PSG COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

HYDRAULIC AND PNEUMATIC SYSTEMS – 15M022

SERVO VALVES
By Batch 1
Abishek M (17M102) Ayush Singh (17M108)
Agash C (17M102) Balaji M (17M109)
Ashvin Karthick (17M107) Barath kumar (17M110)
 HYDRULIC SYSTEM - INTRODUCTION
•A valve is a device that is used to control flow.

•Valves are used to stop or start the flow, tell the flow which direction to go, increase or decrease
its speed, and release or regulate the pressure created by the flow.

•Simple manual valves are fine for low precision work.

•However, there are systems that require a high degree of accuracy when it comes to controlling
liquid flow.

•When high degrees of precision are needed, engineers often use servo valves to provide it.
 WHAT IS A SERVO CONTROL SYSTEM?
•A system in which a small input force is capable to control a larger output force – Servo control.

•A control valve receiving both the command signal as well as the error signal is called a servo
valve.

Fig. 1 – Servo Control System

Source: Oil Hydraulic Systems: Principles and Maintenance by S R Majumdar
 TYPES OF CIRCUIT

Hydraulic
Circuits

Open loop Closed loop

circuits circuits
 OPEN LOOPED CIRCUITS
•The movement of an actuator – commanded by the valve input.

•Deviation – can not be controlled.

•Output has no influence or effect on the control action of the input signal.

•Output is neither measured nor fed-back for comparison with the input.

•Cannot self-correct any errors it could make when the preset value drifts. Fig. 2 – Open Loop Circuit
Source: Oil Hydraulic Systems: Principles
and Maintenance by S R Majumdar
 CLOSED LOOPED CIRCUIT
•Uses the concept of an open loop system as its forward path.

•Has one or more feedback loops (mechanical, hydraulic, electrical or electronic) - some portion
of the output is returned back to the input to form a part of the system’s excitation.

•Designed to automatically achieve and maintain the desired output condition by comparing it
with the actual condition.

•Generates an error signal which is the difference between the output and the reference input.

•Fully automatic control system – the control action being dependent on the output in some way.
 Fig. 3 – Closed Loop Circuit
Source: Oil Hydraulic Systems: Principles and Maintenance by S R Majumdar
 ELECTRO HYDRULIC SERVO VALVE
INTRODUCTION
•The electro hydraulic servo valves operate due to an electric signal given to its torque motor which
positions the spool of the direction control valve.

•A torque motor is a low displacement electric motor.

•Movement of the armature is proportional to the direct current applied to the windings of the
motor.

•The signal to the torque motor comes from an electrical device such as a potentiometer.

•The signal from the potentiometer is electrically amplified to drive the torque motor.
 Fig 4: components in electro hydraulic servo system
Source: Hydraulic servo systems Karl-Erik Rydberg 2008-10-15
 COMPONENTS INVOLVED
•Transducer: The output of the servo is measured with a transducer device to convert it to an
electric signal.
•This feedback signal is compared with the command signal.
•Regulator and amplifier: The resulting error signal is then amplified by the regulator and the
electric power amplifier and then used as an input control signal to the servo valve.
•Servo valve: The servo valve controls the fluid flow to the actuator in proportion to the drive
current from the amplifier.
•Actuator: The actuator then forces the load to move. Thus, a change in the command signal
generates an error signal, which causes the load to move in an attempt to zero the error signal.
•If the amplifier gain is high, the output will vary rapidly and accurately following the command
signal.
 WORKING
•The torque motor actuates the servo valve.

•The hydraulic flow output of the servo valve powers an actuator.

•The actuator in turn drives the load.

•The velocity or position of the load is fed back in electrical form to the input of the servo valve by a feedback device.

•The feedback signal is compared to the command input signal and the difference between the two signals is sent to
the torque motor as an error signal.

•This produces the correction in the velocity or position of the torque motor until it matches with the desired value.
At this point, the error signal to the torque motor becomes zero.
 Fig 5: working of electro hydraulic servo system
Source: Hydraulic and Pneumatic controls by R Srinivasan
 Position
Servo
Servo valve Velocity
types Servo
Force
Servo
Source: Hydraulic servo systems Karl-Erik Rydberg 2008-10-15
 ADVANTAGES
Fast dynamic response.

High control precision.

Long service life.

Uses low power electrical signals (1 W) for controlling the movements of large power hydraulic
pistons (7640 W) or more.
 APPLICATIONS
Manufacturing industries

Steel mills

Aircrafts, Flight simulation

Cargo cranes

Construction equipment

Mobile vehicles

Numerical control machines

 TORQUE MOTOR
•A torque motor forms an integral part of a servo valve to produce the
discrete positions of the valve.

•A torque motor is employed to drive the spool directly in electro

hydraulic servo valve.

•It is used to convert small electrical signals into equivalent limited

mechanical motion.

Fig.10 Photograph of Torque motor

Source: hydraulicstatic.com
 CONSTRUCTION
•Torque motor consists of an armature, two coils and two pole pieces.

•The coils are wrapped on the armature and the armature is mounted
such that the ends are positioned in the center of the air gap between
the upper and lower pole pieces.

•Permanent magnets are incorporated in the pole pieces

•Armature is mounted in the flexure tube, this prevents the armature

from touching the pole pieces. Fig.11 Construction of Torque motor
Source: hydraulicstatic.com
 WORKING
•When current supplied to the coils the armature rotates clockwise
Torque to
or counter clockwise.
rotate
armature
•Rotational direction depends on the polarity produced in the
armature.

•The armature stops pivoting when torque produced by magnetic

attraction equals the restraining torque produced by deflection of
the flexure tube.

•The output torque is a direct function of control current.

Fig.12 Armature rotation
 TYPES OF TORQUE MOTOR
•The torque motor coil can be immersed in oil, based on this it is classified as wet and
dry torque motor.

•Wet torque motor has a advantage of cooler operation..

•Most servo valves use dry torque motors, because the magnets tents to attract metal
particles circulating in the in the fluid and this causes failure.

•A dry torque motor is reliable component but current overload will burn out the coil
otherwise the life of torque motor is indefinite.
 TYPES OF SERVO VALVES
•All electro-hydraulic servo systems include a servo valve which links the control electronics and
hydraulic elements of a system.
Servo
•The servo valve controls the: Valves
• dynamic response of the system
• the capability of pressure (P) and flow (Q) Single Multi-
• accuracy of the system operation. Stage stage

•Servo valves – incorporate – torque motors or proportional solenoids.

•Servo valves – spool valves, flapper valves, jet pipe valves.
 SINGLE STAGE ELECTRO-HYDRAULIC SERVO VALVE
•One of the earlier developed servo valves.

•The torque motor directly actuates the sliding spool by means of a mechanical linkage.

•Opens the valve ports proportional to the electrical signal.

•Simple and compact design.

•Used with rotary actuators (hydraulic motors).

•Limited application – force and travel limitation of the torque motor armature – lower flow
capacity of the valve.
 Fig.6 – Single stage servo valve
Source: Oil Hydraulic Systems: Principles and Maintenance by S R Majumdar
 TWO STAGE ELECTRO-HYDRAULIC SERVO VALVE
•This consists of a small pilot spool connected directly to the torque motor.

•The pilot spool moves within a sliding sleeve – mechanically linked to the main spool.

•The right-hand end of the main spool is permanently connected to the pilot pressure line.

•Due to the linkage rod, its area is reduced to an annulus of area A.

•Pressure at the left end of the spool is controlled by the pilot valve.

•There is no area restriction at this end – the valve is designed such that the spool has an area of 2A.

•If the same pressure P is applied to both ends, the spool experiences a left force of P×A and a right force
of P×2A – net force of P×A towards right.
 TWO STAGE ELECTRO-HYDRAULIC SERVO VALVE
•If a pressure of P is applied to the right end and 0.5P is applied to the left end, equal and
opposite forces of P×A result – the valve spool is stationary.

•With a pressure of P on the right end and a pressure less than 0.5P on the left end – the valve
spool moves left.

•The pilot valve – varies pressure at left end (from 0 to full pilot pressure) – moves the main spool
in either direction in a controlled manner.

•The mechanical linkage between main spool and pilot sleeve – controls the flow of fluid
between pilot valve and main valve – pressure at the left end of the main spool.
 Fig.7 – Two stage servo valve
Source: Hydraulic and Pneumatics – A Technician’s and Engineer’s Guide by Andrew Parr
 WORKING SEQUENCE OF
TWO STAGE ELECTRO-HYDRAULIC SERVO
VALVE

• Electrical control signal causes the pilot spool to shift left.

This increases the pressure causing the main valve to shift right.

This pushes the sleeve left.

• Main spool stops moving when the hole in the pilot sleeve
exactly aligns with the land on the pilot spool.
 WORKING SEQUENCE OF
TWO STAGE ELECTRO-HYDRAULIC SERVO
VALVE

• Electrical control signal causes the pilot spool to shift right.

This reduces the pressure at left end bleeding fluid back to the tank.

Main spool moves left.

• Main spool stops moving when the hole in the pilot sleeve
exactly aligns with the land on the pilot spool.
 JET PIPE SERVO VALVE
•Pilot pressure is applied to a jet pipe – directs an equal flow into two pilot lines.

•Torque motor – control signal – diverts the jet flow giving unequal flows – unequal
pressures at ends of the main spool.

•The main spool is linked mechanically to the jet pipe – causing it to move to
counteract the applied electrical signal.

•Spool movement ceases when the jet pipe is again centrally located over the two
pilot pipes. Fig. 8– Jet pipe servo valve
Source: Hydraulic and Pneumatics – A Technician’s
and Engineer’s Guide by Andrew Parr
•This occurs when the main valve spool movement exactly balances the electrical
control signal.
 FLAPPER SERVO VALVE
•Pilot pressure – applied to both ends of the main spool.

•Pilot signal – linked by orifices to small jets against a flapper –

moved by the electrical control signal (from torque motor).

•Pressure at each end of the main spool and spool movement –

determined by the flow out of each jet – determined by
flapper position – determined by electrical control signal.

•Whenever error signal is present (feedback signal ≠ input

signal) – control signal exists – flapper moves – valve spool Fig.9 – Flapper servo valve
moves to correct the error. Source: Hydraulic and Pneumatics – A Technician’s
and Engineer’s Guide by Andrew Parr
CHARACTERISTIC
CURVES
 FLOW CHARACTERISTIC CURVE
 The flow characteristics of the valve may be
directly related to the type of valve centre.
 it is better to define the type of valve center from
the shape of the flow gain near neutral position
than from geometrical considerations.
 A critical centre valve may be defined as the
geometrical fit required achieving a linear flow
gain in the vicinity of neutral position.
Fig – Flow gain of different center types
Source: Servo valve characteristic curves, Science direct
 FLOW CHARACTERISTIC CURVE(cont.)

Fig – Flow rate versus current input plot (test) Fig – Flow rate versus current input plot (ideal)
Source: Servo valve characteristic curves, Science direct Source: Servo valve characteristic curves, Science direct
FLOW CHARACTERISTIC CURVE(cont.)

  2 ( 𝑃𝑠 − 𝑃𝑙 )
𝑄=𝐶 𝑑 𝑥 𝑣 𝑤
√ 𝜌
 
Where, - Flow discharge coefficient of spool
- Spool displacement
-Land width
-Oil density
-Load pressure
-Supply pressure
 BODE DIAGRAM

Fig – the typical bode plot Fig – Bode plot from system identification
Source: Servo valve characteristic curves, Science direct Source: Servo valve characteristic curves, Science direct
PROBLEMS IN ELECTRO HYDRAULIC SERVO VALVES

•The electromagnetic torque motor assembly is a major issue with the electrohydraulic valves -
composed of many sensitive mechanical and electrical parts that penalize simplicity, set-up and
manufacturing costs.

•Another criticism – in terms of costs and duration of manufacture – represented by the flexure
tube which supports the torque motor armature.

•Manufacturing – very high accuracy to ensure the stiffness required.

 POSSIBLE SOULTIONS & ADVANCEMENTS IN ELECTRO
HYDRAULIC SERVO VALVES

•One of the possible solutions – piezoelectric actuator.

•Piezo valve - a valve actuated by a piezoelectric actuator.

•Removal of torque motor and the flexure tube from a servo-valve design.

•Reduces the complexity and manufacturing costs.

 PIEZOELECTRIC ACTUATORS
•A piezoelectric actuator exhibits mechanical strain and/or actuation force in
response to an applied voltage.

•For a given input voltage, the higher the mechanical strain, the lower the actuation
force exerted by the piezo-material.

•The maximum actuation force (blocking force) is obtained at zero strain.

•The maximum strain, at maximum voltage and zero force, is typically less than
0.15%. Fig. 13– Displacement-Force-
Voltage relationship
•Provides very fast response times, but at the expense of high hysteresis (which can Source: A Review of Electro-Hydraulic Servo-
valve Research and Development - journal by
be as high as 20%) and high dependence on temperature variations.
Paolo Tamburrano and Andrew R. Plummer.
 VARIANTS OF PIEZOELECTRIC ACTUATOR

•Piezo-stack actuators

•Amplified piezo-stack actuators

•Bimorph rectangular actuators

•Ring benders
 PIEZO-STACK ACTUATORS
•Several piezo elements are joined together to form a multi-layer actuator.

•Provides a very high blocking force but low displacement.

•Higher the height of the stack, higher the achievable displacement.

•Needs to be very large to achieve the necessary displacement for the valve actuation.

Fig. 14– Piezo stack actuator

•Causes an increase in the overall size and weight of a servo-valve. Source: Electrohydraulic servo-valves – past,
present, and future - journal by Professor
Andrew Plummer.
 AMPLIFIED PIEZO-STACK ACTUATORS
•To overcome the issue in the piezo-stack actuators, amplification systems are adopted to
increase the displacement of a stack actuator.
•The amplification system works in the manner in which the mechanical amplification is obtained.

Fig.15 – Amplified Piezo stack actuator

Source: A Review of Electro-Hydraulic Servo-valve Research and
Development - journal by Paolo Tamburrano and Andrew R. Plummer.
 BIMORPH RECTANGULAR ACTUATORS
•An alternative to stack actuators – bimorph rectangular benders.

•By means of a bending deformation, they can exhibit high displacement but with very low actuation forces.

•A piezoelectric bimorph actuator can be used to actuate the flapper in place of a torque motor in a two-stage
nozzle–flapper servo valve, the spool position was measured to obtain electrical closed-loop position control.

Fig. 16– Bimorph Rectangular

actuator
Source: Electrohydraulic servo-valves – past,
present, and future - journal by Professor
Andrew Plummer.
 SERVOVALVES DRIVEN BY BIMORPH RECTANGULAR
ACTUATORS
•The actuator was capable of producing a maximum stroke of 160 μm and a blocking force of 2N at an
operating voltage of 630 V.

•The dynamic response of the valve was reported to be compromised by stability issues. Hysteresis was also
very large.

Fig.17 – Working of Bimorph Rectangular

Actuator
Source: Electrohydraulic servo-valves – past, present,
and future - journal by Professor Andrew Plummer.
 SERVOVALVES DRIVEN BY RING BENDERS
•In addition to stack actuators, amplified stack actuators and bimorph rectangular actuators, ring
benders have also been constructed by several manufacturers.

•A ring bender is a flat annular disc which deforms in a concave or convex fashion depending on
the polarity of the applied voltage.

•A ring bender exhibits much greater displacement than a stack actuator of the same mass, and
an increase in stiffness in comparison to similar size rectangular bimorph type actuators.

Fig.18 – Ring Bender

Source: Electrohydraulic servo-valves – past, present, and future
- journal by Professor Andrew Plummer.
 WORKING
•Bertin (2017) and Bertin et al. (2014) used ring bender actuators to develop a prototype of a pilot
stage for nozzle flapper valves.

•A single ring bender and two ring benders, mounted in tandem to provide redundancy, were tested
in place of the torque motor.

•A novel mounting mechanism employing O-rings was developed to secure the ring benders within
the valve.

•An analytical model was developed and the predictions were compared with experimental results.

•The full stroke of the pilot stage valve was 150 μm when mounted in tandem with an inactive ring
bender. The hysteresis of the valve was +/−10%.
 Fig. 19– Working of Ring Bender
Source: Electrohydraulic servo-valves – past, present, and future
- journal by Professor Andrew Plummer.
COMPARISON OF THE PIEZOELECTRIC ACTUATOR
VARIANTS
Type of
Piezoelectric Advantages Disadvantages
Actuator
Very low ratio of displacement
Piezo-stacks Very high actuation forces to size, high hysteresis
High complexity, low ratio of
High actuation forces,
Amplified Piezo-stacks Medium displacement displacement to size, high
Hysteresis
Rectangular Very low actuation forces, high
High displacement
Benders Hysteresis
Lower forces than piezo-stacks
Medium displacement, and lower displacement than
Ring bender
Medium actuation forces rectangular benders, high
hysteresis
 REFERENCE
“A Review of Electro-Hydraulic Servo-valve Research and Development”-journal by Paolo
Tamburrano and Andrew R. Plummer.

“Electrohydraulic servo-valves – past, present, and future” journal by Professor Andrew

Plummer.

“Servo valve characteristic curves”, Science direct,2014.

THANK YOU!