forced on the piston in terms of its
weight and other spring forces. As the mass increases the force applied on the piston while
retracting also increases. If force on the piston increases it makes the piston to move with a
higher velocity (note in fig 17 v is- 0.2223 in fig 18 v is -0.2249). One more observation is during
the extension stroke it takes more time to attain steady velocity as mass increases. It is because
as mass increases, to push it more pressure has to build in the line. This process of pressure
building takes time which makes it longer to reach the steady velocity when the mass increases.
In addition to that the non linearity in the curve is caused by the spring and the damper
because the forces they exert on the mass vary with distance and velocity.

8.4.5 Comparing different fluids

In this section we study and compare the behavior of the circuit with three different hydraulic
fluids.

 Skydrol LD4 [ density = 961.873 kg/(meter cube) , viscosity= 7.12831 Cst , bulk
modulus=1.24285 GPa.
 Diesel fuel [ density = 795.988 kg/(meter cube) , viscosity= 1.36303 Cst , bulk
modulus=1.53501 GPa.
 Water-Glycol 60/40 [ density = 1054.28 kg/(meter cube) , viscosity= 1.65742 Cst , bulk
modulus=2.43006 GPa.
FIGURE 20 Velocity Time plot with mass 5 kg Skydrol LD4 fluid

FIGURE 21 Velocity Time plot with mass 5 kg Diesel fluid

 FIGURE 21 Velocity Time plot with mass 5 kg with Water Glycol (60/40) fluid

We clearly see from the above three plots that velocity of flow is highest for Diesel next for Skydrol and
the last is Water Glycol 60/40. This is because their densities are in that trend. In descending order of
density if we rank the fluids we get Water Glycol (60/40), Skydrol, Diesel. That is because as the density
increases, mass flow rate for a fixed volumetric flow rate increases. If mass flow rate increases it
requires and draws more power from the pump to flow. The pump power is also fixed due to the
constant angular velocity source. So since some extra power is consumed the energy by virtue of
velocity becomes less. Due to that the velocity of the higher density fluid decreases.

CONCLUSION:

The experiment was performed and the performance characteristics of

the hydraulic circuit such as velocity vs time characteristics and flow rate vs time characteristics
were studied and reasoned for three different masses and fluids. Also inferences and
conclusions were made on effect of various other parameters like rod area, pump flow rate,
damping constant, spring constant, rod side area etc to the cylinder operation.