ACTUATORS

Introduction

What is an Actuator
• Actuators are devices used to produce action or
motion.

• An actuator is a device that activates process

control equipment by using pneumatic,
hydraulic, electromechanical, or electronic
signals.

• For example, a valve actuator is used to control

fluid rate for opening and closing a valve.
 ELECTROMAGNETIC PRINCIPLES
• Many actuators rely on electromagnetic
forces to create their action
• Lorentz’s force law, which relates force on
a conductor to the current in the conductor
and the external magnetic field, in vector
form is

• where F is the force vector (per unit length

of conductor), I is the current vector, and B
is the magnetic field vector.
• Electromagnetic effect important to actuator design
is Field intensification within a coil.

• The magnetic flux through a coil is proportional to

the current through the coil and the number of
windings

• The proportionality constant is a function of the

permeability of the material within the coil

• Cores are usually laminated to reduce eddy currents

 SOLENOIDS AND RELAYS

• A solenoid consists of a coil and a movable iron

core called the armature.

• The movable core is usually spring-loaded

• The force generated is approximately proportional to

the square of the current and inversely proportional
to the square of the width of the air gap.
 Applications
• limited primarily to on-off applications such
as latching,locking, and triggering
• Home appliances (e.g., washing machine
valves),
• Automobiles (e.g., door latches and the
starter solenoid),
• Pinball machines (e.g., plungers and
pumpers), and factory automation.
 Relay
• An electromechanical relay is a
solenoid
• Used to make or break mechanical
contact between electrical leads
• Function is similar to the power
transistor switch circuit.
• But has a capability to switch larger
currents.
 Advantages
• Can be used to switch either DC or AC
power.
• The input circuit of a relay is electrically
isolated from the output circuit, unlike the
common-emitter transistor circuit.
• Noise, induced voltages, and ground faults
occurring in the output circuit have minimal
impact on the input circuit.
 Disadvantages
• They have slower switching times
than transistors.
• They contain contacts and
mechanical components, they wear
out much faster
 Voice coil
Voice coil consist of a coil that moves in a magnetic field
Magnetic field is produced by a permanent magnet and
intensified by an iron core
• The coil is attached to the movable load
such as diaphragm of an audio speaker,
spool of hydraulic valve or read-write head
of computer disk drive.

• The linear response, small mass of the

moving coil, and bidirectional capability

• voice coils more attractive than solenoids

for control applications.
 ELECTRIC MOTORS
• Electric motors are by far the most
ubiquitous of the actuators,
• Present in virtually all electromechanical
systems
• Classified based on Functional
classification and by electrical
configuration
Motor construction and Terminology
• The stationary outer housing, called the
stator, supports radial magnetized poles

• These poles consist of either permanent

magnets or wire coils, called field coils

• wrapped around laminated iron cores.

• The rotor is the part of the motor that
rotates.
• It consists of a rotating shaft supported by
bearings, conducting coils usually referred
to as the armature windings, and an iron
core
• There is a small air gap between the rotor
and the stator where the magnetic fields
interact.
 DC Motors
• Brushed DC motor
• Commutator – delivers and controls the
direction of current through armature
• Brushes provide stationary electrical
contact to the moving commutator
conducting segments
• Brushes in early motors consisted of bristles
of copper wire
• But now they made of graphite,
• Brushless DC motor –It has permanent magnets
on the rotor and a rotating field in the stator.
Advantages
• It does not require maintenance to replace worn
brushes
• Rotor inertia is much smaller
• There are also no rotor heat dissipation problems
hence no I^2R heating.
• Another advantage of not having brushes is that
there is no arcing associated with mechanical
commutation
• They are more suitable in environments where
explosive gases might be present
 Disadvantage

• One of brushless motors is that they can

cost more due to the sensors and control
circuitry required
• Torque is produced by an electric motor
through the interaction of either stator
fields and armature currents or stator
fields and armature fields
Electric Motor Field –Current Interaction
Commutator Example
Electric Motor Field –Field Interaction
 DC MOTORS
• Direct current (DC) motors are used in a large
number of mechatronic designs
• Because of the torque-speed characteristics
achievable with different electrical
configurations.
• DC motor speeds can be smoothly controlled
and in most cases are reversible
• Dynamic braking -where motor-generated
energy is fed to a resistor dissipater
• Regenerative braking -where motor-
generated energy is fed back to the DC power
supply
Motor torque speed characteristics
 DC motor Classification
• Based on how the stator magnetic fields
are created, DC motors are classified into
four categories:
• Permanent magnet
• Shunt wound
• Series wound and
• Compound wound.
 Permanent Magnet motor

•stator fields is provided by permanent magnets

•which require no external power source and therefore produce
no I^2R heating
•When a motor is used in a position or speed control application
with sensor feedback to a controller, it is referred to as a
servomotor.
•PM motors are used only in low-power applications
•Rated power is usually limited to 5 hp (3728 W) or less
 DC Shunt Motor

•Have armature and field windings connected in parallel,

which are powered by the same supply
•The total load current is the sum of the armature and field
currents.
 Series motors

•Have armature and field windings connected in

series
•The armature and field currents are equal
•Series motors exhibit very high starting torques
•Highly variable speed depending on loads
• Very high speed when the load is small.
 Compound motors

•Include both shunt and series field windings resulting in

combined characteristics of both shunt and series
motors.
•Part of the load current passes through both the
armature and series windings, and the remaining load
current passes through the shunt windings only.
 STEPPER MOTORS
• The stepper motor is a device produces a
rotation through equal angles called steps
• Types of stepper motors

• Variable Reluctance stepper

• Permanent magnet stepper
• Hybrid stepper
 Performance characteristics

• Can rotate in both directions,

• Move in precise angular increments
• Sustain a holding torque at zero speed,
• Controlled with digital circuits.
 Power requirement
• Stepper motors are either bipolar, requiring
two power sources or a switchable polarity
power source,
• Unipolar, requiring only one power source.

• Feedback is not always required for control,

• But the use of an encoder or other position
sensor can ensure accuracy when exact
position control is critical
Stepper motor step sequence
Dynamic response of a single step
Stepper motor torque-speed curves
 Hydraulics
• Hydraulic systems are designed to move large
loads

• controlling a high-pressure fluid in distribution

lines and pistons with mechanical or
electromechanical valves.
• A hydraulic pump is usually driven by an
electric motor (e.g., a large AC induction
motor) or an internal combustion engine.
• Typical fluid pressures generated by pumps
used in heavy equipment are in the 6.89 MPa
to 20.7 MPa range
• The hydraulic fluid is selected to have the
following characteristics:
 good lubrication to prevent wear in moving
components (e.g., between pistons and
cylinders),
corrosion resistance and
 incompressibility to provide rapid response
• Most hydraulic pumps act by positive
displacement.
• The three main types of positive displacement
pumps used in hydraulic systems are
Gear pumps
 Vane pumps and
Piston pumps.
 A gear
pump, which displaces the fluid around a housing
between teeth of meshing gears

Fluid is displaced from the inlet to the outlet along the

nonmeshing side of the gears.
 vane pump
• vane pump, which displaces the fluid between
vanes guided in rotor slots riding against the
housing and vane guide.
• The vane guide supports the vanes from one
side of the housing to the next and is
constructed to allow the fluid to pass.
• The output displacement can be varied (with a
constant motor speed) by moving the shaft
vertically relative to the housing.
 Vane Pump
•Vane pump, which displaces the fluid between vanes
guided in rotor slots riding against the housing and vane guide.

•The vane guide supports the vanes from one side of the
housing to the next and is constructed to allow the fluid to pass.

•The output displacement can be varied (with a constant motor

speed) by moving the shaft vertically relative to the housing.
 Piston pump
•The cylinder block is rotated by the input shaft,
• The piston ends are driven in and out as they ride in the fixed
swash plate slot, which is angled with respect to the axis
of the shaft.
 Pressure Regulator
•To prevent the pressure from exceeding design limits. it is
necessary to include a pressure relief valve, called a pressure
regulator
• The simplest pressure regulator is the spring-ball
arrangement
•The threshold pressure, or cracking pressure, is usually
adjusted by changing the spring’s compressed length and
therefore its resisting force
 Hydraulic Valves
• There are two types of hydraulic valves:
• Infinite position valve that allows any position
between open and closed to modulate flow or
pressure
• Finite position valve that has discrete positions,
usually just open and closed
• Inlet and outlet connections to a valve are called
ports.
• Finite position valves are commonly described
by an x / y designation
• x is the number of ports and y is the number
of positions
controlling a double-acting hydraulic cylinder
• Common types of fixed position valves are
• Check valves
• Poppet valves
• Spool valves and
• Rotary valves
• spool valve consists of a cylindrical spool
with multiple lobes moving within a cylindrical
casing containing multiple ports.
 Pilot valve

•The pilot valve operates at a lower pressure, called

pilot pressure
 Hydraulic Actuators
• The most common hydraulic actuator is a
simple cylinder with a piston driven by the
pressurized fluid
• Single acting
• Double acting
•The linear actuator can be very versatile in achieving a variety
of motions.
•Cylinder motion in the hydraulic elevator drives the elevator
directly.
•The scissor jack converts small linear motion in the horizontal
direction to larger linear motion in the vertical direction.
•Linear motion of the cylinder in the crane results in rotary
motion of its pivoted boom.
Advantages
• Generating extremely large forces from very compact
actuators.
• They also can provide precise control at low speeds
and
• Have built-in travel limits defined by the cylinder stroke.
The drawbacks
• The need for a large infrastructure (high-pressure
pump, tank, and Distribution lines)
• Potential for fluid leaks, which are undesirable in a
clean environment
• Possible hazards associated with high pressures
• Noisy Operation; vibration; and maintenance
requirements.
Advantages of Hydraulic Actuators
• Higher torque/mass ratio
• Greater flexibility of providing multiple actuators
at different physical locations using the same
power source
• Stiffer system with greater bandwidth
• More efficient heat removal and reduced thermal
problems
• Self-lubricating
• Less hazardous
 PNEUMATICS

• Pneumatic systems are similar to hydraulic

systems, but they use compressed air as the
working fluid rather than hydraulic liquid
• Pressure is in the of 482 kpa to 1.03 mpa
• Which is much lower than hydraulic system
pressures.
Flapper Valves
 Sensors and actuators in a feedback control
system.

• Sensors and actuators are indispensable in a control system

• Control system is a dynamic system that contains a controller as an integral part.
• Specifically in a feedback control system, the control signals are generated based
on the sensed response signals of the plant
Applications of sensors
 Potentiometer
• Displacement transducer.
• Uniform coil of wire or a film of high-
resistance materials such as carbon,
platinum
• Resistance is proportional to its length
• Linear displacement (suing a linear
potentiometer) and angular displacements
(using a rotary pot).
Linear Potentiometer
 Linear Potentiometer (continued)

• Electrical loading can affect the transducer

reading in two ways:
1. It changes the reference voltage (i.e.,
loads the voltage source).
2. It loads the transducer.
• Potentiometer, being a contact sensor,
generates some mechanical loading error
as well.
Rotatory Potentiometers
 MEMS
• Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)
are microminiature devices
• The device size can be in the sub-
millimeter scale (0.01–1.0 mm) and the
component size can be as small as a
micrometer (micron), in the range 0.001–
0.1 mm.
 Advantages of MEMS
• Microminiature size and weight
• Large surface area to volume ratio (when compared
in the same measurement units)
• Large-scale integration (LSI) of components/circuits
• High performance
• High speed (20 ns switching speeds)
• Low power consumption
• Easy mass-production
• Low cost (in mass production)
 Applications of MEMS
• Automotive - e.g., Accelerometers and
gyroscopes or IMUs for airbag
deployment, collision avoidance, ride
quality, car tire pressure sensors)
• Biomedical applications - Bio-MEMS
and microfluidic including Lab-On-Chip
that uses bodily fluids for diagnosis,
HIV/AIDS testing, pregnancy testing, etc
• Global position system (GPS) sensors (for
vehicles, courier package tracking and
handling)
• Optical MEMS (micromirrors, scanners,
pico-projectors, fog-free lenses, light
sensors for IR imaging, high-speed optical
switching devices—20 ns speeds)
• Energy sector (sensor-driven heating and
cooling of buildings; oil and gas exploration;
energy harvesting; microcooling)
 Feedback Control of Stepper Motor

• Feedback control may be used to compensate for motion errors in

stepper motors.

• The actual response of the stepper motor is sensed and compared with the
desired response.
•If an error is detected, the pulse train to the drive system is modified
appropriately to reduce the error.

•Typically, an optical incremental encoder is employed as the motion

transducer provides two pulse trains that are in phase quadrature
 Band-Reject Filters
•Band-reject filters or notch filters are commonly used to
filter out a narrow band of noise components from a
signal
•This is known as the Twin T circuit because its
geometric configuration resembles two T-shaped circuits
connected together.
The current balance at nodes A and B.
This is known as the notch frequency.