SBIR-STTR Award

DynSan will collaborate with the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) to develop and test an innovative digital hydraulic valve design that is insensitive to working fluid contamination. The goal is to improve the reliability of fueldraulic systems on aircraft gas turbine engines and similar applications. Current fueldraulic systems use Electro Hydraulic Servo Valves (EHSV) to control actuator position. We propose replacing the EHSV by a collection of connected fast operating switching valves to digitally control an actuator. Early results indcate that this system will perform closed loop control with significantly better contamination resistance and dynamic characteristics in comparison to EHSV. Phase I will have two focus areas: 1) theoretical and simulation-based design of controller operations and optimization of displacement control and 2) experimentally-based validation of the proposed system. Phase II will focus on on optimization of the design using CFD and high-fidelity electro-magnetic model to accurately characterize valve dynamics. The results from the modelling effort will be used to design a prototype valve and controller assembly that packs the setup developed in Phase I into a single unit. Phase III commercialization will seek to exploit the natural multi-use applicability of the developed system.

Benefit:
Immediate beneficiaries of this research will include the aerospace industry in general and aircraft gas turbine manufacturers in particular. Improved EHSV technology can benefit multiple industries including industrial motion control, flow control, and ground vehicle applications including steering control and active suspension control. An additional benefit of using digital fueldraulics is the potential to save energy from the implementation of the different optimization strategies to be investigated in Phase I. Digital fueldraulic control allows the implementation of flow re-routing to an accumulator for energy storage and regeneration. This control strategy could be implemented for hydraulic hybrid drives for mobile equipment, vehicles or wind and tidal electric generation. Moreover, digital hydraulic control can also be used to produce flow recirculation within the hydraulic system. This strategy would allow temporally de-coupling pumps or prime movers from fluid power circuits to produce further energy savings. Another application of digital control can focus on system prognostics and self-healing of critical hydraulic systems in areo and maritime applications.

Keywords:
digital hydraulics, digital hydraulics, position control., fueldraulics, flow regeneration, electro-hydraulic servo valve

DynSan will collaborate with the Purdue University to develop and test an innovative, fast digital hydraulic valve design that is insensitive to working fluid contamination. The goal is to improve the reliability of fueldraulic systems on aircraft gas turbine engines and similar applications. Current fueldraulic systems use flapper-type Electro Hydraulic Servo Valves (EHSV) to control actuator position. We propose to develop a new generation of digital EHSVs that does not suffer from the common problems experienced by the flapper-type designs such as stiction, null bias shift, and flapper damage. The new design uses an ensemble of appropriately controlled simple switching valves to digitally control an actuator. Phase I simulation and benchtop experiment results show that the new design exhibits excellent response characteristics in comparison to flapper-type EHSVs, and is insensitive to contamination. Phase II will develop a working hardware prototype and will have four focus areas: 1) updating of theoretical design tools developed in Phase I; 2) virtual prototyping, optimization and packaging of new design; 3) manufacturing and testing of a valve prototype; and 4) comparing the performance of the new digital approach to that of the currently used flapper-type valve design. Follow-on research will test the new valve on a wet rig simulator at Navy facilities. Phase III commercialization will seek to exploit the natural multi-use applicability of the developed system.

Benefit:
Immediate beneficiaries of this research will include the aerospace industry in general, and aircraft gas turbine manufacturers in particular. Specifically, we expect to insert the new technology into the F135 engine for use in the new F35 Lightning II tactical fighter being developed under the JFS Program. Improved EHSV technology can also benefit multiple industries including aircraft control surface actuation, industrial motion control, flow control, and ground vehicle applications including steering control and active suspension control. An additional benefit of using digital fueldraulics is the potential to save pumping energy: digital fueldraulic control allows the implementation of flow re-routing to an accumulator for energy storage and regeneration. This control strategy could be implemented for hydraulic hybrid drives for mobile equipment, vehicles or wind and tidal electric generation. Moreover, digital hydraulic control can also be used to produce flow recirculation within the hydraulic system. This strategy would allow temporally de-coupling pumps or prime movers from fluid power circuits to produce further energy savings. Another application of digital control can focus on system prognostics and self-healing of critical hydraulic systems in areo and maritime applications.

Keywords:
fueldraulics, position control, electro-hydraulic servo valve, EHSV, JSF, flow regeneration, digital hydraulics, F135 engine.