An interface design for comparison of energy consumption of penumatic and ball screw-driven linear actuators

Abstract

Today, engineers use many computer programs and applications to model and analyze engineering problems. However, the demand for user-friendly interfaces and web-based applications is increasing daily to select the appropriate system components according to different working conditions and to evaluate the results comparatively. Also, most of these interfaces calculate the actuators' size and are mostly developed by foreign manufacturers. Nowadays, with the increase in energy costs, the demand for the use of energy-saving products is also increasing. Therefore, examining and comparing the energy consumption of the actuator elements used in the systems depending on the work done is necessary. In this study, the authors discussed the issue of developing an interface that can define the appropriate size of actuators for the different operating conditions, such as different loads, slopes, friction, opposite load, and speed, and enable comparative energy consumption according to these elements for electro-pneumatic and servo motor driven ball screw shaft driven actuator types.