Design and Testing of a Multi-Cylinder Piezopump for Hydraulic Actuation

Nathan Sell, Francesco Sciatti, Andrew Plummer () and Tom Love
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Nathan Sell: Department Mechanical Engineering, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK
Francesco Sciatti: Department of Mechanics, Mathematics and Management, Politecnico di Bari, 70125 Bari, Italy
Andrew Plummer: Department Mechanical Engineering, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK
Tom Love: Safran Landing Systems, Gloucester GL2 9QH, UK

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 19, 1-22

Abstract: Hydraulic actuation systems are widely used in industries such as aerospace, the marine industry, off-highway vehicles, and manufacturing. There has been a shift from the hydraulic distribution of power from a centralized supply to electrical power distribution, to reduce the maintenance requirements and weight and improve the efficiency. However, hydraulic actuators have many advantages, such as power density, durability, and controllability, so the ability to convert electrical to hydraulic power locally to drive an actuator is important. Traditional hydraulic pumps are inefficient and unsuitable for low-power applications, making piezopumps a promising alternative for the conversion of electrical to hydraulic power in the sub-100 W range. Currently, the use of piezopumps is limited by their maximum power (typically a few watts or less) and low flows. This paper details the design, simulation, and testing of a multi-cylinder piezopump designed to push the envelope of the power output. The simulation results demonstrate that pumps with two or three cylinders show increasing benefits in terms of hydraulic and electrical performance due to the reduced flow and current ripple compared to a single-cylinder pump. The experimental results from a two-cylinder pump confirm this, and the effect of the phase relationship between the drive signals is investigated in detail. The experimental pump has fast-acting disc-style reed non-return valves, allowing piezostack drive frequencies of up to 1.4 kHz to be used. Custom power electronics tailored to the pump are developed. These features are critical in demonstrating the potential for multi-cylinder piezopumps to play an important role as a future actuation solution.

Keywords: piezoelectric; hydraulics; piezopump; piezoelectro-hydrostatic actuator (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: 2024
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