ADVANCED ENGINEERING

4(2010)1, ISSN 1846-5900

COMPUTER SIMULATION OF A LABORATORY

HYDRAULIC SYSTEM WITH MATLAB-SIMULINK
Gregov, G. ; Siminiati, D.

Abstract: The article presents some selected problems related to modeling and simulation of
hydraulic servo-systems (valve + cylinder), using MATLAB-Simulink package. For this
purpose, is taken into account the basic mathematical model of certain selected elements and
phenomena that occur in a hydraulic servo system. Models are represented as block diagrams
adapted to the software package requirements. Afterward, the simulation results are compared
with laboratory measurements. Laboratory measurements have been performed in Laboratory
for hydraulics and pneumatics at Faculty of Engineering, University of Rijeka.

Keywords: hydraulic servo-systems, Simulink, differential cylinder, direction control valve,

laboratory measurement.

1 INTRODUCTION
Although electrical drives are becoming increasingly popular for high-performance
motion control, hydraulic servo-systems are still a wide variety of applications in
today's industrial motion systems, for example: machining, robotics, motion
simulators, fatigue testing systems, metal processing plants, mining, construction and
agricultural machinery, etc [1].
The main disadvantages of hydraulic servo-system are a nonlinear dynamical
behavior of system, which stems from the compressibility of liquids, properties of
complex flow valves and friction in hydraulic actuators. They depend on factors, which
are difficult to measure, such as oil bulk modulus, viscosity and temperature.
General availability of increasingly sophisticated computer hardware and computer
software with a better mathematical and simulation programs allow simulation of very
complex systems. MATLAB-Simulink [2] is often used in simulation tests because of
the following advantages [3]:
- Simplified procedure that allows the designer to encode mathematical models in
the appropriate programming language
- The possibility of multiple use of the basic mathematical model, using specific
libraries and their combinations,
- a possibility of examining systems with models having appreciably extended
ranges of coefficients, in particular for hydraulic systems,
The article is aimed at presenting modeling and simulation of hydraulic servo-
systems, directional control valve and differential cylinder, by means of MATLAB-
Simulink. First, the basic mathematical models of valve and cylinder and phenomena
occurring in hydraulic servo-systems have been considered. The models are shown
both as block and detailed diagrams adapted to the requirements of the MATLAB-
Simulink graphical editor. Then, there have been described a laboratory hydraulic
system and laboratory measurements of pressure in the cylinder chambers.
 Final comparison of simulation result and laboratory measurements will prove the
accuracy of the simulation.

2 MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF HYDRAULIC SERVO-SYSTEM

Among the various combinations of hydraulic actuators and valves, a specific case of
the cylinder and valve configuration is considered. The configuration includes a
directional control valve or proportional valve and a differential cylinder, referred to as
an A+αA configuration [4], which is probably the most widely used combinations of
valve-actuator because of its compactness. To reduce the complexity of the system
modeling, within the limits defined by the system, it is useful to distinguish several
subsystems: power supply, valve, cylinder + load, tank and piping. For low-frequency
behaviour, where pipeline effect do not play a role in the input-output behaviour, and
for ideal oil supply, the model of a hydraulic servo-system is reduced to only two
subsystems (valve + cylinder), what Fig. 1. shows [1].
xp , xp , xp
Ap Ap Fext
mp
pA pB
QA Ff QB

QLi
xv

pT pS Q pT
Fig. 1. Schematic representation of valve-cylinder combination with definition of the variables

2.1 Directional control valve

Valves are the most important mechanical (or electrical) link to the fluid interface in
hydraulic systems. The flow through the valve is described in the equation of flow
through the orifice (1), which takes into account the pressure drop direction:
Q  Q( xv , p)  cv xv p sign( p) . (1)
If we consider the four-way spool valve with an ideal critical centre, then the flow
equation can be written as:
QA  Q1  Q2  cv1 sg( xv ) sign( pS  pA ) pS  pA
, (2)
 cv2 sg(  xv ) sign( pA  pT ) pA  pT
QB  Q3  Q4  cv3 sg(  xv ) sign( pS  pB ) pS  pB
. (3)
 cv4 sg( xv ) sign( pB  pT ) pB  pT
with the flow coefficient cv. In the practice, the flow coefficient may best be
determined experimentally, or be calculated using the catalogue data (QN, ΔpN, and
xvmax) of the valve manufacturer.
QN 1
cv  . (4)
pN / 2 xv,max
Using the equation (2) a block diagram in MATLAB-Simulink for directional
control valve has been developed (Fig. 2.).

Fig. 2. A block diagram of direction control valve

The block diagram has been developed only for the flow QA which is connected to a
differential cylinder, while the QB flow depends on the geometry of the cylinder, QB =
αQA. Supply pressure ps = 210 bar, was chosen to facilitate comparison of
experimental and simulation results, since it is the value of maximum pressure on the
laboratory hydro aggregate.
Control valve signal is defined, using equation (4), as the product of the maximum
spool displacement xvmax and flow coefficient cv, whereby the value of maximum spool
displacement has been disappeared, and now control signal depends of values QN and
ΔpN. The values have been taken from catalogue data of the valve manufacturer [5].
2.2 Hydraulic differential cylinder
Theoretical modelling of the hydraulic cylinder is less involved than the valve. The
principal model relations have been taken from [1], [6] and [7]. For this purpose, a
theoretical model is a slightly simplified, neglecting irrelevant dynamics and
nonlinearity, resulting in a compact cylinder model, which can easily be identified with
experiments. Pressure dynamics equations for differential cylinder are given by:
p A 
1
QA  Ap xp  QLi  QLeA , (5)
ChA

p B 
1
QB  Ap xp  QLi  QLeB  . (6)
ChB
 The hydraulic capacitance of each chamber is given with:
VA ( xp ) V pl,A  ( xp0  xp ) Ap
ChA  Ch ( pA , xp )   , (7)
E ' A ( pA ) E ' A ( pA )
V ( x ) V  ( xp0  xp )Ap
ChB  Ch ( pB , xp )  B p  pl,B , (8)
E ' B ( pB ) E ' B ( pB )
where Vpl,A and Vpl,B are the pipeline volumes at the at the A-side and B-side
respectively and E’ is the effective bulk modulus.
The internal or cross – chamber leakage flow (leakage from one chamber to the
another) can be calculated by:
QLi  CLi ( pB  pA ) , (9)
where CLi is the internal leakage flow coefficient. External leakage (leakage from each
cylinder chambers either to the drain or to tank) in neglected, i.e. QLeA = QLeB = 0.
The equation of piston motion governing the load motion arises by applying
Newton’s second law to the forces on the piston.
mt xp  Ff ( xp )  ( pA   pB ) Ap  Fext . (10)
Friction force is a function of velocity, equation (11), which is referred to as a Stribeck
friction curve [1].
  x p 
Ff ( x p )  Fv ( x p )  Fc ( x p )  Fs ( x p )  x  sign ( x p )  Fc0  Fs0exp   . (11)
  
 s 
c

The tree characteristic parts of this curve are: viscous friction Fv, static friction Fs
and Coulomb friction Fc. σ is the parameter for viscous friction, Fc0 is the parameter
for Coulomb friction, Fs0 and cs are the parameters for static friction.
Equations (5), (10) and (11) can be combined in a block diagram of a hydraulic
differential cylinder as shown in Fig. 3. Pressure pB has been determined from the
equilibrium equation of forces on the piston. It is assumed that no effects of external
forces and friction forces, and pB = pA/α remains. Internal and external leakage failures
are ignored, too.
Cylinder dimension have been chosen according to the laboratory cylinder, D = 40
mm, d = 25 mm, xpmax = 200 mm, continues α = 0,625 and Ap = 0,00125 m2. Pipelines
between valve and cylinder have the characteristic: dpl = 8 mm, lpl = 2 m, continues
Vpl,A = Vpl,B = 0,001 m3. Effective bulk modulus have been chosen according [1] and it
is E’=18000 bar. Friction force has next parameters: σ = 220 Ns/m, Fc0 = 200 N, Fs0 =
600 N and cs = 0,015 m/s [1]. External force Fext has been neglected and the load mass
mt = 2 kg (only piston mass).
Cylinder position and velocity are usually physically limited. This kind of
saturation cannot be taken into account by including a double integrator with saturation
block into the model, as it does not realistically describe the real physical behaviour of
the system. Although the position has reached its upper saturation limit, the velocity is
still internally integrated. Instead, non-linear elements (logical operations) have to be
added to the model to ensure that velocity is immediately set to zero as soon as the
cylinder reach its upper or lower saturation limit.
 Fig. 3. Block diagram of differential cylinder

2.3 Simulation results

After the simulation, next results have been achieved, Fig. 4 –6.
From these results it is concluded that the input signal takes one second, Fig. 4.,
which results in flow through the valve QA = 15,9 l/min and QB = 9,9 l/min, Fig. 5.
After 1.95 seconds, the flow stops, because the piston reached the maximum position
and came to the cylinder cover, Fig. 6. At the beginning the piston velocity rapidly
increases, due to increased pressure, and then it is moving with constant velocity of 0.2
m / s, Fig. 7. At the same time when entering hydraulic fluid into the cylinder, pressure
is increasing rapidly, until the pressure force to the piston becomes greater than the
sum of the load force and friction force, Fig. 8 and Fig. 9. After overcoming the
reaction forces, the piston is moved and the pressure becomes constant (pA =4 bar, pB =
6,5 bar) until piston hits the cylinder cap, whereby the pressure pA increases until 210
bar, and pB drops to zero.

0,6 18
16
0,5
14
cvmaxxv [10-7]

QA [l/min]

0,4 12
10
0,3
8
0,2 6
4
0,1
2
0 0
0 0,5 1 1,5 2 2,5 3 0 0,5 1 1,5 2 2,5 3
t [s] t [s]

Fig. 4. Input signal Fig. 5. Flow through the valve QA

 0,5 0,2

0,4
0,15
vp [m/s]

0,3

xp [m]
0,1
0,2
0,05
0,1

0 0
0 0,5 1 1,5 2 2,5 3 0 0,5 1 1,5 2 2,5 3
t [s] t [s]

Fig. 6. Piston velocity Fig. 7. Piston position

220 20
200 Pa 18 Pa
180 16
160 Pb Pb
14
pA, pB [bar]

140 pA, pB [bar] 12

120 10
100
80 8
60 6
40 4
20 2
0 0
0 0,5 1 1,5 2 2,5 3 0,9 0,95 1 1,05 1,1 1,15 1,2
t [s] t [s]

Fig. 8. Pressures in cylinder chambers Fig. 9. Detail of the cylinder chambers

pA and pB pressures pA and pB

3 LABORATORY MEASUREMENTS
The laboratory hydraulic system consists of a hydro aggregate with control valves,
differential hydraulic cylinder, PLC unit, measuring sensors and measuring instrument,
as represented in Fig. 9.
Hydro aggregate with directional control valves, has the following technical
characteristic: electromotor power P = 5,5 kW, electromotor speed n = 1460 rpm,
pump displacement Q1 = 10,8 cm3, max. pressure of the system pmax = 210 bar [8].
With the PLC unit is fixed the input signal for direction control valve. PLC
programming is accomplished by entering values of the signal period and pauses
between two signals, and the number of repetitions.
Measurement equipment consists of a measurement instruments and sensors [9].
Measuring sensors determine pressure and temperature changes of the hydraulic fluid,
which are then shown on the measuring instrument. Laboratory measurements were
performed on the differential cylinder, the above mentioned characteristics, wherein
the measured values are pressures pA i pB in the cylinder chambers. Input signal had
three parts. Between 0 and 1 and 2 to 3 seconds, there is no electric current on valve
solenoid (valve is closed), while 1 to 2 seconds electricity powered solenoid, whereby
the hydraulic fluid flow through the valve is achieved.
 PLC unit
Measurement
sensor

Hydraulic
cylinder Control valve

Measurement
instrument Hydro aggregate

Fig. 9. Laboratory hydraulic system

Measurements were performed for the case without loading cylinder with an
external force, and without adding extra weight, which means that it is taken into
account only the mass of the load piston and piston rod (about 2 kg). Measurement
results of pressure in cylinder chambers (pA i pB) are shown in Fig. 10. from the initial
moment until the third second. Fig. 11. shows the change of pressure in the cylinder
chambers in the valve opening time t = 0,9 s to t = 1,2 s.

260 26
240 Pa 24 Pa
220 22
200 Pb 20 Pb
pA, pB [bar]
pA, pB [bar]

180 18
160 16
140 14
120 12
100 10
80 8
60 6
40 4
20 2
0 0
0 0,5 1 1,5 2 2,5 3 0,9 0,95 1 1,05 1,1 1,15 1,2
t [s] t [s]

Fig. 10. Measured values of the cylinder Fig. 11. Detail of the cylinder chambers
chambers pressures pA and pB pressures pA and pB during cylinder extraction

4 COMPARISON OF THE RESULTS

Comparing the results obtained by laboratory measurements of cylinder pressure and
the results obtained by simulation in MATLAB-Simulink, it can be concluded that the
pressure behavior is similar, but not the same. Pressure in chamber on the piston side
(pA) in laboratory measurements at the beginning rapidly increases, and immediately
falls, while the simulation doesn't show such a behavior, Fig. 12. This effect can be
attributed to stick-slip effect [1], which is not taken into account in the simulation.
Comparing the value of increasing pressure at the beginning, shows a difference of
25% (≈ 2,5 bar). The initial pressure in the simulation is smaller, which can be
explained by incomplete knowledge of the parameters of friction in a laboratory
hydraulic cylinder. Observing the pressure during the motion of the piston, the pressure
is identical, which proves the accuracy of the simulation.
Comparing the results for pressure pB it can be concluded that the pressure behavior
is similar as s pressure behavior for pA, Fig. 13. The initial increasing of pressure is
different by 20% (≈ 2 bar), and the pressures during the motion are equal.

26 Simulink 22 Simulink
24 20
22 Measurement Measurement
18
20

pB [bar]
18 16
14
pA [bar]

16
14 12
12 10
10 8
8 6
6
4 4
2 2
0 0
0,9 0,95 1 1,05 1,1 1,15 1,2 0,9 0,95 1 1,05 1,1 1,15 1,2
t [s] t [s]

Fig. 12. Comparison of the pressure pA Fig. 13. Comparison of the pressure pB

5 CONCLUSION
The main objective of this study was to compare the dynamic properties of hydraulic
differential cylinders obtained by simulation with the simulation software MATLAB-
Simulink and those measured in the laboratory. It was determined that the values of
pressure at a steady state correspond very well. At the ending position of the cylinder
piston significant differences appear. The reason is requirement for precise
determination of the coefficient of friction in the cylinder and the shock that occurs
when opening a connection from the directional control valve. Such problems would
disappear if instead of on / off valve a proportional control valve be installed, which in
combination with the PLC gives much better dynamic properties of the cylinder.

References:
[1] Jelali M., Kroll A.: Hydraulic Servo-systems, Modelling, Identification and Control,
Springer, London, 2003.
[2] MATLAB: Reference Guide. The MathWorks, Inc,. 1992.
[3] Jędrzykiewicz Z., Pluta J., Stojek J.: Application of the MATLAB – Simulink package in
the simulation tests on hydrostatic systems, Acta Montanistica Slovaca, Ročnik 3 (1998),
1, 29-36
[4] Backe W.: Servohydraulik, Technical University of Aachen, Germany, 1992.
[5] ATOS: http://www.atos.com/english/technical_tables/english/E010.pdf, (01.07.2010.)
[6] Merrit HE.: Hydraulic Control Systems, John Willey & Sons, 1967
[7] Viersma TJ.: Analysis, Synthesis and Design of Hydraulic Servosystems and Pipeline,
Elsevier, 1980.
[8] Hansa Flex: http://cat.hansa-flex.com/hr/cat/1, (01.07.2010.)
[9] Parker, Senso Control, http://www.parker.com/, (01.07.2010.)

Received: 2010-06-15