Abstract
Hydraulic actuation systems are widely used in industries such as aerospace, the marine industry, off-highway vehicles, and manufacturing. There has been a shift from the hydraulic distribution of power from a centralized supply to electrical power distribution, to reduce the maintenance requirements and weight and improve the efficiency. However, hydraulic actuators have many advantages, such as power density, durability, and controllability, so the ability to convert electrical to hydraulic power locally to drive an actuator is important. Traditional hydraulic pumps are inefficient and unsuitable for low-power applications, making piezopumps a promising alternative for the conversion of electrical to hydraulic power in the sub-100 W range. Currently, the use of piezopumps is limited by their maximum power (typically a few watts or less) and low flows. This paper details the design, simulation, and testing of a multi-cylinder piezopump designed to push the envelope of the power output. The simulation results demonstrate that pumps with two or three cylinders show increasing benefits in terms of hydraulic and electrical performance due to the reduced flow and current ripple compared to a single-cylinder pump. The experimental results from a two-cylinder pump confirm this, and the effect of the phase relationship between the drive signals is investigated in detail. The experimental pump has fast-acting disc-style reed non-return valves, allowing piezostack drive frequencies of up to 1.4 kHz to be used. Custom power electronics tailored to the pump are developed. These features are critical in demonstrating the potential for multi-cylinder piezopumps to play an important role as a future actuation solution.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 4876 |
| Number of pages | 22 |
| Journal | Energies |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue number | 19 |
| Early online date | 28 Sept 2024 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Oct 2024 |
Data Availability Statement
The data sets presented in this article are not readily available because of commercial sensitivity. Requests to access the data sets should be directed to [email protected].Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the work of Tom Feehally and Peter Wilson in developing the power electronics used in this project, Jens Roesner for development of the Data Acquistion and Andrea De Bartolomeis in data collection.Funding
The authors declare that this research was funded by Safran Landing Systems, a company with commercial interests in the subject matter of this study. The authors designed the study, collected and analysed the data, and prepared the manuscript independently. However, the funding source had involvement in the manuscript review. The authors have ensured that the results presented in this publication are accurate and objective, and the interpretations and conclusions are based on their independent evaluations of the data. This work was funded by Safran Landing Systems as part of Innovate UK grant number 113143.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Safran Landing Systems | |
| Innovate UK | 113143 |
Keywords
- hydraulics
- piezoelectric
- piezoelectro-hydrostatic actuator
- piezopump
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
- Fuel Technology
- Engineering (miscellaneous)
- Energy Engineering and Power Technology
- Energy (miscellaneous)
- Control and Optimization
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering
