Decentralized hydraulics for micro excavators

Environmental restrictions and economic pressures have spurred greater interest in hybrid and electric
off-road mobile machinery. According to researchers, in addition to well-established methods for energy
saving in hydraulic systems, a promising concept is zonal or decentralized hydraulicsan approach first
pioneered in the aircraft industry.

Researchers examined decentralized hydraulics in a machine similar to this JCB micro excavator. (Photo
courtesy of JCB)

In a presentation at The 15th Scandinavian International Conference on Fluid Power, held this June in
Linkping, Sweden, they described a fully decentralized system that can increase productivity, minimize
energy consumption and ensure robust performance in mobile machines operating in various
environments.

In a conventional excavator, said the researchers, hydraulic power corresponding to the maximum
workload is always supplied from a pump and excessive power dissipates as heat. It is often difficult to
reduce input power, even during low-workload operation, because combined controls of actuators
require distributed flows. In addition, potential and kinetic energies during lowering and slewing braking
also dissipate as heat.

Multi-actuator construction machinery is often equipped with load-sensing (LS) systems. In LS systems,
the pump supply pressure is adjusted to match the highest load pressure plus a constant-pressure offset.
When multiple actuators operate simultaneously, power losses in lower-load actuators are particularly
significant. Sizeable energy losses during the working cycle could be avoided by removing the control
valves in a typical digging cycle, and a portion of the energy could be recovered.

The researchers noted that hybrid systems have been developed for construction machinery, such as
series and parallel hybrid hydraulic excavators. Hybrid systems minimize the power peaks normally
required from the engine, which significantly reduces fuel consumption, prolongs engine life, and lowers
maintenance costs. Examples include a Komatsu 20-ton parallel hybrid excavator, the Hitachi ZH200
and the Logset 12H GTE hybrid forestry harvester. Other trends in the industry include valveless or
displacement control and the common-pressure-rail method.
In contrast, the work of the Aalto engineers centers on decentralized hydraulics using direct-driven
hydraulics (DDH). In a fully decentralized system, the hydraulic pumps are disconnected from the
engine and replaced within hydraulic power packs distributed throughout the system.

DDH combines the best properties of traditional hydraulics and electric intelligence and offers benefits
such as: easy electrification of construction machinery; higher efficiency compared to conventional
machines; fewer potential leak points; smooth and precise movements; controlled power-on-demand;
and energy regeneration.

In this research, a 1-ton class JCB micro excavator was electrified by replacing the 14-kW diesel engine
with a 10-kW electric motor and lithium-titanate batteries. A start-stop logic system of electric motor
operation improved energy efficiency with conventional valve control.

The aim was to investigate the energy efficiency of an excavator hydraulic system with DDH for typical
digging cycles. First, they developed a coupled multi-body dynamics model in Matlab Simulink. To
acquire the dynamic response and energy consumption distribution of the actuators, this study
constructed a particular model in Matlab/Simulink which integrated the mechanics, hydraulics, electrics
and control systems of the micro excavator. Simulation results were subsequently validated by a
simplified prototype of the micro excavator.

In the micro excavator, internal gear motors (referred to as pump/motors) were selected for DDH units,
with operating mode switching between pumping and motoring. The original valve control system for
boom, arm and bucket was replaced with three DDH units respectively. In the DDH unit, a fixed
displacement pump/motor with a speed-controlled electric servomotor directly controls the amount of
hydraulic oil pumped into and out of the system. The hydraulic pump/motor creates a flow depending on
the rotating speed of the servomotor. Additionally, a hydraulic accumulator replaces a conventional
tank.

In the simulation, a typical digging cycle represents an excavator digging a load of earth, rotating,
releasing the load onto a pile, and then returning to its initial position. Bucket capacity is 20 kg.

A key objective was to calculate the energy efficiency of DDH units and overall efficiency in a typical
operating cycle, and to determine the energy recovery potential. Results showed energy efficiencies of
the boom DDH, arm DDH, and bucket DDH were 67.5%, 75.4% and 77.5% respectively for the work
cycle. The overall efficiency of the front attachment with three DDH units was approximately 73.3%,
much higher than the reported 31% efficiency of a typical 5-ton excavator with an LS system. Further,
the potential energy recovery for boom DDH was estimated as 1.54 kJ.
The Logset 12H GTE harvester is one example of a hybrid mobile machine. (Photo courtesy of Logset
Oy)

For simplicity, simulation results were validated using a standalone DDH power pack representing a
bucket or arm cylinder and the same required pump/motor displacement ratio. Measurement results of
position, velocity and pressures showed acceptable accuracy, compared with the simulation.

The researchers cautioned that the model entailed a number of simplifications. The model for cylinder
friction did not account for temperature and pressure changes. The pump leakage model considers only
pressure difference, not speed and temperature variations. The on/off valves are not included in this
model, and piping is regarded as static fluid volumes. Likewise, cavitation problems were not
investigated. For this initial stage of research, these simplifications are considered acceptable, although
they should be accounted for in the future, they said.

System control for DDH and decentralized hydraulics was not the focus of this research and was not
investigated in detail. A self-adjusting fuzzy PID control handled speed control for the electric motor,
using a fixed PID control as current control and cylinder position control in response to loadtorque
disturbances from the hydraulics. Because decentralized hydraulics did not use a proportional control
valve, system damping is low compared to conventional systems, which leads to some oscillations.
Therefore, the control strategy of the DDH can be improved in the future.

Energy regeneration with DDH could offer additional benefits. For instance, potential energy recovery
for the boom DDH can be transformed into electrical power. In this study, the inverter for the DDH was
directly powered from the electrical grid, and energy storage, inverter and power electronics were not
considered in this stage of research. Energy could be stored using a battery or supercapacitor, although
that requires additional components and affects costs, efficiency and maintenance.

Nonetheless, this research has shown that efficiency gains, typical cycle control and potential energy
recovery by DDH are feasible in micro excavators. Therefore, the decentralized approach could be
recommended for future construction-equipment designs.