A Study on the Design and Control of Energy-efficient Pneumatic Drives
type: CreativeWork
description: A major criticism for the use of servo pneumatic systems or pneumatics in general is about their low energy efficiency. In the past, major efforts on developing servo pneumatic drives for some advanced applications are largely focused on the control algorithm development whereas the very fundamental knowledge on pneumatic drives has not been much advanced. The low energy efficiency issues with pneumatic drives remain to be an unresolved problem today. This research aims to explore new energy-efficient design and control strategies considering different end-use methods and to understand the dynamic behaviour of energy-efficient pneumatic drives through modelling, simulation and experimental studies. It is observed that the modelling and control of pneumatic drive systems has been limited mostly to those of symmetric cylinders dated back to the foundation work in 195O’s. Therefore, this research has focused firstly on the modelling and analysis of the dynamic behaviour of pneumatic asymmetric-cylinder drives (symmetric cylinder is then seen as a special case). Applying conventional small perturbation techniques, asymmetric cylinder drives are rationally modelled as a two-order or third-order system with regard to the opening condition of the control valve. Based on the model including the factors of ram area ratio and residual volume, some specific relationships have been revealed. The piston position correlating to the minimum stiffness for asymmetric cylinders is identified and a novel analytical solution is offered. It is found that this position is a function of the ram areas, residual volumes, and chamber pressures. The ram area ratio plays a significant role in affecting the distribution of both the natural frequency and damping ratio along the whole working stroke of asymmetric cylinders. The effects of factors, such as ram area ratio, valve opening, viscous coefficient, on the natural frequency and damping ratio are also studied. The position and motion direct…
abstract: A major criticism for the use of servo pneumatic systems or pneumatics in general is about their low energy efficiency. In the past, major efforts on developing servo pneumatic drives for some advanced applications are largely focused on the control algorithm development whereas the very fundamental knowledge on pneumatic drives has not been much advanced. The low energy efficiency issues with pneumatic drives remain to be an unresolved problem today. This research aims to explore new energy-efficient design and control strategies considering different end-use methods and to understand the dynamic behaviour of energy-efficient pneumatic drives through modelling, simulation and experimental studies. It is observed that the modelling and control of pneumatic drive systems has been limited mostly to those of symmetric cylinders dated back to the foundation work in 195O’s. Therefore, this research has focused firstly on the modelling and analysis of the dynamic behaviour of pneumatic asymmetric-cylinder drives (symmetric cylinder is then seen as a special case). Applying conventional small perturbation techniques, asymmetric cylinder drives are rationally modelled as a two-order or third-order system with regard to the opening condition of the control valve. Based on the model including the factors of ram area ratio and residual volume, some specific relationships have been revealed. The piston position correlating to the minimum stiffness for asymmetric cylinders is identified and a novel analytical solution is offered. It is found that this position is a function of the ram areas, residual volumes, and chamber pressures. The ram area ratio plays a significant role in affecting the distribution of both the natural frequency and damping ratio along the whole working stroke of asymmetric cylinders. The effects of factors, such as ram area ratio, valve opening, viscous coefficient, on the natural frequency and damping ratio are also studied. The position and motion direct…
author: Yang, Aimin
license: https://dora.dmu.ac.uk/bitstreams/09a0e991-8773-4fcc-9787-389503f80939/download
date published: 2006-03
date modified: 2026-07-24T06:18:33Z
provider: De Montfort University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: De Montfort University