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Computer Aided Analysis of a Load-Sensing Circuit

Using Modelica and HyLib
FPN Simulation Benchmark (2001)
Peter Beater
Universitt - GH Paderborn, Abt. Soest, Germany
Lbecker Ring 2, D 59494 Soest
Abstract
To solve the FPN Benchmark Problem 2001 a simulation model is built that describes the
power hydraulics part very detailed, choosing pump, valves and cylinders from a hydraulics
library for Modelica. For the control part a generic LS-Control-System is used, modeled by a
set of simple equations. This approach gives the required results and keeps the time needed
for analysing the problem on a reasonable level.
1 Introduction
There are several approaches when simulating a system. Depending on the task it may
be necessary to build a very detailed model, containing every detail of the system and needing
a lot of information, e. g. parameters. These kind of models are very expensive but on the
other hand very useful if parameters of a well defined system have to be modified. A typical
example is the optimization of parameters of a counterbalance valve in an excavator [8].
The other kind of model is needed for a first study of a system. In our case some prop-
erties of the pump, cylinders and loads are specified. Required is information about the per-
formance of that system, e. g. the speed of the pistons or the necessary input power at the
pump shaft, to make a decision whether this design can be used in principle for the task at
hand. This model has therefore to be cheap, e. g. it must be possible to build it in a short time
without detailed knowledge of particular components.
The author intended to build a model of the second type, run it and have first results
with a time of less than ten hours spent. To achieve this goal the modelling language Mode-
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lica [18], the tool Dymola [16] and the library of hydraulic components HyLib [17] was used.
The model consists of a detailed description of the power hydraulics and a generic LS-system
as controller.
2 The proposed Circuit
The proposed circuit is given in Fig 1 [15].
Figure 1 Schematic of proposed circuit [15]
Some hard data is given, e. g. cylinder dimensions, loads and maximum pump flow rate.
Added is information that is not needed for a first study, but a detailed analysis, e. g. the
nominal pressure of the pump and the nominal speed. One attempt could be to make a com-
plete design of the whole system. This would require either a lot of experience with similar
systems to have a good estimate of the valve data or a huge amount of work to calculate all
the required parameters. However, even then the model would be academic because one very
important component, the Diesel engine, is not specified. Neither torque characteristics nor
maximum power is known.
3 Generic Load-Sensing System
For this study another approach is chosen: Model the cylinder and to a certain extent the
pump and metering valve very detailed and use a generic LS-system for control purposes.
This LS-system can be characterized as follows [9]:
! Keep the pressure differential across the metering orifices of the directional valves at a
nominal value of 1.5 MPa.
! Use load compensators if the load pressures of the two cylinders differ.
! Reduce the nominal pressure differential if the maximum pump flow rate is reached.
! Limit the maximum pump pressure to 28 MPa.
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This control system can be set up using meshed control loops. As there is (almost) no way to
implement phase shifting behaviour in purely hydraulic control systems the generic LS-
system uses only proportional controllers. To implement it 10 equations and 1 assignment
statement are used.
Table 1 Modelica code for definition for constants, parameters and variable
// Definition of variables, parameters and constants
Real delta_p1;
Real delta_p2;
Real pump_ls;
Real pump_ls1;
Real pump_ls2;
Real dp_ref(start=15e5);
Boolean pump_q_max;
Boolean pump_p_max(start=false);
parameter Real tau_pump=1e-5;
constant Real k_LS=1e-5;
Table 2 Modelica code for LS-Controller
// Set of equations to model the LS-controller
equation
// define pressure differential across the two metering orifices
// for load compensator and documentation purposes
delta_p1 = if (Z1.outPort.signal[1] <= 0) then Pump.IFE.port_B.p else
(MeteringOri1.MOrnS.port_A.p - MeteringOri1.MOrnS.port_B.p);
delta_p2 = if (Z2.outPort.signal[1] <= 0) then 0.0 else
(MeteringOri2.MOrnS.port_A.p - MeteringOri2.MOrnS.port_B.p);
// calculate load pressure for pump controller
pump_ls1 = if (Z1.outPort.signal[1] <= 0) then Pump.IFE.port_B.p else
(MeteringOri1.port_A.p - Compensator1.port_B.p);
pump_ls2 = if (Z2.outPort.signal[1] <= 0) then Pump.IFE.port_B.p else
(MeteringOri2.port_A.p - Compensator2.port_B.p);
pump_ls = min(pump_ls1, pump_ls2);
// define Boolean state for pump controller
pump_q_max = k_LS*(15e5 - pump_ls) > 1.7e-3;
// calculate command signal for pump
Pump.inPort.signal[1] = if pump_p_max then min(1.7e-3, 1.7e-3 + k_LS*1e-2*
(280e5 - Pump.IFE.port_B.p)) else if (pump_q_max) then 1.7e-3 else (k_LS*(15e5 - pump_ls));
// modify reference signal if maximum pump flow rate is exceeded
dp_ref = if (pump_q_max and not pump_p_max) then pump_ls else 15e5;
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Table 2 continued Modelica code for LS-Controller
// calculate conductance of pressure compensator
Compensator1.InPort1.signal[1] = min(1e-8, max(1e-13, 1e-8 - (delta_p1 - dp_ref)*5e-14));
Compensator2.InPort1.signal[1] = min(1e-8, max(1e-13, 1e-8 - (delta_p2 - dp_ref)*5e-14));
// external force on rods as given in the paper
Force1.inPort.signal[1] = -(50e3 - 160e3*(C1.Piston.s*1.25 - 0.5)^2);
Force2.inPort.signal[1] = -(30e3 + 80e3*(C2.Piston.s*1.25 - 0.5)^2);
// set Boolean state if max. pump pressure is reached
algorithm
when (not pump_p_max and Pump.IFE.port_B.p > 280e5) then pump_p_max := true;
end when;
4 The object-oriented modelling language Modelica
The starting point of the development of Modelica in 1996 was the interoperability
problem amongst the large variety of modelling and simulation environments available then,
especially with the trend towards ever more complex and heterogeneous systems to be simu-
lated. The main cause of this problem was the absence of a state-of-the-art, standardized ex-
ternal model representation. Modelling languages, where employed, often do not adequately
support the structuring of large, complex models and the process of model evolution in gen-
eral. This support is usually provided by sophisticated graphical user interfaces - an approach
which is capable of greatly improving the users productivity. Among the recent research re-
sults in modelling and simulation, two concepts have strong relevance to this problem:
! Object oriented modelling languages already demonstrated how object oriented concepts
can be successfully employed to support hierarchical structuring, reuse and evolution of
large and complex models independent from the application domain and specialized
graphical formalisms.
! Non-causal modelling demonstrated that the traditional simulation abstraction - the in-
put/output block - can be generalized by relaxing the causality constraints, i.e., by not
committing ports to an input or output role early, and that this generalization enables
both more simple models and more efficient simulation while retaining the capability to
include submodels with fixed input/output roles.
A working group made up of simulation tool builders, users from different application
domains, and computer scientists unified the concepts and introduced a common modelling
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language. This language, called Modelica, is intended for modelling within many application
domains (for example: electrical circuits, multi-body systems, drive trains, hydraulics, ther-
modynamic systems and chemical systems) and possibly using several formalisms (for exam-
ple: ODE, DAE, bond graphs, finite state automata and Petri nets). Tools which might be gen-
eral purpose or specialized to certain formalism and/or domain will store the models in the
Modelica format in order to allow exchange of models between tools and between users.
Much of the Modelica syntax will be hidden from the end-user because, in most cases, a
graphical user interface will be used to build models by selecting icons for model compo-
nents, using dialogue boxes for parameter entry and connecting components graphically [5].
5 The tool Dymola
From members of the Modelica Design Group several implementations of Modelica were
made. One of the most advanced and for industrial application most suited tools is Dymola
[16] from the Swedish company Dynasim. The program was written in 1978 as a research tool
[4], became a commercial product in 1992 and supports Modelica since 1999. It offers all
standard capabilities of modern simulation programs e. g. computation of steady state, line-
arisation, runs stable and produces very efficient simulation code.
6 The hydraulics library HyLib
To help users to quickly build a model a number of libraries for Modelica is available [7, 18].
Beside the ModelicaStandardLibrary there are dedicated libraries for certain domains, e. g.
thermo hydraulic flow or hydraulics [12, 2]. The later is used to model the pump, metering
orifice, load compensator and cylinder for the benchmark problem.
All these components are standard components for hydraulic circuits and can be ob-
tained from many manufacturers. Models of all of them are contained in the hydraulics library
for Modelica, HyLib [2]. These mathematical models include both standard textbook models
[e. g. 3, 8, 13] and the most advanced published models that take the behaviour of real com-
ponents into account [10, 14]. An example is the general pump model where the output flow
is reduced if pressure at the inlet port falls below atmospheric pressure. Numerical properties
were also considered when selecting a model [1]. One point worth mentioning is the fact that
all models can be viewed at source code level and are documented by approx. 100 references
form publicly available literature.
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After opening the library the main window is displayed (Fig. 2). A double click on the
pumps icon opens the selection for all components that are needed to originate or end an oil
flow (Fig. 3).
Fig. 2 Overview of Hydraulics library HyLib Fig. 3 Pump models in HyLib
For the benchmark problem a hydraulic flow source with internal leakage and exter-
nally commanded flow rate was used. The left blue triangle is a connector for a signal input,
giving the commanded flow rate. The right red square is a connector for the hydraulic pres-
sure and the flow rate.
Fig. 4 Icon for pump model
The metering orifice in the directional valve can be modeled with the library model
MeteringOrifice that describes the relation between flow rate and pressure drop.
Fig. 5 Icon for model of metering orifice
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Most textbooks and simulation packages use the simple equation:
P
2
C A Q
d

=
(1)
with: Q flow rate through orifice,
4 / D A
2
0
= area,
C
d
discharge coefficient,
fluid density,
P = P
1
- P
2
pressure differential.
The gain of the orifice, i. e. dQ / d(P), is given by:
p o
d
d
P 2
2
C A
P d
P
2
C A d
P d
dQ

(2)
with:
p o
P pressure drop evaluated at the operating point.
Equation 2 shows that the gain goes to infinity as the pressure drop P
|op
goes towards zero.
The reason for this effect is the fact that Equ. 1 is a good model for turbulent flow but a very
bad one for laminar which exists for small values of P. Another effect is that the infinite gain
may lead to severe numerical problems for algorithms with variable step size. In the library a
model based on the former German national standard TGL 38188 [11] is used.
The cylinder can be modeled with the library model Cylinder, see Fig. 6. An object
diagram of this model is given in Fig. 7. The complete mass of the moving parts is lumped
into the Piston.
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Fig. 6 Model of cylinder Fig. 7 Object diagram of library model Cylinder
Modelica is an object-oriented language that supports hierarchical modelling of physi-
cal systems. For the cylinder that means that the component consists of several simple sub-
models, both from the mechanical and the hydraulic domain. Figure 7 shows the object dia-
gram of the cylinder. The green connectors and connection lines are mechanical parts, the red
ones are hydraulic components. This is an example how complicated systems can be easily
composed from the libraries using the graphical interface.
For submodels it is usually more convenient to use textual input instead of graphical icons
as the next section demonstrates.
7 Hierachical modelling
A very simple hydraulic component is a restriction with laminar flow. In the cylinder
model one is used to describe the leakage between the two chambers. The LaminarResistance
is a typical example of a component that has two ports. To get a structured library it makes
sense to start modelling this kind of component with a class that models a component with
two ports and no energy storage (s. Fig. 9). The Modelica code looks like (graphical informa-
tion omitted)
model TwoPortComp Superclass of circuits with TWO hydraulic ports
Modelica.SIunits.Pressure dp Pressure drop;
Modelica.SIunits.VolumeFlowRate q Flow rate through component;
Modelica.SIunits.Pressure pA_limited;
Modelica.SIunits.Pressure pB_limited;
HyLib.Interfaces.Port_A port_A Port A, were oil flows into the component ;
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HyLib.Interfaces.Port_B port_B Port B, were oil leaves the component;
equation
pA_limited = max(port_A.p, HyLib.Interfaces.FluidProp.pvapour);
pB_limited = max(port_B.p, HyLib.Interfaces.FluidProp.pvapour);
dp = pA_limited - pB_limited;
q = port_A.q;
port_A.q + port_B.q = 0;
end TwoPortComp;
It is worth to note that Modelica uses equations and not assignment statements as pro-
gramming languages usually do. That means that the sequence of equations in a model doesn't
matter. It also means that every variable has to be defined by exactly one equation; the num-
ber of variables and the number of equations must be equal. The symbolic engine that makes
this modelling approach possible can also break algebraic loops, either by solving the system
of (linear) equations or by numerical iteration. This capability enables the modeller to just
write the equations without having to simplify of solve them by hand. The equations of the
generic LS-system are a good example. With block-oriented, assignment statements using
simulation languages this time-saving way could not be used.
The max operator limits the lower value of the pressure because the pressure of a
technical fluid cannot fall below vapour pressure; a technical fluid can transmit only positive
forces. This is a very crude model of the very complex effects of cavitation but is has proven
helpful especially when starting a simulation.
Fig. 8 Object diagram of TwoPortComp
Using this class it is simple to model a laminar resistance. Only the equation that de-
scribes the relation between pressure drop P (already defined as dp and computed) and flow
rate q has to be added. The key word for this inheritance is extends.
model LamResNoStates Resistance with laminar flow.
extends HyLib.Interfaces.TwoPortComp;
parameter HyLib.Interfaces.HyLibUnits.Conductance G=4.2e-13 conductance of laminar resistance;
equation
q = G*dp;
end LamResNoStates;
The class TwoPortComp can also be used for other components, e. g. a relief valve. The ex-
ample shows how easy relations can be expressed in Modelica (if ... then ... else). These
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statements are translated into elaborated machine code that uses switching functions and not
the simple if ... then ... else statements from programming languages.
model ReliefValveNoStates Ideal model of a relief valve.
extends HyLib.Interfaces.TwoPortComp;
parameter Modelica.SIunits.Pressure
pclosed(final min=0) = 190e5 valve closed if dp smaller;
parameter Modelica.SIunits.Pressure
popen=205e5 valve wide open if dp higher;
parameter HyLib.Interfaces.HyLibUnits.
Conductance GLeak=1.111e-12 conductance of closed valve, i. e. leakage;
parameter HyLib.Interfaces.HyLibUnits.
Conductance GOpen=1.666e-9 conductance of wide open valve;
Boolean closed(start=false) closed: .true. => valve closed, only leakage;
Boolean open(start=false) open : .true. => valve wide open;
equation
closed = dp < pclosed;
open = dp > popen;
q = if closed then dp*GLeak else if open then (dp - pclosed)*GOpen + dp*GLeak
else (dp - pclosed)^2*GOpen/(popen pclosed) + dp*GLeak;
assert(popen > pclosed, Parameter popen MUST be greater than parameter pclosed.);
end ReliefValveNoStates;
The relief valve model uses an assert statement to make sure that the selected parameters
make sense. The pressure that opens the valve completely must be greater than the pressure
when the valve is completely closed. The discrete states closed and open help the user to de-
termine the state of the valve during a simulation run.
These kind of models (Fig. 9) can already be used to build a system and are contained
in the Basic library windows. When connecting them to a system the user has to add manually
lumped volumes to model the pressure dynamics, however. The ports of a real component are
oil filled and therefore lumped volumes are added at the ports for the main library model
LamRes (Fig. 10) or ReliefValve.
Fig. 9 Library model of a laminar resistance,
LamResNoStates
Fig. 10 Main Model, volumes (states) at the ports,
LamRes
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This approach makes it very easy to build a model because the user only has to select
components, input parameters and connect them. The user doesnt have to include lumped
volumes as with other hydraulic simulation packages. The reason that it can be done this way
is that Dymola can cope with the resulting higher index system. During the system analysis
Dymola finds volumes that are connected in parallel and lumps them together.
8 Computer Model of Benchmark Problem
Fig. 11 Object diagram of simulation model
The object diagram in Fig. 11 shows the graphically composed part of the model. The
submodels were chosen from the appropriate libraries, connected and the parameters input. As
the friction model of the cylinder supports only speed dependent (viscous) friction a submodel
from the translational Modelica library was added to model a constant friction force of
4,000 N that the author has identified in cylinders of this size and this application area (exca-
vators). The input signals Z1 and Z2 are given by the tables, specifying the diameter of the
metering orifice. The maximum diameter was calculated to be 5.75 mm and a linear interpo-
lation between the given points was used.
To demonstrate how simple signal processing can be implemented the calculation of
the hydraulic power is shown. Two measuring devices give the pressure and flow rate, re-
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spectively, and those values are multiplied. Another approach was used for Fig. 15 were the
pressure and flow rate trajectories from the simulation were used for a post processing with a
detailed mathematical model of the torque and volumetric losses of a typical pump [1]. This
mixed approach - simple loss model in the simulation and detailed one afterwards - has
proven to be very time efficient. A detailed pump model would have increased the simulation
time considerably.
The generic LS controller uses the variables from the hydraulic part. They can be ac-
cessed directly, using a dot notation. The pressure at port A of the first metering orifice is
named MeteringOri1.port_A.p. The calculated values of the controller, e. g. the pump flow
rate, is input at the filled blue triangles, e. g. Pump.inPort.signal[1] = ... .
The mathematical effort to analyse the textual and graphical input and set up a system of
equations that can be successfully solved numerically is immense. The user doesn't notice that
however. For the model in Fig. 11 translation of the Modelica model to C code, compiling and
linking takes 12 s on a Pentium III with 566 MHz, simulating the model for 9 s takes 10 s
computing time. All this is simply done by pressing the appropriate buttons. Then Dymola
starts, giving the following message:
- translateModel("BenchA")
Translation started
DAE with 371 unknown scalars and 371 scalar equations.
11 constants found.
33 parameter bound variables found.
151 alias variables found.
176 remaining time dependent variables.
The next step is the index reduction, i. e. lumping directly connected volumes together. An
example is:
Constraint equation found. Reduced state space.
equation
MeteringOri2.VolumeA.port_A.p = MeteringOri1.VolumeA.port_A.p;
Non-state variable chosen: MeteringOri2.VolumeA.port_A.p
Differentiated the equation
MeteringOri2.VolumeA.port_A.p = MeteringOri1.VolumeA.port_A.p;
giving
der(MeteringOri2.VolumeA.port_A.p) = der(MeteringOri1.VolumeA.port_A.p);
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Finally there are 11 states left for the simulation model
/* There are 11 continuous time states:
Stop2.s
Stop2.v
C2.Chamber_B.port_A.p
C2.Chamber_A.port_A.p
Stop1.s
Stop1.v
C1.Chamber_B.port_A.p
MeteringOri1.VolumeB.port_A.p
C1.Chamber_A.port_A.p
MeteringOri2.VolumeB.port_A.p
MeteringOri1.VolumeA.port_A.p
End of list of continuous time states. */
Finished
9 Results
Two typical results are shown in Fig. 12 and 13. Plotted are the position of the cylinders and
the relevant pressure, i. e. pump pressure, pressure in cylinder chambers, pressure differential
across the metering orifices. Used are SI-Units.
Fig. 12 Simulation result from Dymola. Piston position in m over time in s
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Fig. 13 Simulation result from Dymola. Pressures in Pa over time in s
The required plots of the velocity of the cylinders in cm/s and the power on the pump shaft
were made with Matlab to have the required scaling of the variables and a postprocessing of
the simulation result for the power, respectively. The required data was read from a file in
Matlab-format generated by Dymola.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Time in s
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
V
e
l
o
c
i
t
y

i
n

c
m
/
s
cylinder 2
cylinder 1
Fig. 14 Velocity of cylinders, experiment A
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Time in s
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
P
o
w
e
r

o
n

p
u
m
p

s
h
a
f
t

i
n

k
W
Fig. 15 Power on the pump shaft, experiment A
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0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Time in s
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
V
e
l
o
c
i
t
y

i
n

c
m
/
s
cylinder 1
cylinder 2
Fig. 16 Velocity of cylinders, experiment B
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Time in s
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
P
o
w
e
r

o
n

p
u
m
p

s
h
a
f
t

i
n

k
W
Fig. 17 Power on the pump shaft, experiment B
10 Conclusion
Using a modern simulation tool a model was built that describes the behaviour of the cylin-
ders very detailed while using a generic LS-system as controller. The model uses both a
graphical interface for standard hydraulic or mechanical components and a textual input for
the specific control algorithms. This approach made it possible to give an answer to the posted
questions in reasonable time.
References
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nd
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[16] www.Dynasim.se
[17] www.HyLib.com
[18] www.Modelica.org