In this work, a circuit with a hydraulic power unit is formulated as a means of predicting the behavior of the prefill valve in the future. The behavior of the prefill valve can be examined by the measurements of the configured power unit, and the performance is determined by using hydraulic pumps, relief valves, and hydraulic hoses that make up the power unit. In particular, pressure/flow pulsation generated by hydraulic pumps can cause instability in the prefill valve and cause noise-induced degradation of the overall performance and reliability of the hydraulic system containing the prefill valve. Therefore, to study the behavior and performance of the prefill valve in a relatively accurate manner, the prediction of the characteristics of the hydraulic power unit driving the prefill valve is very important. In this study, the pulsation characteristics of the hydraulic pump were analyzed to theoretically demonstrate its relationship with different settings of the power unit, such as relief valve pressure settings and the presence/absence of the hose.

The spool displacement signal of a directional control valve, including the servo valve, can be considered as the standard signal to measure dynamic characteristics. When the spool displacement signal is not available, the velocity signal of a metering cylinder piston can be used. In this study, the frequency response characteristics of the metering cylinder are investigated for the spool displacement input. The transfer functions of the servo valve-metering system are derived taking into consideration the oil inertia effect in the transmission lines. The theoretical results of the transfer functions are verified through computer simulations and experiments. The oil inertia effect in the transmission lines was found to have a very significant effect on the bandwidth frequency of the servo valve-metering cylinder system. In order to more precisely measure the dynamic characteristics of a servo valve, the metering cylinder should be set up to minimize the oil inertia effect by increasing the inner diameters of the transmission lines or shortening their lengths.

An excavator is a construction machine that can perform various tasks such as trenching, piping, excavating, slope cutting, grading, and rock demolishing. In the 2010s, unmanned construction equipment using ICT technology was continuously developed. In this paper, the path design process was studied to implement the output data of the decision stage, and the path design algorithm was developed. For example, the output data of the decision stage were terrain data around the excavator, excavator mechanism information, excavator hydraulic information, the position and posture of the bucket at key points, the speed of the desired bucket path, and the required excavation volume. The result of the path design was the movement of the hydraulic cylinder, boom arm, bucket, and bucket edge. The core functions of the path design algorithm are the function of avoiding impact during the excavation process, the function to calculate the excavation depth that satisfies the required excavation volume, and the function that allows the bucket to pass through the main points of the excavation process while maintaining the speed of the desired path. In particular, in the process of developing the last function, the node tracking method expressed in the path design table was newly developed. The path design algorithm was verified as this path design satisfied the JCMAS H02 requirement.

The piston reservoir is mainly used in hydraulic blow-down system for aerospace engineering. The reservoir is heavy due to both hydraulic cylinder and piston in pressurization. The positive expulsion tank with rubber diaphragm has been mostly applied propellant and fuel tank at low pressure to satellites. To reduce weight, the reservoir that can be used at high pressure with rubber diaphragm was developed. In this research, the prediction of life-time for the rubber diaphragm was implemented through an accelerated life test, as a part of development of new reservoir. Also, the diaphragm was stored in an temperature chamber at the same condition as and operation with hydraulic oil. As a result, the life-time for a rubber diaphragm was successfully evaluated via Arrhenius law and Time-Temperature Superposition based on failure times over temperatures in the accelerated test.

In recent years, the demand for an onboard scale system which can directly monitor load distribution and overload of vehicles has increased. Depending on the suspension type of the vehicle, the onboard scale system could use different types of sensors, such as, angle sensors, pressure sensors, load cells, etc. In the case of a vehicle equipped with leaf spring suspension system, the load of the vehicle is measured by using the deflection or displacement of the leaf spring. Leaf springs have hysteresis characteristics that vary in displacement depending on the load state. These characteristics cause load measurement errors when moving or removing cargoes. Therefore, this study aimed at developing an onboard scale device for cargo vehicles equipped with leaf springs. A sectional modeling method which can reduce measurement errors caused by hysteresis characteristics was also proposed.

A forklift is a powered industrial vehicle used to lift and move materials over short distances. Nowadays, almost all forklifts are equipped with an automatic transmission due to its improved operator comfort and increased productivity. Thanks to marked improvement of transmission control unit equipped with highly-advanced microcontrollers, recently developed automatic transmission for forklift have various auxiliary functions such as creep, auto retardation, and automatic shift with excellent shift quality. This paper deals with the creep function which enables one to maneuver a forklift at the designated low speed by slip control of clutches. The design of creep function was based on four modes of creep operation depending on the status of the operator's shift lever and accelerator pedal. Control algorithms and control parameters for each mode were designed to achieve the desired static and dynamic performance. Vehicle test for the designed creep function was carried out with an independently developed embedded controller. Test results confirmed good creep speed control without speed error at a steady state with a mild shift shock during mode changes by stepping or releasing the accelerator.