Experimental Tests on the Influence of Accumulated Pressure Energy on the Response Time of a Hydraulic Cylinder under External Load Actuated in a Classic and Distributed System Structure

Abstract

The need to develop hydraulic systems having reduced energy-consumption and improved operating parameters has led to an increased interest inter alia in the character of the actuator movement depending on the structure of the hydrostatic power supply system. The state-of-the-art analysis of the response time of the actuated hydraulic cylinder are typically based on the response times of the valves and on the propagation velocity of the pressure wave and have insufficiently focused on the flow of the energy accumulated in the power supply line. This article presents the results of tests which indicate a relationship between the amount of the energy accumulated in the power supply line and the response time of the cylinder and thus demonstrates that this parameter cannot be ignored in such analyses. The presented tests involved a comparative analysis of the results obtained for systems with different valve architectures. The comparison included the actuation times for a cylinder controlled with the classic 3-position valve and for a case with the control valve installed on the cylinder. The results and conclusions presented in this article are of significant utilitarian character and may become an element of further works on the development of electro-hydraulic systems with increased operating parameters.