Eventos Anais de eventos
COBEM 2023
27th International Congress of Mechanical Engineering
Analysis of Digital Hydraulic System for Aircraft with Focus on Energy Efficiency
Submission Author:
Marcos Paulo Nostrani , SC
Co-Authors:
Diego Mise Cruz, Marcos Paulo Nostrani, Ivan Júnior Mantovani, Henri Carlo Belan, Victor Juliano De Negri
Presenter: Marcos Paulo Nostrani
doi://10.26678/ABCM.COBEM2023.COB2023-0767
Abstract
Hydraulics is a technology typically used in applications that require control of large loads and high-power density. However, hydraulic systems are known for their low energy efficiency. As a consequence, a concept known as More Electric Aircraft-MEA proposes that the design of new aircraft can be done using more electrical equipment. Nevertheless, in aircraft applications, due to safety factors and reliability, the control of the primary control surfaces still prioritizes the use of hydraulic actuators. According to recent research results, digital hydraulics is a technology that has been proven to be an alternative for reducing energy dissipation in hydraulic systems. The main objective of this paper is the modeling and experimental analysis of a digital hydraulic system, with a special focus on energy efficiency. The actuator used in this study is the Digital Hydraulic Actuator - DHA and is based on a set of on/off valves, a multi-chamber cylinder, and three pressure lines. A model was developed in the software Hopsan, and validated experimentally. In addition, two equivalent models were developed for the servo-valve actuation system, in order to compare the efficiency of these systems. The first model considers the internal leakage of the servo valve and the second model the leakage is neglected. For the internal leakage model, the servo-valve was modeled using a full Wheatstone bridge with hydraulic resistances, which was validated based on experimental results. The results obtained show a considerable increase in energy efficiency of the digital system, due to the absence of resistive control by orifices and reduction of internal and pilot leakages. The system with servo-valve has an efficiency of 1,2% and the digital system of 37.2%, with a decrease of the input energy from 16.6 to 1.7 kJ and a reduction of the energy loss of 93%. These results demonstrate that DHA can be a promising solution for obtaining more efficient hydraulic systems.
Keywords
Digital Hydraulic, energy efficiency, Aircraft actuation systems
