Inner-Loop Control for Electro-Hydraulic (EHA) Actuation Systems

This article presents the development of a multiple inner-loop control strategy for improving the performance of hydrostatic actuation systems. In these actuators, the presence of non-linearities associated with pump/motor static friction and backlash, pressure drop in the piping system, and nonlinear friction at the load have a significant effect on the performance and positional accuracy of the system. The effect of nonlinear friction at the pump/motor interface has been overcome by the use of a high gain pump-speed inner-loop control strategy. In this article, the concept of inner-loop control will be extended to target specific sources of performance degradation. Velocity feedback will be incorporated in this manner to decrease the effects of pump backlash and nonlinear friction at the load. Simulation results supported by theoretical analysis indicate that a considerable improvement in performance can be achieved by the implementation of this control strategy.Copyright © 2009 by ASME