Thermo-Hydraulic Modelling and Experimental Validation of an Electro-Hydraulic Compact Drive

Søren Ketelsen, Sebastian Michel, Torben O. Andersen, Morten Kjeld Ebbesen, Jürgen Weber and Lasse Schmidt
Additional contact information
Søren Ketelsen: Department of Energy Technology, Aalborg University, 9220 Aalborg, Denmark
Sebastian Michel: Institute of Fluid Power (IFD), Technische Universität Dresden, 01069 Dresden, Germany
Torben O. Andersen: Department of Energy Technology, Aalborg University, 9220 Aalborg, Denmark
Morten Kjeld Ebbesen: Department of Engineering Sciences, University of Agder, 4879 Grimstad, Norway
Jürgen Weber: Institute of Fluid Power (IFD), Technische Universität Dresden, 01069 Dresden, Germany
Lasse Schmidt: Department of Energy Technology, Aalborg University, 9220 Aalborg, Denmark

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 9, 1-29

Abstract: Electro-hydraulic compact drives (ECDs) are an emerging technology for linear actuation in a wide range of applications. Especially within the low power range of 5–10 kW, the plug-and-play capability, good energy efficiency and small space requirements of ECDs render this technology a promising alternative to replace conventional valve-controlled linear drive solutions. In this power range, ECDs generally rely on passive cooling to keep oil and system temperatures within the tolerated range. When expanding the application range to larger power classes, passive cooling may not be sufficient. Research investigating the thermal behaviour of ECDs is limited but indeed required for a successful expansion of the application range. In order to obtain valuable insights into the thermal behaviour of ECDs, thermo-hydraulic simulation is an important tool. This may enable system design engineers to simulate thermal behaviour and thus develop proper thermal designs during the early design phase, especially if such models contain few parameters that can be determined with limited information available. Our paper presents a lumped thermo-hydraulic model derived from the conservation of mass and energy. The derived model was experimentally validated based on experimental data from an ECD prototype. Results show good accuracy between measured and simulated temperatures. Even a simple thermal model containing only a few thermal resistances may be sufficient to predict steady-state and transient temperatures with reasonable accuracy. The presented model may be used for further investigations into the thermal behaviour of ECDs and thus toward proper thermal designs required to expand the application range.

Keywords: thermal modelling; energy efficient fluid power; direct driven hydraulic drives; pump-controlled cylinder; electro-hydraulic compact drives; self-contained cylinder drive (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/9/2375/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/9/2375/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:9:p:2375-:d:541372

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().