Finding the Perfect Match—Different Heavy-Duty Mobile Applications Call for Different Actuators

Abstract

: For the longest time, valve-controlled, centralized hydraulic systems have been the state-of-the-art technology to actuate heavy-duty mobile machine (HDMM) implements. Due to the typically low energy efficiency of those systems, a high number of promising, more-efficient actuator concepts has been proposed by academia as well as industry over the last decades as potential replacements for valve control—e.g., independent metering, displacement control, different types of electro-hydraulic actuators (EHAs), electro-mechanic actuators, or hydraulic transformers. This paper takes a closer look on specific HDMM applications for these actuator concepts to figure out where which novel concept can be a better alternative to conventional actuator concepts, and where novel concepts might fail to improve. For this purpose, a novel evaluation algorithm for actuator–HDMM matches is developed based on problem aspects that can indicate an unsuitable actuator–HDMM match. To demonstrate the functionality of the match evaluation algorithm, four actuator concepts and four HDMM types are analyzed and rated in order to form 16 potential actuator–HDMM matches that can be evaluated by the novel algorithm. The four actuator concepts comprise a conventional valve-controlled concept and three different types of EHAs. The HDMM types are excavator, wheel loader, backhoe, and telehandler. Finally, the evaluation of the 16 matches results in 16 mismatch values , of which the lowest indicates the “perfect match”. Low mismatch values could be found in general for EHAs in combination with most HDMMs but also for a valve-controlled actuator concept in combination with a backhoe. Furthermore, an analysis of the concept limitations with suggestions for improvement is included.