Double-Pump Hydraulic System
Figure 1.5 shows an application for an unloading valve. It is a circuit that uses a high-pressure, low-flow pump in conjunction with a low-pressure, high-flow pump. A typical application is a sheet metal punch press in which the hydraulic cylinder must extend rapidly over a great distance with low-pressure but high-flow requirements. This occurs under no load. However during the punching operation for short motion, the pressure requirements are high, but the cylinder travel is small and thus the flowrequirementsare low. The circuit in Fig. 1.5 eliminates the necessity of having a very expensive high-pressure, high-flow pump.
When the punching operation begins, the increased pressure opens the unloading valve to unload the low-pressure pump. The purpose of relief valve is to protect the high-pressure pump from over pressure at the end of cylinder stroke and when the DCV is in its spring-centered mode. The check valve protects the low-pressure pump from high pressure, which occurs during punching operation, at the ends of the cylinder stroke and when the DCV is in its spring-centered mode.
Regenerative Cylinder Circuit
Figure 1.3 shows a regenerative circuit that is used to speed up the extending speed of a double-acting cylinder. The pipelines to both ends of the hydraulic cylinder are connected in parallel and one of the ports of the 4/3 valve is blockedby simply screwing a thread plug into the port opening. During retraction stroke, the 4/3 valve is configured to the right envelope. During this stroke, the pump flow bypasses the DCV and enters the rod end of the cylinder. Oil from the blank end then drains back to the tank through the DCV.
When the DCV is shifted in to its left-envelope configuration, the cylinder extends as shown in Fig. 1.3.The speed of extension is greater than that for a regular double-acting cylinder because the flow from the rod end regenerates with the pump flow Qp to provide a total flow rate Qt.
Pump-Unloading Circuit
Figure 1.4 shows a hydraulic circuit to unload a pump using an unloading valve.When the cylinder reaches the end of its extension stroke, the pressure of oil rises because the check valve keeps the high-pressure oil. Due to high-pressure oil in the pilot line of the unloading valve, it opens and unloads the pump pressure to the tank.
When the DCV is shifted to retract the cylinder, the motion of the piston reduces the pressure in the pilot line of the unloading valve. This resets the unloading valve until the cylinder is fully retracted. When this happens, the unloading valve unloads the pump due to high-pressure oil. Thus, the unloading valve unloads the pump at the ends of the extending and retraction strokes as well as in the spring-centered position of the DCV.
Control of a Double-Acting Hydraulic Cylinder
The circuit diagram to control double-acting cylinder is shown in Fig. 1.2. The control of a double-acting hydraulic cylinder is described as follows:
1. When the 4/3 valve is in its neutral position (tandem design), the cylinder is hydraulically locked and the pump is unloaded back to the tank.
2. When the 4/3 valve is actuated into the flow path, the cylinder is extended against its load as oil flows from port P through port A. Oil in the rod end of the cylinder is free to flow back to the tank through the four-way valve from portB through portT.
3. When the 4/3 valve is actuated into the right-envelope configuration, the cylinder retracts as oil flows from port P through port B. Oil in the blank end is returned to the tank via the flow path from port A to port T.
At the ends of the stroke, there is no system demand for oil. Thus, the pump flow goes through the relief valve at its pressure level setting unless the four-way valve is deactivated.
Simple Pressure-Relief Valve
The most widely used type of pressure control valve is the pressure-relief valve because it is found in practically every hydraulic system. Schematic diagram of simple relief valve is shown in Fig. 1.1 and three-dimensional view is shown in Fig. 1.2. It is normally a closed valve whose function is to limit the pressure to a specified maximum value by diverting pump flow back to the tank. A poppet is held seated inside the valve by a heavy spring. When the system pressure reaches a high enough value, the poppet is forced off its seat. This permits flow through the outlet to the tank as long as this high pressure level is maintained. Note the external adjusting screw, which varies spring force and, thus, the pressure at which the valve begins to open (cracking pressure)(Fig. 1.3).
It should be noted that the poppet must open sufficiently to allow full pump flow. The pressure that exists at full pump flow can be substantially greater than cracking pressure. The pressure at full pump flow is the pressure level that is specified when referring to the pressure setting of the valve. It is the maximum pressure level permitted by the relief valve.
If the hydraulic system does not accept any flow, then all the pump flow must return to the tank via the relief valve. The pressure-relief valve provides protection against any overloads experienced by the actuators in the hydraulic system. Of course, a relief valve is not needed if a pressure-compensated vane pump is used. Obviously one important function of a pressure-relief valve is to limit the force or torque produced by hydraulic cylinders or motors.
The main advantage of direct-acting relief valves over pilot-operated relief valves is that they respond very rapidly to pressure buildup. Because there is only one moving part in a direct-acting relief valve, it can open rapidly, thus minimizing pressure spikes.
Telescopic Cylinder
A telescopic cylinder (shown in Fig. 1.6) is used when a long stroke length and a short retracted length are required. The telescopic cylinder extends in stages, each stage consisting of a sleeve that fits inside the previous stage. One application for this type of cylinder is raising a dump truck bed. Telescopic cylinders are available in both single-acting and double-acting models. They are more expensive than standard cylinders due to their more complex construction.
They generally consist of a nest of tubes and operate on the displacement principle. The tubes are supported by bearing rings, the innermost (rear) set of which have grooves or channels to allow fluid flow. The front bearing assembly on each section includes seals and wiper rings. Stop rings limit the movement of each section, thus preventing separation. When the cylinder extends, all the sections move together until the outer section is prevented from further extension by its stop ring. The remaining sections continue out-stroking until the second outermost section reaches the limit of its stroke;this process continues until all sections are extended, the innermost one being the last of all.
For a given input flow rate, the speed of operation increases in steps as each successive section reaches the end of its stroke. Similarly, for a specific pressure, the load-lifting capacity decreases for each successive section.
Double-Acting Cylinder with a Piston Rod on One Side
Figure 1.4 shows the operation of a double-acting cylinder with a piston rod on one side. To extend the cylinder, the pump flow is sent to the blank-end port as in Fig. 1.4(a). The fluid from the rod-end port returns to the reservoir. To retract the cylinder, the pump flow is sent to the rod-end port and the fluid from the blank-end port returns to the tank as in Fig.1.4(b).
Unloading Valves
Unloading valves are pressure-control devices that are used to dump excess fluid to the tank at little or no pressure. A common application is in high-low pump circuits where two pumps move an actuator at a high speed and low pressure.The circuit then shifts to a single pump providing a high pressure to perform work.
Another application is sending excess flow from the cap end of an oversize-rod cylinder to the tank as the cylinder retracts. This makes it possible to use a smaller, less-expensive directional control valve while keeping pressure drop low.
Flow Trough Orifice
Orifices are a basic means for the control of fluid power. Flow characteristics of orifices plays a major role in the design of many hydraulic control devices. An orifice is a sudden restriction of short length (ideally zero length for a sharp-edged orifice) in a flow passage and may have a fixed or variable area. Two types of flow regime exist (Fig. 3-10), depending on whether inertia or viscous forces dominate. The flow velocity through an orifice must increase above that in the upstream region to satisfy the law of continuity. At high Reynolds numbers, the pressure drop across the orifice is caused by the acceleration of the fluid particles from the upstream velocity to the higher jet velocity. At low Reynolds numbers, the pressure drop is caused by the internal shear forces resulting from fluid viscosity.
Selection of Hydraulic Fluid
Many petroleum and synthetic fluids are available and more are being formulated. The highly technical formulations of the fluids with their various pros and cons makes the selection of such fluids difficult for those who are not thoroughly acquainted with the latest improvements and new formulations.
Generally, hydraulic fluids are chosen based on considerations of the environment of the application and chemical properties of the fluid. Physical properties such as viscosity, density, and bulk modulus are not usually basic considerations. Viscosity is very important, but usually a variety of viscosity characteristics are available in each fluid type. Bulk modulus should be large, but this requirement usually yields to the high temperature capability of the fluid. For example, the low bulk modulus of silicone fluids is more than offset by their high temperature range.
A basic judgment in fluid selection is required concerning the Are and explosion hazard posed by the application. If the environment and high temperature limit of the application are within the range of petroleum base fluids, then any number of suitable oils are available from numerous manufacturers. If the application requires a fire-resistant fluid, a choice must be made between the chemically compounded and water base synthetics. Factors to be considered are temperature range, cost, lubricity, compatibility, chemical, and handling characteristics of the fluid. Once a fluid type is selected, a number of viscosity and viscosity-temperature characteristics are usually made available, and a suitable matching must be made to the requirements of the system hardware. Consultation with representatives of hardware and fluid manufacturers is essential to ensure satisfactory compatibility and performance.