<div>Pressure compensated vane pump systems are an attractive solution in many automotive applications to supply hydraulic power required for cooling, lubrication, and actuation of control elements such as transmission clutches. These systems feature variable displacement vane pumps which offer reductions in parasitic loads on the engine and in wasted hydraulic energy at high engine speeds when compared to traditional fixed displacement supply pumps. However, oscillations in a currently available pressure compensation system limits the achievable performance and therefore the application of this solution.</div><div>This dissertation presents the development and experimental validation of a lumped parameter model in MATLAB/Simulink of a current pressure compensated vane pump system for an automatic transmission oil supply application. An analysis of the performance of this system using the validated pump model and a developed black box control system model reveals that the low cost solenoid valve present in the control circuit to set the regulation pressure limits the achievable bandwidth to 1.84Hz and causes a significant time delay in the response. To address this limitation, as well as eliminate a non-minimum phase zero introduced by the case study’s control circuit architecture, an actively controlled electrohydraulic pressure compensation system is proposed. This proposed system is explored both experimentally and in simulation making use of the accuracy of the presented variable displacement vane pump model. Significant improvements in the achievable system performance are shown with both a simple PI control law (47% reduction in the pressure response time) and an advanced cascaded model following controller based on feedback linearization (58% reduction in the pressure response time). An analysis of these results reveals that implementing the proposed control system with a 5(L/min)/bar proportional valve with a 20Hz at ±100% (60Hz at ±50%) amplitude bandwidth and a PI control law is an economical path to achieving the best performance improvements for this automotive application.</div>

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / Continuing U.S. Navy interest in the development of light-weight, low-volume, broadband, underwater acoustic projectors and receivers is the principal motivation for this research topic. Acoustic cymbal transducers, so named for their geometric similarity to the percussion instruments, are miniature "class V" flextensional transducers that consist of a piezoelectric ceramic drive element bonded to two opposing cymbal-shaped metal shells. Operating as mechanical transformers, the two metal shells convert the naturally large generative force of a piezoelectric ceramic in the radial mode into increased volume displacement at the metal shell surface to obtain usable source levels and sensitivities in a broad frequency range. The magnified displacement makes the acoustic cymbal element a potential alternative to acoustic transduction technologies presently used to generate and receive Navy sonar frequencies. Potential benefits to utilizing this technology are generating or receiving broadband sound, at sonar frequencies in a thin, low volume, conformable package. Applications of this technology have been limited because air-backed acoustic cymbal elements undergo degradation in performance when exposed to elevated hydrostatic pressure (i.e., deep ocean and extreme littoral water applications). This research shows that consistent and reliable acoustic performance can be achieved with cymbal-based transducers at hydrostatic pressures of interest to the Navy. / Civilian, United States Navy

With a flat slide valve concept, when compared to conventional piston spool valves, reduced leakage and increased service life could be achieved. In order to achieve a reduction of leakage flows and guarantee the adjustability of the valves at the same time, a correct design of the pressure compensation is essential. The magnitude of force depends on both the operating point of the valve and the position of the slider. Due to the design of the flat slide valve, it is possible to use ceramic semi-finished products for the main stage, which consist of control plates and a slide plate. The geometries are simple enough to be inexpensively manufactured with sufficient accuracy, using a ceramic pre-product using laser cutting technology. This article introduces the concept of the flat slide valve for a proportional 4/3-way valve. The design of the valve, including the design of the metallic main stage is presented. This includes the design of the flow channels, which have to be suitable for ceramic materials. Furthermore the design of the actuator and hydraulic circuit for testing is presented. With the shown design, the function of a 4/3-way valve, known from piston spool valves, can be implemented with a linear behavior between slide plate deflection and opening flow cross section.