INTRODUCTION

1.1 Electrohydraulic Control System Overview

Hydraulic and pneumatic systems impart power to a fluid that is transmitted and
controlled manually or electronically to negotiate a force or torque. A pneumatic system
uses air. Hydraulic systems are more compact and deliver higher power. Oil is preferred
for having good lubrication, heat conductivity, stability over wide temperature range and
compatibility to seal materials. Water glycol and water-in-oil emulsions are synthetic fluids
that are used, where fire could be a hazard. High water content fluids (HWCF), containing
more than 90% water and multiple additives, are slowly emerging as alternatives.
Figure 1.1 depicts an electrohydraulic control system. Driven by an engine or
electric motor or battery, a pump generates hydraulic power that is transmitted through
pipes to the devices like valves and cylinders or hydraulic motors. In a control system, the
devices are integrated by software interfaces for executing the demand received from the
user through a user interface, or UI, loaded on the host PC. A control algorithm loaded on
a real-time processor, or RTP, calculates the electrical excitation and send through an
output module, or OM, to an actuating valve shown in the system as PV. The valve controls
the pump flow to and from the cylinder to drive the external payload of mass ma subjected
to a force F. A good control yields an output, or response, which has minimal error with
respect to the demand. The payload displacement y is the response against the demand yd.
There is a hydraulic cylinder in the set up that is a class of linear actuator providing linear
motion, whereas a motor would have produced rotational motion.
The most critical part of the system is a valve PV operated by electrical input to
solenoid valve S1 or S2. As explained in Figure 1.2, the spool is pulled towards S1, when
excited, by the displacement x. In a variable-excitation solenoid, the displacement increases
with excitation. Consequently, a flow takes place through the valve to displace a piston
inside a cylinder against an external payload When S2 is excited, the reverse motion is
achieved. The valve is termed proportional, if the discharge through it is proportional to
the electrical command of current or voltage.
Other components of the system are described next.
 A gear pump generates fluid power by converting mechanical power of moving teeth
of the driving and driven gear in mesh. Oil gets trapped in successive batches between
two adjacent teeth of each rotating gear. Thus, oil gets sucked oil from a tank and
eventually delivered at the outlet side.
 An amplifier receives a low-power electronic excitation from the OM and enhances to
the appropriate electrical level for the coil of the solenoid S1 or S2.
 A pressure relief valve PRV maintains nearly constant pump pressure, at which a ball
(or a poppet) is lifted from the seat overcoming a set-screw adjusted pre-loading of a
high-stiffness compression spring. Consequent to the lift, an opening is created between
the lifted element and the seat. The pump flow in excess to that required in the cylinder
gets drained to the tank through the opening.
 A check valve CV that has a spring of much lower stiffness than the PRV allows flow
always from the pump, but not in the reverse direction.
 A sensor in the form of an LVDT (linear variable differential transformer) that
measures the displacement of the piston.
 F
ma y, v=

Gear
ks
Pump
P2a
CV
Spring
Ff Cylinder
T PT P PP T PT
S. Coil 1 coil coil
P1a
1 2x 2 PRV
2
S1 B PV A S2
P. Coil Bush Tank
LVDT S. Coil 2 Q
x
IM OM Q Amplifier
RTP
Flow line for oil transmission
Demand, yd UI Real-time
Host PC Cable line for transmission of electrical
Controller
excitation
Figure 1.1: Schematic of a Simple Electrohydraulic Control System
The primary coil of an LVDT has its external power source and the current in the secondary
coils depend on the linked voltages by virtue of their positions relative to the primary. From
the difference of the linked voltages, the piston displacement is measured. A sensor is
necessary in a closed loop control system, also referred as a feedback control system.
Instead of being add-on devices, the controller and the amplifier are often integrated
to the valve to achieve a compact and matched mechatronic arrangement. There could be
additional filter, cooler, accumulator and intensifier.
Pneumatic systems are often preferred in small systems like forging hammers that
utilizes pressurized air from a compressor. These systems are useful in medical applications
and electronic manufacturing for their cleanliness. High-power systems are hydraulic for
their compactness and superior controllability on account of much higher compressibility
of liquid than air. Notable advantages of a fluid-power system over electro-mechanical
transmission systems with gears, lead screws or ball screws are precision control through
elimination of mechanical backlash, the capability of withstanding high external load that
could lead to a failure of a gear or screw tooth and an option of conveying power between
a distant pump and actuator without much loss in power. In electrical systems, solenoid or
permanent-magnet motors are used for motion actuation. Electrical systems are easier to
control for their linear or nearly linear dynamics. Electrohydraulic systems are more
compact for their higher power density. Some motion-control applications are
 maneuvering airplanes and vehicles that could be on road, off road or under water
 manufacturing operations like forging, extrusion, pressing and metal cutting
 material handling for construction, excavation and mining
 speed governing in a turbine by monitoring the mass flow rate to the turbine
coupled to an alternator in response to the external electrical load demand.
Brakes and manufacturing operations like pressing of rubber sheets and ceramics and
friction-stir welding are some notable force-control applications.
In Figures 1.1 and 1.3, internal features of an electrohydraulic valve are detailed.
The rod (1) of the valve spool shown in Figure 1.1 connects three discs (2), more popularly
called the lands. S1 and S2 are two solenoids. There are four ports made at the base of the
valve body for connecting flow lines from pump at Port P, to the tank port at Port T along
with those for the cylinder at Ports A and B. There is a bush around the spool. A set of
discrete cuts in the form of curved windows are made along the periphery of a sleeve inside
a bush for communicating the external flow between each port and the sleeve bore through
respective holes machined in the valve body. These are evident in Figure 1.3 that do not
show the spool for the sake of clarity.
Each hole connects an annular recess common for a window set located outward of
the sleeve. There are two holes connecting the tank port at the valve base and the two sets
of windows on the extreme right and left of the bush. For any other window, there is only
one connecting hole. The central set of windows that surround the central land of the spool
is meant for communicating the pump flow. Through the two distant sets of windows that
surround the end lands of the spool, the flow is led to the tank. Excitation to any solenoid
sets the spool in sliding making its lands to move like doors creating an opening along one
of the two peripheral edges of the respective window sets.
At the valve neutral, the lands locate themselves as closed doors completely
blocking the respective window sets. Hence, the cylinder remains cut off from the pump.
Only a small leakage flow could arise from the pump to the tank through the radial
clearances between the spool and the bush. Displacement of the spool in either direction
from the neutral creates orifice-like flow paths at one side of the land at P and one side of
one of the end lands for T. Hence, oil flows between the valve and the cylinder through
Ports A and B, either along the path PA…Cylinder (piston up)…BT (left) or
along the path PB…Cylinder (piston down) …AT (right). A port is referred
respectively as metered or unmetered type, if its opening depends or does not depend on
the excitation signal causing displacement of the spool away from the neutral. Ports P and
T in Figure 1.1 are metered and Ports A and B are unmetered.
Depending on whether the widths of the metered ports are smaller, equal or greater
than the widths of the corresponding lands, a servovalve is termed as overlapped, critically
lapped or underlapped respectively. It is extremely challenging to achieve a critically
lapped servovalve. The width of any lapping is about 10 to 20µm in a servovalve and about
10 to 20% of the maximum stroke in a proportional valve. Their stroke is rarely above
500µm. This is kept so small for ensuring quick reversal of the direction y for the payload
motion through fast switching between modes P A….BT and PB…AT.
Another advantage rendered by the flow throttling that arises in the small opening
of a metered port is mitigation of the flow ripples that are usual at the delivery of a pump.
Sudden expansion of the flow from the pump downstream of the opening created by the
central land is accompanied with generation of eddies and vortices that lead to intense flow
mixing. Consequently, the flow tends to become uniform within the oil volume between
the metered opening for the pump flow and the unmetered opening for the flow to the
cylinder. Of course, a mixing arises over a short time over which the flow dwells in this
chamber. Consequently, a pulsating flow at the pump delivery gets averaged out over the
short time scale of the mixing due to the throttling at the metered inlet port of the valve.
 φc
S1 S2
Sp1 Sp2 Sp1 Sp2
M1 S M2
x x A N S
A S N

φl φr

+i (a) -i
(b)
Figure 1.2: Schematic arrangement of a moving armature A in a (a) solenoid pair and (b) force motor
Bush

T
Sleeve T
A, B T A B T
P P

Figure 1.3: Flow passages within the body of a spool valve

11
1 10
9 2
8
3 5 4

7
6

Figure 1.4: Component Details of a PMLM

Figure 1.2(a) shows the schematic of the linear forcing arrangement typical of a
proportional valve depicted in Figure 1.1. In Figure 1.2(b), the schematic of a permanent-
magnet linear motor PMLM, also called linear force motor or LFM, is shown. Figure 1.4
shows the arrangement of parts in an LFM in more details. The force motor in Figure 1.4
has annular turns of a coil (1) around a ring armature (2). Two permanent magnets (3) and
(4) are separated by a central pole piece (5) placed with the armature bore. On the other
side of each magnet opposite to the central pole piece, there are two end pole pieces (6)
and (7) and two stubs (8) and (9) meant for connecting the driven part externally. Each stub
seat on a diaphragm spring (10) or (11). The springs are fastened on a number of spokes
axially extended from the armature ring. A number of loops, each with an arrowhead show
typical magnetic flux lines. A flux line emanates axially outward from a magnet (3) or (4).
This proceeds through the respective end pole-piece (6) or (7) that guides the path axially
inward to cross an axial air gap. Then the line enters the armature (2), within which it
becomes inward radial to cross a fixed radial air gap to enter the central pole piece (5).
Eventually, the line turns axially outward to close the loop.
Equal axial gap on either side of the armature ring and no current through the coil
implies equal forces to the right and left of the armature. As the forces cancel out, the
armature maintains its neutral position. A current excitation in the coil sets in additional
magnetic flux loops through the coil and the end pole pieces through the intermediate axial
air gaps and the armature ring. At one axial gap, the coil flux adds strength to the magnetic
flux. At the other gap, the total flux gets weakened. As a result, a driving electromagnetic
force on the armature develops. The reversal of current in the coil reverses the forcing
direction. An LFM has higher forcing capability than a solenoid and used mostly in a
servovalve for achieving faster response. Of course, the hydraulic parts of manually
controlled hydraulic systems are much cheaper and routinely deployed, when fast response
and following the demand closely are not required.

1.2 Symbolic Representations and Classifications of Components

Two broad classes of pumps are rotodynamic and displacement types. At any steady
operating condition, a constant discharge arises from a rotodynamic pump in view of the
continuous nature of the flow. In contrast, the flow through a displacement pump arises in
batch form giving rise a pulsating discharge about a constant mean. A change in external
condition makes the discharge from the rotodynamic pump varying, but keeps it almost
constant from a displacement pump. This feature makes the displacement pumps a natural
choice in control applications. Besides displacement pumps, Figures 1.5 to 1.8 contain the
symbolic representations of various hydraulic, pneumatic and electrohydraulic components
and accessories.
In Figure 1.5, (a) denotes a motor meant to provide torque to the shaft of a
compressor or pump, whose fixed-displacement variants are shown in (b) and (c)
respectively. Instead of motors, IC engines are mostly deployed as the prime mover for
mobile hydraulic systems. Use of filled and unfilled triangles in (c) and (b) distinguish a
pump from a compressor. A slanted arrow in each of Figures 1.5(d) and (e) signifies
variable-displacement pump. Such a pump delivers flow nearly equal to the stroking
volume of the pump per rotation of the driven shaft. Hence, the discharge from it varies
with change of the stroking volume through an appropriate adjustment mechanism. While
the additional vertical arrow in (e) denotes an arrangement called pressure compensator by
which the displacement is adjusted passively with change of the delivery pressure, (d)
denotes a simple manual adjustment.
The short lines on either sides of pumps and compressors stand for piping
arrangement. While branching of pipes are identified by a dot at the branching point as
used in Figure 1.5(f), Figure 1.5(g) represents two non-intersecting lines.
The difference in the orientation of the triangles distinguishes a pump from a
hydraulic motor shown in Figures 1.5(c) and (h) respectively. Figures 1.5(i), (j) and (k) are
the symbols for single-acting, double-acting double rod and double-acting single-rod
cylinders. In a circuit drawing with a pump or compressor explicitly shown, the fluid-
identifying triangle in other symbols are often omitted.
Some recommended accessories in hydraulic actuation system are filters and
coolers, symbolically shown in Figures 1.5(l) and (m). Filters keep the small clearances in
the valves and pumps unclogged. Large pressure drops and the small orifice-like passages
the valves entail increase of oil temperatures. Coolers reduce the rise in the rate of increase
of oil temperature. Of course, tank is a necessary accessory of a hydraulic system. For the
sake of clarity of a circuit diagram, a tank symbol of Figure 1.5(n) is often used in multiple
places to represent the same tank in a circuit.
 M Fixed-displacement types
(b) Compressor and (b) Pump
(a) Motor (b) (c)

(d) Variable (e) Pressure-compensated

displacement pump variable-displacement pump

(g) Non-intersecting (h) Rotary Actuator or

(f) Branched Pipes Pipes Hydraulic Motor

(i) (j) (k)

Cylinders of different types – (i) single-acting, (i) double acting double-rod and
(k) double acting single-rod

(l) (m) (n) Tank or (o) Air (p) Air

Filter Cooler Reservoir Tank Preparation Unit

(o) Accumulator (r) Intensifier

Figure 1.5: Symbols for some Hydraulic and Pneumatic Components

In case of a pneumatic system, often an air tank symbolized in Figure 1.5(o) is used
for storing compressed air and often the ambient acts as direct source. The symbol in Figure
1.5(p) stands for an air preparation unit to ensure dry and dust-free air supply to critical
components of the system. Figures 1.5(q) and (r) are the symbols of accumulator and
intensifier that are used to augment respectively the discharge and the pressure of the pump
delivery over a part of the entire working cycle. In an accumulator, part of the flow that
would have been wasted through the pressure relief valve is stored to give it back to the
circuit during peak discharge demands. The pressure amplification is achieved at the small-
area end port of an intensifier through a reduction in the area ratio with respect to the large
area end port. The third port of the intensifier are meant for supplying or draining flow
from the expanding or contracting volume of fluid between the two heads.
 Hydraulic or Pneumatic Valves

Direction Control Valve (DCV) Pressure Control Valve Flow Control Valve
Non-return or Check Valve CV Fixed area
Pressure relief

Normal Remote-pilot To sump

Two-port two-way, or 2/2 DCV Unloading
Variable area
To sump
Normally off Normally on
A Counterbalance
3/3 DCV Pressure-
Compensated
P T
A B
4/3 DCV
Sequence
Open centered P T
A B

Closed centered P T
Figure 1.6: Valve classification and symbol

V x

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 1.7: 4-Port solenoid operated valves of (a) On-off type and (b) Infinite Position along with a
generic symbol of a (c) Sensor
A control system is either passive or active. A device is called active or passive
depending on whether it receives any external electrical or manual command or not. Figure
1.6 presents the symbols of different types of hydraulic and pneumatic valves that are either
passive or manually operated. Directional control valves, or DCVs, are used for directing
the power fluid in the desired direction. In any pressure control valve, high system pressure
communicated by a pilot line moves a floating component within the valve against a spring
so that flow path through the valve is either appropriately created or remains blocked. The
preloading of the spring can be set externally by appropriately turning a set screw.
Internal features and working of a check valve and a pressure relief valve
symbolically shown in Figure 1.6 has been explained in Figure 1.1. In the orifice of a flow
control valve, pressure drops in the direction of flow. Of course, the discharge is
approximately proportional to the open area of the orifice and square of the pressure drop
across the orifice. A variable-area flow control valve has a set-screw arrangement or its
equivalent to be operated manually for changing the orifice area prior to an application. In
a pressure-compensated flow-control valve, the orifice area gets passively adjusted through
feedback of pressures across the moving element within the valve from two locations of
the circuit at different pressures.
 4-port 3-way direction-control valves, or 4/3 DCVs, shown in Figure 1.6 have the
internal flow passages similar to that described for the proportional valve in Figure 1.1.
The central block with all the ports disconnected in the closed-center type shows the neutral
position. Two blocks on its opposite sides show the flow paths through the valve by
arrowheads. In a circuit with such a valve, the pump flow gets discharged at a high pressure
through the relief valve, when the DCV is positioned at its neutral. For the same positioning
of an open-centered 4/3 DCV, the pump flow gets discharged through the DCV at a low
pressure that in turn also depressurizes the part of the circuit upstream of the DCV. When
the valve is operated away from the neutral, the power loss in the system remains low at
the cost of slow system response during changeover across the neutral.
Figure 1.7(a) shows a 4/3 closed-center DCV operated by a pair of solenoid motors,
often referred as solenoids only. In Figure 1.7(b), the excitation signal to the driving motors
are adjustable that allows any setting of the valve between the fully closed and the
maximum opening position. Hence, this is called an infinite position valve. The command
signal is such valves are usually set by an automatic control arrangement through the
feedback of a sensor like LVDT shown in Figure 1.1. Figure 1.7(c) shows its symbolic
representation in a generic manner with displacement input x and voltage output V. With
substitution of x by , T or p, the sensor becomes an RVDT for measuring angular
displacement, thermocouple for temperature and pressure transducer for pressure.
A 3/3 DCV shown in Figure 1.6 is meant for use in a circuit with a single-acting
cylinder shown in Figure 1.5(i). Consider the cylinder as vertical with its piston supporting
a load that needs to be raised or lowered. Clearly the rightmost positioning of the valve
allows the cylinder flow to return to the tank and keep the load at the lowest position with
the cylinder most retracted. When the valve is moved to activate the flow path shown in
the leftmost block, the load rises. When the load attains the desired height, it can be locked
at that position by positioning the valve at the neutral with all the ports disconnected.

1.3 Basic Circuits

Figures 1.8(a) and (b) represent bi-directional motion control systems, respectively
with pneumatic and hydraulic actuations. While the pneumatic circuit is an open one with
a bi-directional motor providing angular motion and a manual 4/3 DCV, the hydraulic
circuit is a closed type providing linear motion at the output piston of a cylinder operated
by a pair of on-off solenoids integral with a 4/3 DCV. The abbreviation of SO is often used
to designate solenoid operation. Hence SODCV stands for solenoid-operated DCV.
In Figure 1.8(b), the accumulator flow is routed through a counterbalance valve, or
CBV. The spring-loaded accumulator in this figure contrasts the gas loaded accumulator
of Figure 1.5(o). Accumulator charging in Figure 1.8(b) occurs during the neutral dwell of
the DCV between the pressure settings of the sequence valve SV in the CBV and the relief
valve. The flow leaves the accumulator through the check valve CV of the CBV for
utilization in the cylinder, when its flow requirement is more than that of the pump. Of
course, the minimum pressure in the accumulator at the fully discharged condition could
be below the set pressure of the SV. However, wider gap between the minimum pressure
and the relief valve set pressure would mean wider pressure variation in the system during
actuator operation. Often an intensifier is used in a circuit to augment the pump pressure
over a short displacement, as depicted in Figure 1.9 in terms of a piercing operation.
 M M
(a)
(b)
Figure 1.8: Bi-directional motion control circuits – (a) Pneumatic, Manual and Open; (b)
Hydraulic with SOV and Accumulator

Intensifier
p2 p1
L N R A2 A1

Figure 1.9: Intensifier Circuit

Pressure p1 acting on the larger-area piston receiving flow from the pump in Figure
1.9 gets amplified to p2, which can be expressed by using the Pascal law as
p2  p1 A1 / A2 .
This amplified pressure generates the large force necessary to perform the piercing
operation during flow through SV in response to increase in pressure from the instant of
the piercing tool touching the work piece. Prior to the touching, fast approach of the tool
to the work piece takes place through the remote-pilot operated CV, or RPCV. The flow
consequent to this leaves the intensifier through its third port to return to the tank. This
sequence of piston motions is achieved corresponding to the DCV position L activated.
Following the piercing operation, the DCV is put to the R position. The flow to the rod-
end of the cylinder causes piston retraction. During the initial part, the flow out of the
cylinder enters the smaller-area side of the intensifier causing its retraction as well. The
flow from its opposite end returns to the tank through CV of CBV. In order to support the
retraction, the flow necessary through the intermediate port into the intensifier is supplied
by the pump. Once the retraction of the intensifier gets over, the pump pressure increases
forcing RPCV to open and allow flow from the cylinder through it back to the tank. This
allows the full retraction of the piston inside the cylinder.

Figure 1.10 depicts two different types of speed control circuits. Figure 1.10(a)
shows a regenerative circuit. This is termed so, since the piston speed during its extension
stroke is augmented by redirecting the rod-end return flow to join the pump flow Qp and
proceed to the cap end of the cylinder. Corresponding to cap and rod-end side areas of the
piston given respectively by Ac and Ar, the piston speed is clearly given by
Vp = Qp /(Ac−Ar) > Qp /Ac.
This happens corresponding to the DCV lever positioning shown at the right block
communicating pump pressure to both the sides of the piston. Under the pump pressure Pp,
the piston extends due to a net driving thrust Pp(Ac−Ar) in view of Ac > Ar. Clearly, a
regenerative arrangement does not work for a symmetric double-rod cylinder due to the
equal and opposite thrusts on the piston. By the pump flow at the rod end, the return stroke
of the piston occurs at a speed Qp /Ar that gives rise to a cap-end side discharge equal to Qp
Ac /Ar. From the cylinder, this flow returns through the DCV back to the tank. It is worth
to study the differences in speed and thrust during the extension and retraction strokes of
the piston between the regenerative circuit and a simple circuit with a 4/3 DCV without
regeneration.
A meter-in circuit is shown in Figure 1.10(b). In the flow line at each end of the
cylinder ports, there is a check valve CV placed in a line parallel to a flow-control valve
FCV. Each CV is connected in a manner to allow flow through it only from the cylinder
towards the DCV. Hence, the flow through the FCV is always towards the cylinder. Since
the flow at the inlet of the cylindered is always metered by the FCV, be it the extension or
return stroke, this arrangement gives rise to what is called a meter-in circuit. The manual
setting of both the FCVs should be adjusted to comply with operational need. It is easy to
verify that a reversal of the setting of each CV parallel to the respective FCV would provide
a meter-out circuit.
A steady velocity of the piston is attained, when the oil thrust on the piston equals
the sum of the friction force and the external load. In a hydraulic cylinder, the friction has
a complex dependence on the piston speed. Also, in a manually-operated DCV, the
pressure drop at any of its port is insignificant in comparison to that in an FCV. Hence in
the meter-in setting, the cylinder chamber receiving the supply from the pump side remains
at a pressure maintained by the relief valve setting less by the drop that takes place at FCV.
The other chamber of the cylinder remains at a pressure higher than the tank pressure only
by the amount of a small drop at the DCV.
In the meter-out setting, the cylinder side fed from the pump reamins at a pressure
close to the relief valve setting. The pressure at the other end remains at a pressure higher
than the tank pressure by the drops at both the FCV and the DCV. In both the meter-in and
meter-out settings, the thrusts across the piston are identical. However, the overall level of
the cylinder pressure is higher for the meter-out configuration. If the external load
resembles a piercing operation, the meter-out circuit has the advantage of developing
higher back-pressure at the tank-side chamber during the transient, thereby limiting the
over-speeding. A delay in putting the DCV to its neutral after piercing could make the
supply-end chamber susceptible to cavitation due to the piston over speeding.
 M

(a) (b)
Figure 1.10: Speed Control Circuits - (a) Regenerative, (b) Meter-in

Amplifier

Command IM OM
Signal
Host PC UI RTP
M
Real-time
Controller
Figure 1.11: Schematics of an electrohydraulic feedback control system

The system shown in Figure 1.11 is a closed-loop automatic control system

resembling the one in Figure 1.1 with the solenoid pairs of the PV replaced by a bi-
directional LFM. It may be noted that the features of the metering of the inlet and outlet
flows of the cylinder explained in Figure 1.9(b) have been incorporated in the relevant
ports of the valve symbol of Figure 1.11. Such a system ensures meter-in-meter-out flow
in the cylinder in both the extension and return strokes.

1.4 Open and Closed-loop Control System

A major classification of control systems is
 Open-loop control system
 Closed-loop control system.
In an open-loop system, the demand constitutes the input to the controller processor. The
controller in a closed-loop system also has a summing processor. Besides the demand, the
latter processor receives a feedback signal of the response or the output. The difference of
the response from the demand is computed as the controller error and fed to the controller
processor. Figure 1.12 depicts a closed-loop system. In general any physical system is
subjected to an external disturbance. The objective of the controller of a closed-loop system
is to keep the error small in the face of the disturbance, irrespective of whether the demand
is constant or variable in time. A regulatory or tracking control corresponds to a constant
or time-varying demand respectively.
 Summing Disturbance
Demand Processor Response
or or
Input Control
+ =
Controller Power
System System or Output
Processor Amplifier Process
 Actuator

Sensor
Figure 1.12: Closed-Loop Control System

Each block represents separate unit in the block diagram representation of a typical
close-loop control system depicted by Figure 1.12. The incoming and outgoing arrows
from each block represent the individual input and output of each block. If the dynamics
of each block is represented by a linear differential equation, the corresponding block is
said to represent a linear system. The ratio of Laplacians of input and output corresponding
to zero initial conditions for such a system is called the transfer function. The steady-state
component of this ratio is called the gain of the block. A control system analysis is usually
carried out on a linear framework.
The block in thick outline is, in general, a system or a process, which has an output,
called the system output. In particular, this block can be an electrohydraulic system,
different components of which have been discussed earlier. Flow dynamics of a hydraulic
system essentially comprises of nonlinear pressure-discharge relationship of the flow
network. The corresponding control system analysis demands linearization of the flow
relationship at different operating points.
A control system is actuated by a command signal, known as the system input,
corresponding to a desired steady-state system output. In a feedback control system, this
output is sensed by a sensor and fed back to the controller. Under steady state, the system
input and the feedback signal are ideally equal. This gives rise to a zero error input to the
controller processor. Though the error deviates from zero under transient state, a good
controller ensures quick settlement of the error near to zero. The controller processor holds
the control law. This processes the error to produce the controller output, which is
amplified by a power amplifier to generate a signal capable of driving the system through
the control actuator.
The input to an open loop control system is always calibrated for the desired system
output in the form of a performance map. A good map is essential for successful operation
of an open loop control system. The ratio of this output to the input is referred as the
forward path gain. An open loop system is much simpler in comparison to a feedback
control system.
A closed-loop or feedback control system provides a means of obtaining an
accurate system output, even in presence of system disturbance and parameter variation.
For instance, in the speed control system of a turbine shaft, the system disturbance could
be a variation in the alternator load connected to the turbine.
 An example of parameter variation is wearing of components with fine tolerances
and eventual degradation of performance with time. In power plants, parameters can vary
between 20% and 100% on account of alternator load variation. The linearized control
analysis of a nonlinear system at different operating points could also be seen as a form of
parameter variation. In case of moving a control surface of an airplane, the force
requirement depends both on the vehicle speed and air density. An airplane passes through
two distinct regimes of variation of these parameters − one during take-off and landing and
the other during high-altitude level flight condition.
Capability of handling disturbances and parameter variations are the strongest
motivation behind incorporating feedback in sophisticated control systems, like the servo-
actuation systems of air borne vehicles and power plants. Electrohydraulic systems are
preferred over electrical systems for their higher power density and better fault tolerance.
However, electrical systems are easier to control for their inherent linear characteristics.

Questions

1. With the help of simple sketches as applicable, describe the working of (a) an LVDT,
(b) a pressure relief valve, (c) a check valve, (d) a solenoid-operated 4/3 on-off DCV (e)
(d) a solenoid-operated 3/3 on-off DCV and (f) permanent-magnet bi-directional force
motor.
2. Why an oil filter and a cooler are used in a hydraulic circuit?
3. Name the major variants of fluids used in a hydraulic circuit. Why is oil the most
preferred fluid?
4. State the relative merits and demerits of an electrohydraulic system with respect to a
system that is (a) electrical, (b) electro-pneumatic, (c) hydraulic and (d) electro-mechanical
type with gear transmission.
5. Why is positive displacement pump preferred over rotodynamic pump in a hydraulic
control circuit?
6. Draw the symbols of (a) compressor, (b) hydraulic motor and (c) different types of
displacement pumps.
7. When is a permanent-magnet motor preferred over a solenoid motor for driving a
hydraulic valve?
8. How does a servovalve differ from a proportional valve?
9. What are meant by metered and unmetered orifices of a valve? Why are the openings in
a metered orifice in an SOV small?
11. Explain the differences between (a) single-rod and double-rod cylinders of double
acting type and (b) open and closed centered DCVs.
12. Explain the roles of an accumulator and an intensifier in a hydraulic circuit.
13. Sketch a symbolic diagram of an intensifier and explain the roles of its ports.
14. With the help of symbolic diagrams, explain the working in (a) regenerative circuit, (b)
intensifier circuit, (c) meter-in for both extension and retraction of a double-acting cylinder,
(d) meter-out for both extension and retraction of a double-acting cylinder and (e) meter-
in-meter-out in extension and unmetered retraction of a double-acting cylinder.
15. Explain the advantage of metering-out over metering-in for a loaded extension stroke.
16. Separate flow-control valves are used in case of a manually-controlled meter-in-meter-
out circuit, whereas in a proportional valve no separate flow-control valves are used –
explain.
17. Draw a sketch of an electrohydraulic actuation system with feedback control and a user
interface.
18. Draw a block diagram of a general closed-loop system and explain the functions of
various blocks.
19. Discuss the relative merits and demerits of open-loop and closed-loop control systems.
20. Explain the term parameter variation in the context of a feedback control system in
terms of (a) flight control of an aircraft and (b) aging of a servovalve.
21. Explain the term disturbance in the context speed control of the alternator of a power
plant.