• Journal of Drive and Control
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.8-15
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• 2021

A rear axle steering (RAS) system is attached to the rear of medium and large commercial vehicles that transport large cargo. The existing RAS systems are driven by electro-hydraulic actuator (EHA), and most commercialized EHAs consist of electric motors, hydraulic pumps, relief valves, prefill valves and cylinders. The prefill valve required for such EHAs is a type of check valve with extremely low cracking pressure that should not allow RAS to have noise or vibration, and the prefill valve prevents system negative pressure as well as unstable operation. Most papers on this topic rely on experiments to predict valve performance, and theoretically detailed modeling of valves or pipelines is performed, but it is very rare to evaluate hydraulic vibration characteristics by analysing everything from hydraulic pumps to valves comprehensively. In this study, we proposed an experimental circuit that can predict the performance of the prefill valve. The study also analysed the pressure-flow pulsation that is transmitted to the valve through the pipeline, and how the transmitted pressure-flow pulsation affects the valve vibration.

• Journal of Drive and Control
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.1-8
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• 2021

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.