293

Prediction and diagnosis of faults in hydraulic

systems

C Angeli1 * and A Chatzinikolaou2

1
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Technological Institute of Piraeus, Athens, Greece
2
Automation Systems SA, Athens, Greece

Abstract: Fault prediction oVers a new perspective to diagnostic engineering systems by covering a
wider area of the diagnostic task. This paper presents the fault prediction and diagnosis process of a
knowledge-based diagnostic system that is able to predict and diagnose faults in hydraulic systems.
Expert systems technology is used cooperatively with dynamic modelling information and on-line
sensor information in a suitable environment for the interaction of symbolic and numerical data.
This system has been successfully implemented and tested on an actual electrohydraulic system.

Keywords: expert systems, model-based fault diagnosis, fault prediction, hydraulic systems

1 INTRODUCTION Considering that the complexity of these systems and

Fault detection techniques have received considerable
attention in recent years owing to the increasing
demand for higher operational e ciency, reliability and
safety of technical systems and several approaches have
been developed using numerical methods [1, 2], arti®cial
intelligence methods [3, 4] or a combination of the two
methodologies [5, 6].
The incorporation of the fault prediction function in a
diagnostic system oVers the bene®t of prevention of
future extensive process failures of a technical system.
This early process fault detection [7] is essential for the
further evolution of diagnostic systems. The detection
of small incipient faults can be achieved using model-
based processing of all measurable variables, using
either qualitative or quantitative modelling. Recent
methods that are able to recognize faults at an earlier
phase have been proposed in references [8] to [10].
Hydraulic systems exhibit a sensitive dynamic beha-
viour, which is strongly in¯uenced by a small leakage.
The change of the dynamic response of the system due
to a small leakage can be used for the development of
a fault prediction procedure. Previous diagnostic
knowledge-based methods for hydraulic systems were
contributed, among other researchers, by Angeli and
Chatzinikolaou [11] and Angeli and Atherton [12].
The MS was received on 26 September 2001 and was accepted after
revision for publication on 4 October 2001.
¤
Corresponding author: Department of Mathematics and Computer
Science, Technological Institute of Piraeus, Konstantinoupoleos 38, N.
Smirni, GR-17121 Athens, Greece.
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the high working pressures involve a signi®cant risk in
detecting a defective component, automatic on-line
fault prediction is a particularly important technique
for this domain.
2 INFLUENCE OF LEAKAGE IN THE DYNAMIC
BEHAVIOUR OF HYDRAULIC SYSTEMS
Leakage is a general symptom of worn hydraulic compo-
nents. In most cases leakage increases progressively
during a long period of time before it can cause a fault,
but it changes the dynamic behaviour of the system at
an early stage. Research work on the in¯uence of leakage
in the dynamic behaviour of hydraulic systems for robots
[13] led to the results presented in Fig. 1.
The curves in Fig. 1 represent the dynamic response of
the system for various cases of leakage. The two higher
curves represent the pressure pa at the inlet port of a
hydraulic motor in the case that there is no leakage at
all and in the case of a small motor leakage. It is obvious
that the dynamic response changes dramatically in
comparison with the static behaviour owing to a small
leakage. The changes in the dynamic behaviour shown
by the two lower curves due to a small leakage caused
by varying other parameters are similar.
The observation of the in¯uence of the leakage on the
pressure at critical points of the hydraulic system and the
deviation of curves between the model and measurement
system in the dynamic range due to an incipient leakage
can be used for the fault prediction process of the diag-
nostic expert system.
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Fig. 1
3 THE DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEM
The diagnostic system is implemented on an actual
electrohydraulic system. A data acquisition and control
system is developed for the generation and interpretation
of signals referring to the pressure at critical points of
the hydraulic system and the angular velocity of the
hydraulic motor as well as the digital input signals
corresponding to the functional conditions of the
Fig. 2
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C ANGELI AND A CHATZINIKOLAOU
Pressure pa for various operating conditions
actual system. The layout of Fig. 2 shows the main
part of the hydraulic system with the electrohydraulic
components and the control and measurement devices
as well as the electronic devices and their connections
with the hydraulic system, the multiple power supply
unit and the computer.
The hydraulic system was modelled using known
physical relationships of the hydraulic components and
together with the simulation program was validated
General layout of the electronic interface
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 PREDICTION AND DIAGNOSIS OF FAULTS IN HYDRAULIC SYSTEMS
Fig. 3 System performance in the case of a small leakage
after comparison with the system measurements. The
results of the simulation program as well as the informa-
tion produced by signals of the sensors are inputs to the
expert system.
The expert system is developed in two interactive
parts. The ®rst part performs the comparison of the
measured quantities with the corresponding simulation
results while the second part decides on the ®nal conclu-
sion. The comparison leads to the detection of an
equipment fault or a fault in an early state. The devia-
tions between the values of the pressure at speci®c
points of the actual system and the angular velocity
and their corresponding values from the simulation of
the fault-free system are considered as fault criteria.
These deviation values over the dynamic range are
compared with prede®ned thresholds. These thresholds
represent acceptable deviations from the ideal system
and are determined from experiential knowledge accord-
ing to the needs of the speci®c application.
4 FAULT PREDICTION
The comparison of the simulation results with the actual
measurements from the hydraulic system is realized by
the ®rst part of the diagnostic expert system that is
responsible for the numerical calculations. The diagrams
of Fig. 3 are of the interface of this part of the expert
system and represent the response of the hydraulic
system in the case of a small leakage.
The ®rst part of Fig. 3 shows the calculated and the
measured values of the pressure pa , the second part the
calculated and measured values of pressure pb , the third
part the calculated and the measured values of the angular
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295
velocity w and in the fourth part the deviation between the
curves from model and system. In this fourth part, the
values at the beginning of the curves correspond to
the deviation for the transient condition while the values
at the end show the deviation for the steady state. It can
be observed that these deviations are higher in the
transient condition and also higher in the case of the
pressures than in the case of the angular velocity.
The deviations between measured and calculated
curves are continuously monitored and when the limits
of the speci®c threshold are exceeded an incipient
motor leakage is detected and declared. The conclusion
on whether these deviations are acceptable or not is
written to text ®les. The ®nal conclusion about the
prediction of a fault is performed by the knowledge
base of the system, which is also responsible for the
diagnosis of faults.
5 FAULT DIAGNOSIS PROCESS
The deviation values of measured and calculated
quantities are translated into symbolic information
which can be used by the knowledge base of the system
for the ®nal conclusion. This symbolic information
is actually short words or abbreviations that indicate
the deviation in the performance of the system and the
performance of the model for the main variables of the
system such as ‘small’, ‘med’ and ‘high’. Such informa-
tion can be passed in the structure of the knowledge
representation scheme and can trigger speci®c sets of
rules that are organized under a structure of topics.
Scienti®c knowledge and experiential knowledge are
used cooperatively for the ®nal decision.
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Fig. 4 Explanation of prediction of the start of a motor failure
The ®nal diagnosis of faults is performed in the second
part of the expert system. In this process measurement
information, modelling information and stored knowl-
edge derived by the expert are involved. Domain-speci®c
knowledge is represented in a suitable form to perform
diagnosis of faults and to explain the reasoning
procedure of the system.
6 A FAULT PREDICTION EXAMPLE
In the following, a fault prediction example is presented
that indicates the reasoning of the expert system. In this
example the symptom is a slightly reduced speed of the
hydraulic motor. The output signals of pressure trans-
ducers and the rotary encoder are used as a means to
measure the pressure values as well as the angular
velocity. These values and the corresponding values
from the simulation are compared in the expert system.
The comparison results are written to ®les that interact
with the knowledge base of the expert system and the
prediction of a ‘motor leakage’ fault is declared. If the
user needs an explanation of the presented diagnosis,
he or she can ‘click’ on the button ‘Explain’ and the
relevant explanations appear in the dialogue window.
Figure 4 illustrates an explanation of the prediction of
a ‘motor leakage’ fault.
The text-based explanation comprises the logical
states associated with the search for the speci®c fault.
The explanation of ‘why a fault is predicted’ is particu-
larly useful for the maintenance of the system and gives
a new dimension to diagnostic systems.
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C ANGELI AND A CHATZINIKOLAOU
7 CONCLUSION
In this paper, the fault prediction and diagnosis pro-
cedures of an expert system for hydraulic systems are
presented. The in¯uence of the leakage on the dynamic
behaviour of a hydraulic system was successfully used
for the establishment of a fault prediction and diagnosis
system. Dynamic modelling information involved in the
fault detection system oVered the capability of predicting
real-time faults.
The main importance of developing fault prediction
functions in the diagnostic system lies in the economic
bene®ts gained for hydraulic systems by preventing
unexpected shutdowns in a production procedure as well
as in the higher degree of safety and reliability oVered
for industrial systems. The experimentation results show
that the fault prediction and diagnosis procedure is reli-
able and the method is applicable to real-world systems.
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