Chinese

Journal of
Aeronautics
Chinese Journal of Aeronautics 22(2009) 700-706 www.elsevier.com/locate/cja

Design and Simulation of Electro-hydrostatic Actuator with a

Built-in Power Regulator
Kang Rongjie*, Jiao Zongxia, Wang Shaoping, Chen Lisha
School of Automation Science and Electrical Engineering, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics,
Beijing 100191, China

Received 16 December 2008; accepted 15 May 2009

Abstract
The electro-hydrostatic actuator (EHA) is a kind of power-by-wire (PBW) actuator that converts the electrical power into lo-
calized hydraulic power for flight control. By removing the central hydraulic power supply together with hydraulic pipes, an
EHA’s reliability and efficiency are greatly improved but its frequency width and stiffness decreased. To overcome the drawback,
this article proposes a novel structure of EHA associated with a power regulator. Composed of a high-pressure accumulator and a
proportional valve, it can store and harness the hydraulic power flexibly according to the changing control requirements. The
concept of transferred volume is put forward to estimate the capability of the power regulator. The actuator output position can
be kept fixed with a hydraulic lock. The compounded control is specially developed to ensure the actuator system to operate in a
correct manner. The simulation results indicate that the new-brand actuator results in efficient expanding of the system frequency
width with an optimal power supply.

Keywords: electro-hydrostatic actuator (EHA); power regulator; transferred volume; hydraulic lock; frequency width; stiffness

1. Introduction1 relatively popular thanks to its structural simplicity and

As an attractive technical concept for the next gen-
eration of aircraft, the power-by-wire (PBW) flight
control system by removing central hydraulic power
supply together with hydraulic pipes and using elec-
trical cables for energy transmission, essentially in-
creases the reliability and energy efficiency of an ac-
tuator system[1].
The electro-hydrostatic actuator (EHA) is one kind
of PBW actuators that drives control surface of an air-
plane by localized hydraulic power transformed from
the electrical power. According to the differences in
control modes of the motors and pumps, EHA can be
divided into three categories: namely, EHA with fixed
pump displacements and variable motor speeds
(FPVM-EHA), EHA with variable pump displace-
ments and fixed motor speeds (VPFM-EHA) and EHA
with variable pump displacements and variable motor
speeds (VPVM-EHA). Of them, the FPVM-EHA is
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +86-10-82339238.
E-mail address: kangrongjie@vip.163.com
Foundation item: National Natural Science Foundation for Distinguished
Young Scholars of China (50825502)
1000-9361/$ - see front matter © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi: 10.1016/S1000-9361(08)60161-2
high-efficiency[2].
In FPVM-EHA, a bi-directional pump rotates at
variable speeds driven by an electrical motor. The res-
ervoir is composed of a low-pressure accumulator and
two check-valves to maintain the minimum pressure
required by the system. The bypass-valve and re-
lief-valve are arranged for system protection.
FPVM-EHA has found applications in a number of
airliners, such as Airbus A380, but there are still some
problems waiting for proper solutions. The maximum
frequency width of a FPVM-EHA, which amounts
only to 5 Hz, is not enough to meet the requirement for
military uses. On the other hand, its stiffness is beneath
what is expected[3-4] because the electrical motor con-
tinues to consume energy in the case of constant out-
puts thus making thermal dissipation rather difficult.
This causes the needs for immediate solution to the
problem concerning the effective use of the power of
FPVM-EHA. A lot of researchers have attempted to
solve it by developing high-performance electrical
motors[5-7] and advanced control methods[8-10]. How-
ever, their effects are always limited by the property of
electromagnetic materials[11].
This article presents a FPVM-EHA associated with
a power regulator (FEPR), which improves the system
performances through optimization of the supplied
No.6 Kang Rongjie et al. / Chinese Journal of Aeronautics 22(2009) 700-706
power.
2. Structure Design
2.1. Configuration and operation modes
Fig.1 shows the schematic structure of a FPVM-
EHA. Fig.2 shows the schematic structure of a FEPR.
The power regulator in it is considered to be the sec-
ond power source working in parallel with the
FPVM-EHA. The proportional valve controls its out-
put to provide transient flow. The hydraulic lock is a
solenoid valve used to lock the actuator according to
the operation modes and the system status. The bypass
valve and the relief valve involved in FEPR are not
shown in Fig.2.
Fig.1 A diagram of FPVM-EHA.
Fig.2 A diagram of FEPR.
There are three operational modes in FEPR, i.e.
(1) High-efficiency mode, in which the power regu-
lator does not work with the proportional valve at the
median point and the system operates as a conven-
tional FPVM-EHA itself.
(2) High-speed mode, which, as a dual-control
strategy to satisfy the expeditious requirements in short
time, responds to the system more swiftly and the pro-
portional valve this time controls the outputs of the
power regulator to compensate the oil flow generated
by the motor-pump.
(3) Locking mode, in which the outputs of the ac-
tuator are kept unchanged by the solenoid valve and
meanwhile, the motor-pump refeeds the oil to the
power regulator from the reservoir until the regulator’s
pressure reaches the preset value.
2.2. Power regulator
The power regulator, which consists of a high-pre-
ssure accumulator and a proportional valve, stores and
harnesses the hydraulic power to ensure the high-ma-
neuverability of flight.
· 701 ·
The output flow of the power regulator helps accel-
erate or decelerate the actuator’s outputs. The addi-
tional flow enters the reservoir to balance the pressure
difference between the power regulator and the reser-
voir. Fig.3 shows the transferring process, where the
high-pressure and low-pressure accumulators should
be designed carefully to guarantee the appropriate op-
erating conditions. The bigger the total volume of
accumulators, the more the power they can offer but
the bigger and the heavier they would become.
Fig.3 Oil transferring between two accumulators.
The changes in pressure and volume can be calcu-
lated through the gas state equation and the flow con-
tinuity equation:
phVhk pe (Vh  'Vh ) k ½
°
Vt °
'Vh  'Vl ( pe  pl ) ¾ (1)
Ey °
k °
plVl pe (Vl  'Vl ) k ¿
where 'Vh is the volume of output oil from the high-
pressure accumulator, 'Vl the volume of input oil to
the low-pressure accumulator, ph the initial pressure of
the high-pressure accumulator of the power regulator,
Vh the initial gas volume of the high-pressure accumu-
lator of the power regulator, p1 the initial pressure of
the low-pressure accumulator of the reservoir, V1 the
initial gas volume of the low-pressure accumulator of
the reservoir, pe the equilibrium pressure, Vt the total
volume of the cylinder together with pipes, Ey the bulk
modulus of elasticity of oil, and k the polytropic ex-
ponent of gas.
Compared to gas, the compressibility of oil is so
small that it can be ignored, thus 'Vh | 'Vl and
Eq.(1) can be simplified into
phVhk pe (Vh  'V ) k ½°
¾ (2)
plVl k pe (Vl  'V ) k °¿
where 'V is the transferred volume of the oil that can
be obtained by
k ph pl  1
'V (3)
(k ph pl  1) / Vl  1 / Vl  1 / Vh
As an important parameter to estimate the capability
· 702 · Kang Rongjie et al. / Chinese Journal of Aeronautics 22(2009) 700-706 No.6

of the power regulator, 'V is a function of ph, p1, Vh
and V1, where ph and p1 are the maximum and mini-
mum pressures of the system separately, so k ph pl
can be considered to be a constant N ( N ! 1 ).
Rewrite Eq.(3) into
N 1
'V
( N  1) / Vl  1 / Vl  1 / Vh
Eq.(4) indicates that it will be more effective to in-
crease V1 rather than Vh to augment 'V.
The in/out flows of the pump are
Qin DZ  K ilp ( p1  p2 )  K elp ( p2  pr ) (6)
Qout DZ  K ilp ( p1  p2 )  K elp ( p1  pr ) (7)
where D is the displacement of pump, p1 the inlet pres-
sure of pump, p2 the outlet pressure of pump, pr the
(4)
pressure of reservoir, Kilp the internal leakage coef-
ficient of pump, and Kelp the external leakage coeffi-
cient of pump. Fig.5 illustrates the diagram model of a
pump, where Qel is the external leakage of pump.

2.3. Hydraulic lock

The hydraulic lock works in cooperation with the

power regulator of the system to effectuate the two
following functions: ķ If the controller discovers that
the outputs are kept constant and the static error is less
than the specified value, the hydraulic lock isolates the
cylinder from the system. Therefore, the external load
can no longer act on the electrical motor. ĸ The mo-
tor refeeds the power regulator from the reservoir, if
necessary.
Once a change takes place in the external load or
position input, the actuator gets unlocked immediately.

3. System Modeling

Since there are many nonlinear factors in the system,

a transfer function is not sufficient to describe their Fig.5 A block diagram model of a pump.
performances. This article uses a block diagram mod-
eling method on the basis of the equations of a brush- In order to ensure the flow balance between the cyl-
less direct current (DC) motor as follows[12]: inder and the pump, the EHA should be of symmetrical
type. The chamber of a cylinder is divided by the pis-
di ½
um EL  Ri
° ton into two working volumes (see Fig.6).
dt
E K cZ °
°
¾ (5)
i Te / K t °
°
Te J Z  K vmZ  Tl °
¿
where um is the input voltage of motor, E the back
electromotive force, L the inductance of motor, R the
resistance of motor, i the current of motor, Kc the speed
constant of motor, Z the rotational speed, Te the elec- Fig.6 Schematic diagram of a hydraulic cylinder.
tromagnetic torque, Kt the torque constant of motor, J
the inertia of motor, Kvm the viscous coefficient of The flow in Volume 1 can be described by
motor, and T1 the load torque. V10  AX p
Fig.4 shows the block diagram model of the motor Q1 AX p  p1  Kilj ( p1  p2 ) (8)
Ey
according to Eq.(5), where s is the Laplace operator.
The part framed by dash lines represents a current The flow in Volume 2 can be described by
protective device made of software.
V20  AX p
Q2 AX p  p 2  K ilj ( p1  p2 ) (9)
Ey

where A is the active area of piston, Kilj the internal

leakage coefficient of cylinder, Xp the position of the
piston, V10 and V20 are the initial volumes of both Vo-
lume 1 and Volume 2, which are equal in value due to
Fig.4 A block diagram model of a motor. the actuator’s nature of symmetry.
No.6 Kang Rongjie et al. / Chinese Journal of Aeronautics 22(2009) 700-706 · 703 ·

The load force equation of the piston is 4. Control Design

A( p1  p2 ) MXp  K vp X p  Fex (10) The controller receives a position command and the
sensor feedbacks it to generate the control signals. The
where M is the total mass of piston and load, Kvp the
inputs of the electrical motor and proportional valve
viscous coefficient of piston and Fex the external load
are continuous signals while the input of the hydraulic
force.
lock is an on-off signal (see Fig.10).
Fig.7 and Fig.8 diagrammatize the models of the
cylinder and the piston respectively.

Fig.10 Control diagram.

Fig.11 illustrates the principles of mode switching,

where r is the position command. If the static error
r – Xp, velocity X p and acceleration Xp are below the
preset thresholds, the actuator is locked. The moment
they get over, the system comes into operation. The
shift from the Mode A to the Mode B depends on the
value of command derivative r .
Fig.7 Block diagram of a hydraulic cylinder.

Fig.11 Principles of mode switching.

Fig.8 Block diagram of a piston.

The power regulator in EHA has two accumulators, 4.1. Motor control
which can be modeled mathematically by
In the Mode A, the electrical motor serves as the
pa paiVgik / (Vgi  ³ Qa dt ) k (11)
only power source in the system while in the Mode B,
where pa is the current pressure of accumulator, Qa the the electrical motor should work in cooperation with
input flow, pai the initial pressure of accumulator, Vgi the power regulator.
the initial volume of gas and k the polytropic exponent The state feedback matrix places the closed-loop
of gas ranging from 1.0 to 1.4. Fig.9 displays the block poles of the system at desirable locations in the com-
diagram model of an accumulator, where uv is a power plex plane of Laplace transforms. These poles corre-
operation. spond to the system eigenvalues, which determine the
All the above-cited sub-models can be assembled characteristics of response.
and connected with each other through the stipulated Consider the FEPR as a fifth-order system with fol-
input/output ports. lowing state variables [13]:
T
X ª¬i Z pf Xp X p º¼ (12)

where pf is the pressure difference between the two

volumes of the cylinder. According to Eqs.(5)-(10), the
state equations of EHA can be described in a matrix
form:
Fig.9 Block diagram model of an accumulator.
· 704 · Kang Rongjie et al. / Chinese Journal of Aeronautics 22(2009) 700-706 No.6

ª R Kc º ª1º (1) If position error e is lower than the specified

« L  L 0 0 0 » «L» value Es , i.e., e  Es ;
« » « »
« K t  K vm 
D
0 0 » «0» (2) If the velocity of the piston X is lower than the
p
« J J J » « »
« specified value Vs, i.e., X p  Vs and
X 2 Ey D 2 Ey K l 2 AEy » X  « 0 » um
« 0  0  » « » (3) If the acceleration of the piston Xp is lower than
« V10 V10 V10 » «0»
« 0 0 0 0 1 » « » the specified value As, i.e., X  A . p s
« K vp »» « »
« 0 A Then, the controlled input is
0 0  «0»
¬« M M ¼» ¬ ¼
­0 e  Es , X p  Vs and Xp  As
(13) uh ® (17)
¯1 else
Output vector: Y >0 0 0 1 0@ X (14) Usually, Es, Vs and As are close to zero, which, how-
ever, should not be overly small to avoid the
where K1 = 0.5Kelp + Kilp + Kilj is the total leakage co- fault-switching. Therefore, it is urgent to acquire the
efficient of the pump and cylinder. appropriate thresholds through simulation and experi-
It is convenient to calculate the state feedback ma- ments.
trix with MATLAB. In order to eliminate the static
For the purpose to deduct the X p and the Xp from
error caused by the pressure feedback, a high-pass
filter is applied to the pressure feedback loop. the Xp, is used the nonlinear tracking-differenti-
In the Mode C, to refeed the power regulator, the ator[14-15], which allows to obtain the results more ac-
electrical motor can be controlled with PID method. If curate than other methods.
the pressure of power regulator reaches ph, the motor is
shut off for saving energy. 5. Simulation and Analysis

4.2. Proportional valve control Table 1 lists the system parameters of FEPR. Fig.12
compares the step responses of the FEPR and the con-
The differential of position command r indicates ventional FPVM-EHA. The external force of 30 000 N
the requirement for speed used to determine which (30% maximum˅is acted on the system for 2.5 s to
Mode the system works in: A or B. observe the stiffness.
The proportional valve is controlled by the propor- Obviously, the power regulator has produced dra-
tion differential (PD) method as follows: matic effects on speeding up the responses and height-
ening the stiffness with the system frequency width
de expanded from 5 Hz to 8 Hz (see Fig.13).
up G (r)( K p e  K d ) (15)
dt
Table 1 EHA parameters
where up is the input of proportional valve, e the posi- Symbol Value Symbol Value
tion error of system, Kp the proportional coefficient, Kd L/H 2.3×10–3 Kvm/(N·m·s·radí1) 4.2×10–4
the differential coefficient and G (r) the variable gain, R/ȍ 1.5 Kvp/(N·s·mí1) 150
which is Kt/(N·m·A ) í1
0.2 Kilp/(m3·s–1·Paí1) 1×10–12
Kc/(V·s·radí1) 0.2 Kelp/(m3·s–1·Paí1) 1×10–13
­ 0 | r |  b
G (r) ® (16) J/(kg·m )2
1.2×10 –3 3 –1
Kilj/(m ·s ·Pa ) í1
1×10–12
¯ K | r | | r | t b í1 í2
D/(mL·r ) 1.2 B/(N·m ) 6.5×108
2
where b is the switching velocity and K the gain of | r | . A/cm 71 V10, V20/mL 450
M/kg 2 000 k 1.3
If | r | is greater than b, the power regulator is worka-
ble and controlled by up (Mode B), or else, when up= 0,
the power regulator is unworkable (Mode A).
In the Mode C, the proportional valve opens to
maximum to fuel the power regulator and the power
regulator, pump and reservoir are connected with each
other. If the pressure of power regulator reaches ph, the
proportional valve is closed.

4.3. Hydraulic lock control

The actuator can be locked once its output has at-

tained the desired value. The strategy to make decision
for this is: Fig.12 Position responses.
No.6 Kang Rongjie et al. / Chinese Journal of Aeronautics 22(2009) 700-706 · 705 ·

Table 3 Transferred volumes

Parameter Test 1 Test 2 Test 3

'V/mL 230.3 244.5 412.8

Fig.13 Bode diagram.

To find out the proper size of the two accumulators
in Fig.3, a group of comparison tests have been carried
out with different Vh and Vl in Table 2. Fig.14 Transferred volumes.
The transferred volumes for each testing calcu-
lated with Eq.(4) are listed in Table 3 and Fig.14 It is clear that the efficient way to obtain the bigger
shows the corresponding simulation results. transferred volume is to increase Vl rather than Vh,
Table 2 Parameters for testings which means the power regulator can make more con-
tribution towards the system.
Parameter Test 1 Test 2 Test 3 Fig.15 exhibits the tracking performances of a FEPR.
Vh/mL 300 600 300 It discovers that there is little difference between Test
Vl/mL 300 300 600 1 and Test 2 and the output can track the input for
quite a long time in Test 3 because of the bigger trans-
N 7.61 (ph = 28 MPa, pl = 2 MPa)
ferred volumes.

Fig.15 Tracking performances.

6. Conclusions optimization principle of transferred volume for power

The proposed FEPR is a new commitment to the
high-performance actuator system, which meets a va-
riety of control requirements. In the high-efficiency
mode, it operates the same as the FPVM-EHA; in the
high-speed mode, it uses the associated power regula-
tor to gain fast responses and expand frequency width.
Moreover, the hydraulic lock helps to preserve the
stiffness and reduce the consumed energy when loaded.
Both calculated and simulation results indicate the
regulator.
In the future, it is expected to fulfill the global
optimization in terms of performances, size, weight
and thermal dissipation by regarding the motor, the
pump and the power regulator as an integral. The
hydraulic lock can be integrated into the bypass-valve
for size reduction. The high robust control method
along with some intelligent strategies is now under
development.
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Biographies:
Kang Rongjie Born in 1981, he received B.S. degree from
Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 2004.
He now studies as a Ph.D. candidate in the same school. His
main research interests are fluid power transmission and
control and mechanotronic systems.
E-mail: kangrongjie@vip.163.com
Jiao Zongxia Born in 1963, he received B.S. and M.S.
degrees from Zhejiang University in 1985 and 1988 respec-
tively. He received his doctoral degree in 1991 there. From
1991 to 1993, he did post-doctor research in Beijing Univer-
sity of Aeronautics and Astronautics and became a teacher
there. His main research interests are fluid power transmis-
sion and control, mechanotronic systems and simulation
engineering.
E-mail: zxjiao@buaa.edu.cn