<div>Gerotor pumps are positive displacement pumps that are frequently used in low-pressure applications such as lubrication and charge pumps. They are characterized by their unique gearset that is an internal gearset with one tooth difference that has continuous contact throughout the entire rotation. Recent trends especially in the automotive industry suggest an increased demand for greater performance from these pumps, e.g. operating with higher pressure, higher speed, lower viscosity fluid, less noise emission, and greater energy efficiency. The shape of the gears is one of the most important aspects of a gerotor pump, as it determines the pump's size and flow, affects its internal leakages, and influences its amount of wear. Although gerotors have been in operation for nearly 100 years, no design methodology has emerged in scientific literature that fully considers all the main performance aspects simultaneously and identifies the best designs. This problem is made more difficult, as gerotors can have an infinite number of different types of profiles. The main goals of this work are therefore to define a method to design gerotor gear geometry for several performance goals, identify the best designs for a given gear profile type, compare the best designs among the various profile types, and invent a new profile type that can offer improved performance over conventional designs.</div><div><br></div><div>Gerotor profile generation is described in the beginning, first for the conventional epitrochoidal, hypotrochoidal, and standard cycloidal profile types. Then a description of how to generate gerotors from an arbitrary curve is given and applied to elliptical, generalized cycloidal, cosine, and asymmetric elliptical gerotors. The generalized cycloidal profile type is new to this work.</div><div><br></div><div>Multi-objective optimization is used as the method to identify the best gear profiles for a given application considering seven performance metrics and ensuring a feasible gear profile. The seven performance goals to minimize are the radius of a pump for a given geometric displacement and face width, the kinematic flow ripple, the adhesive wear, the contact stress, the tooth tip leakage, the lateral gap leakage, and the mean displacement chamber inlet velocity. The conditions to generate feasible gerotor profiles without cusps or self-intersections are also given as constraints for the optimizations.</div><div> </div><div> Seven gerotor profiles were then optimized using a genetic algorithm to consider all the performance aspects. The design space for each profile type was thoroughly explored, and clear Pareto fronts were identified. The Pareto fronts from each profile type were then combined, and a new Pareto front was identified from the best designs of each profile type. No single profile type proves to be objectively better than the others, but the epitrochoidal, hypotrochoidal, elliptical, and generalized cycloidal profile types tend to produce the best designs. Two methods to select a design from the Pareto front that consider the relative importance of each performance goal were presented.</div><div> </div><div> The optimization strategy was then further validated by demonstrating significant possible performance improvement over state-of-the-art designs in industry and suggesting alternative designs to a specific gearset used in industry that were tested in simulation and experiment. Two generalized cycloidal profiles were selected as alternative designs: the first design matched the fluid dynamic performance of the reference design with significantly reduced contact stress, and the second is a profile that could reduce the outlet flow ripple while fitting within the same pump housing. The contact stress of the reference and alternative designs when including clearance between the gears was compared in finite element analysis. Prototypes of the alternative designs were then manufactured and tested in experiment. The experimental pressure ripples of the alternative designs were compared, and the second design showed a reduction in outlet pressure ripple that validates the proposed design methodology.</div><div> </div><div> This work has thoroughly explored the performance possibilities of the gerotor mechanism and presented a method to select an optimal profile geometry depending on the desired performance characteristics. It has therefore accomplished its goals in making a contribution toward improving the performance gerotor gear geometry.</div>

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Fuel cost represents a significant operating expense for owners and fleet managers of hydraulic off-highway vehicles. Further, the upcoming Tier IV compliance for off-highway applications will create further expense for after-treatment and cooling. Solutions that help address these factors motivate fleet operators to consider and pursue more fuelefficient hydraulic energy recovery systems. Electrical hybridization schemes are typically complex, expensive, and often do not satisfy customer payback expectations. This paper presents a hydraulic energy recovery architecture to realize energy recovery and utilization through a hydraulic hydro-mechanical transformer. The proposed system can significantly reduce hydraulic metering losses and recover energy from multiple services. The transformer enables recovered energy to be stored in a high-pressure accumulator, maximizing energy density. It can also provide system power management, potentially allowing for engine downsizing. A hydraulic test stand is used in the development of the transformer system. The test stand is easily adaptable to simulate transformer operations on an excavator by enabling selected mode valves. The transformer’s basic operations include shaft speed control, pressure transformation control, and output flow control. This paper presents the test results of the transformer’s basic operations on the test stand, which will enable a transformer’s full function on an excavator.

Drive requirements of tractors and communal vehicles are demanding and varied. Energy efficiency and the different requirements in off-road and on-road operation are the basis for a powerful drive. Combinations with the so-called hydrostatic wide angle technology are often used. The article deals with a hydraulic drive with wide angle technology (45°) and an integrated, quick-shift, single stage transmission. A particularly large conversion range can be realized with this. Special shift elements, sensors and an adjustment developed for this purpose enable a fast, quiet and low-wear gear change. This new gearbox development will in future be implemented at RIGITRAC in cooperation with SAUER BIBUS.

Suspension systems are used to diminish the vibration of vehicles. The hydraulic dampers in conventional suspension systems are mainly designed with the orifices of the piston; however, the vibration energy will be transferred into waste heat. In recent years, conventional vehicles with internal combustion engines and hybrid vehicles are used commonly. However, with the gradual depletion of fossil fuels, electric vehicles are developing. For this reason, the research focuses on recycling energy from the suspension of vehicles to improve the vehicle’s endurance. The purpose of this study is to develop a semi-active suspension control system with an energy harvesting system. Instead of the fixed orifices in conventional vehicles, an adjusting damping force method with variable resistance circuits system is studied for the semi-active suspension control system. Thus, we are able to develop semi-active control to improve the riding comfort. The energy harvesting system contains a hydraulic gear motor and a DC generator. When vehicles vibrate, the hydraulic damper serves as a hydraulic pump to compress the oil and drive the hydraulic motor. At the same time, the hydraulic motor drives the generator to generate electricity which will be stored in a battery. In this study, the test rig is the quarter-car system. We first design the novel hydraulic suspension system combining with the energy harvesting system. The simulation of dynamic mathematical model will be performed and analyzed by MATLAB/Simulink. Besides that, the semiactive control by the fuzzy sliding mode controller will be realized in the hydraulic suspension system with energy harvesting system. Finally, a test rig is set up for practical experimental implementation and verification.

<p>Most of the heavy-duty machines, in particular construction vehicles, employ hydraulically actuated functions that are used to perform multiple tasks with elevated power requirements. Such high-power demand motivates the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to minimize the costs associated with energy consumption through the design of such hydraulic systems. The human-machine interaction (human factors) and the efficiency of the hydraulic control system are considered key elements towards a successful design. The interaction between the operator and the machine considerably affects the performance of construction machines. In order to maintain high levels of productivity, the operators require comfort and effortless controllability of the multiple hydraulic functions. The comfort requirement can include limited shocks and oscillations while operating the machines (while driving and controlling the implement motion), cabin accessories (AC, radio, cameras, etc.) and accessibility to the instrumentation. Besides, the operators have to control multiple functions simultaneously in an efficient manner while maintaining high levels of productivity. Consequently, the operators require smooth controllability of such functions. Such demand can largely affect the efficiency of the expected hydraulic control system and can induce additional costs and complexity. The OEMs are therefore forced to find a balance between efficiency and operators’ requirements to be competitive on the market. As a result, the currently adopted hydraulic architectures rely on purely hydraulic components to ensure robustness and functionality of the hydraulic functions at the expenses of limited performance and high-power consumption. In this dissertation, electro-hydraulic components are employed to induce improvements of the commercially available solutions while still complying with the operators’ demands and energy efficiency. To this end, this work tackles the weaknesses of traditional hydraulic architectures and it proposes alternative solutions to overcome their limitations. Two full-size wheel loaders are used to study the behavior of the existing system and later to implement the proposed variations. First, the development of an innovative ride control feature to improve the operators’ comfort is presented. Experimental results show the proposed strategy having better comfort performances compared to the purely hydraulic solution. Besides, the electro-hydraulic alternative does not demand the costly additional components the commercial solution instead requires. Second, this work faces the concern for efficiency of the present hydraulic architecture. The most diffused hydraulic system for the studied category of construction machines, commonly known as Load Sensing (LS), is sized to work most efficiently for elevated power conditions. During this work, an electronically controlled hydraulic supply unit and a flow-sharing method are used to reduce the hydraulic power consumption in the regions where the traditional LS system is less efficient. With a simple and cost-effective modification, the presented control strategy can induce an efficiency improvement over a wide range of operating conditions. Third, this dissertation proposes an operator-assistance feature to potentially increase the overall productivity and reduce the operator’s stress. An online estimation algorithm was developed to predict the payload weight of the transported material inside the bucket and the pushing forces during a typical loading cycle. The calculated payload mass provides an estimate of the user’s productivity level and it is extremely advantageous when the loaded material should reach a certain target weight. The developed estimation algorithm can also support an optimized autonomous excavation process, which can progressively limit the operator-machine interaction.</p>

<p dir="ltr">In recent years increasingly stringent regulations regarding the pollution emissions and greenhouse gasses (GHG) of off-highway vehicles have emerged. However, recent studies underscores that off-highway vehicles have an average efficiency of 30%. In response, researchers are exploring the possibility of electrifying these vehicles with electric machines (EMs) potentially undertaking one, multiple, or all the vehicular functions previously reliant on internal combustion engines (ICEs).</p><p dir="ltr">Contemporary off-highway vehicle technology revolves around hydraulic systems tailored for diesel engines, tuned to specific torque characteristics and operating at a single speed. While replacing the prime mover with electric machines, the proper hydraulic supply capable of matching the same torque speed characteristics must be found. Furthermore, it must be determined whether an integration capable of reducing the mass, cost, and volume can be implemented, and if energy recuperation is possible. </p><p dir="ltr">In essence, achieving the desired transformation in off-highway vehicle technology necessitates a comprehensive reevaluation of both hydraulic systems and power sources, with electrification emerging as a promising strategy for harmonizing efficiency, emission standards, and performance expectations. </p><p><br></p><p dir="ltr">This work proposes guidelines to systematically design EMs and positive displacement hydraulic gear machines (HMs), along with their integration in an electro-hydraulic unit (EHU). To do so, three different variants of EHU are produced. The first variant features an external gear machine (EGM) integrated in a permanent magnet synchronous electric machine (PMSEM). The second and third variants integrate an internal gear machine (IGM) and a PMSEM, wherein the final variant introduces features endowing its operation at high rotational velocities.</p><p dir="ltr">The EM and HM constituting all variants of EHU are designed using a genetic algorithm-based optimization framework. This optimization framework encapsulates dedicated models for the EM and the HM that allow the calculation of the EHU performance. The first optimization objectives are the minimization of power consumption over the duty cycle of the selected reference machine, the minimization of the pressure and flow ripple, and maximization of the power density of the EHU. The optimization of the second and third variants instead only aims to maximize the total efficiency and power density of the EHU. </p><p dir="ltr">After having determined the parameters of the EHU through the optimization procedure the designs are refined with thorough simulations focusing on the fluid-dynamic features and the design of the axial balance system of the HMs. </p><p dir="ltr">The three variants present an increasing level of HM and EM integration and component reduction. While in the first variant HM and EM have a dedicated housing, and the HM is only positioned in the inert region of the EM, in the latest variants the HM and the EM also share the same casing. The first variant of EHU is air cooled by a radial fan system attached to the EM rotor and openings machined in the casing. The second variant takes advantage of the extreme integration and the differential pressure generated across the HM to liquid cooling the EM. The third variant necessitates the use of an external system to cool the EM. </p><p dir="ltr">To prove the effectiveness of the design process the first two EHU variants are prototyped and tested. The first EHU variant is tested both in a standalone configuration and on the reference machine showing total efficiency values up to 69%, proving its functionality and proving the capability of recuperating energy. The tests conducted on the second variant EHU show a volumetric efficiency that ranges between 81% and above 96% for a pinion rotation velocity of 6000 rpm proving the value of the presented design process. Despite the good quality of the volumetric efficiency values, this EHU variant present morphological limitations that negatively impact its mechanical efficiency. Finally, the third EHU concept is presented not only to remedy the morphological limitations of the second variant but also to address the challenges raised by high rotational velocity operation. </p>

<p>Amidst the increasing need to improve efficiency of fluid power systems for off-road vehicles, different architectures have been proposed in literature to reduce system throttling losses. Among the most cited ones, are architectures based on the use of common-pressure rails (CPR), which in some cases have been combined with multi-chamber cylinders to further reduce power losses. This kind of solution appears to be particularly attractive in systems with several actuators with many instances of overrunning loads, such as in earthmoving machines. In this scenario, a basic question arises concerning the maximum amount of energy that can be saved by adding extra pressure rails and/or cylinder chambers. Answering this question can be challenging given that many parameters such as cylinder areas, pressure levels and both actuator and supervisory level controls can affect the results for a given application. This work investigates energy savings potential of different architectures based on the previously mentioned concept. Based on the results of this investigation, a novel architecture combining multi-pressure rails and multi-chamber cylinders is proposed and investigated. The system is sized and simulated for the study case of an excavator. This work addresses controllers design, from the supervisory level power management control to the local cylinder actuation system. In addition, special care is taken in the area selection of the multi- chamber cylinder, with factors such as manufacturing cost and reliability being considered. The proposed design procedure allows the design of compact and efficient three-chamber cylinders on a wider range of applications. Results show the potential for power consumption reduction of up to 31% when compared to state-of-the-art machines available in the market. Additionally, the proposed cylinder design optimization allows a reduction of up to 25% in cylinder weight when compared to other design methods for multi-chamber cylinders. Within this scope, an experimental setup is designed for proof of concept of the proposed hydraulic circuit and cylinder control methods, with laboratory tests validating the feasibility of the proposed system. Test results demonstrated the ability of the proposed controller in efficiently controlling pressures within the actuator, while delivering stable speed tracking performance. Experiments also demonstrated the system capability in recovering energy and validated the expectation of obtaining hydraulic actuation with low pressure drop across control valves.</p>

<p dir="ltr">The fluid power industry faces a growing gap between the evolving job requirements and the knowledge and skills possessed by engineering graduates. The study evaluates the potential of virtual reality (VR) as an innovative educational methodology to bridge the gap and enhance fluid power training for mechanical engineering technology students. The research compares the learning experiences and outcomes between a replicated VR fluid power lab and a traditional physical hands-on lab. The VR simulation of a fluid power lab was developed, allowing students to interact with virtual models of key components like gear pumps, pneumatic cylinders, and pressure relief valves. Quantitative and qualitative data was collected through surveys assessing students' task load, overall experience, and perceptions after completing the physical and VR labs. The NASA Task Load Index was used to measure and compare the workload in both lab environments. The results indicate that while the VR lab lacked the tactile realism of the physical lab, it provided several advantages. Students appreciated the ability to visualize internal components, access exploded views, and interact with equipment in novel ways within the VR environment. The multimedia resources and self-directed nature of the VR lab were also noted as benefits. However, technical glitches, unintuitive controls, and physical discomfort detracted from the VR experience for some participants. The study highlights the potential of VR to enhance fluid power education by providing an immersive, scalable alternative to traditional labs. Integrating VR with hands-on learning helps overcome space and equipment limitations while better preparing students for industry roles.</p>

Technological advances (e.g., high speed communication, artificial intelligence) and affordable computing and sensor hardware have become a key driver of developments like “Industry 4.0” or the “Industrial Internet of Things” (IIoT). Large numbers of machines and products are equipped with sensors to constantly monitor their condition, log usage data or trigger control processes. IIoT has been largely adopted by OEMs in various industries (such as automotive, machinery industry, or healthcare and medical), turning their product into cyber-physical systems. However, the resulting potential is not yet accessible to component manufacturers. Overall, horizontal integration of the value chain is still in its infancy. Specifically, IIoT for fluid powers just started in recent years with first research projects and commercial solutions. This work presents a reference architecture for cyber-physical fluid power systems which depicts how horizontal integration can be achieved and which potentials thus can be released. The architecture is validated in an industrial use case. Furthermore, the paper at hand discusses which components of the architecture should be addressed by which actor in the fluid power ecosystem in order to leverage opportunities from the IIoT.