International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 5, Issue 6, June-2014 1250

ISSN 2229-5518

Leveling System Controlled by Electro-hydraulic

Proportional Valves in self-propelled modular
transporter (SPMT)
Lu Liqun, Wang Xiujing, Wang Hantao

Abstract—Self-propelled modular transporter（SPMT） is provided with a hydraulic leveling system to ensure the stability and balance
loads on uneven road surfaces. The suspension lift system characteristics and working principle of SPMT is studied，three-point leveling
and four-point leveling apply for different working conditions are analyzed and the control strategies and methods of leveling system are
explained. A lifting suspension leveling system of 150t SPMT is designed，which adopted Rexroth electro-hydraulic proportioning multi-
way direction valve with load-sensing as core control elements. The result shows that control accuracy of the designed leveling system is
improved and energy savings is achieved.

Index Terms—Self-propelled modular transporter, Leveling system with lifting suspension，Electro-hydraulic proportional control, Multi-
way direction valve, Load sensing.

——————————  ——————————

1 INTRODUCTION
Self-propelled modular transporter(SPMT) often carries draulic ball valve according to stability requirements in differ-
heavy and oversized goods. It may cause not only damage to ent conditions. The suspension cylinder of SPMT can be

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the axle but also result in vehicle overturning when the center achieved three or four point supporting technique (as shown
of goods deviates from the geometric center of the body[1][2]. in Figure 1 and Figure 2). The circults of hydraulic cylinder
Therefore, loading platform of SPMT designed with hydraulic that combined into the same support point are connected with
lifting system can lift and suspend in a certain range[3]. The each other which form a closed hydraulic system under the
functions such as load platform leveling，center of gravity hydraulic control system during vehicle running. When the
display and automatic adjustment when encountered uneven vehicle is running on uneven road, the closed hydraulic sys-
road allow SPMT to load and unload goods easily and en- tem can make vehicle adapt to the uneven road through the
hance vehicle passing ability. At the same time, it is also bene- telescopic movement of the cylinder. The balance of load is
ficial to passing through road obstacles. acquired because each suspension with the same support
Taking 150t SPMT with 6-axis as an example, the working point group is beard uniformly.
principle and control strategies of leveling on the suspension
system was analyzed and a leveling system controlled by elec-
tro-hydraulic proportional valves was designed, which pro-
vide engineering reference for the design of leveling system in
SPMT.

2 ANALYSIS OF LEVELING SYSTEM

2.1The Leveling Principle
Hydraulic leveling system in SPMT is realized by lifting Fig.1 Three-point supporting system
hydraulic cylinders on the suspension system, using hydraulic
suspension to achieve the function of force transmission,
damping and platform lifting, leveling under the instruction
of PLC control system[4]. Suspension cylinder is divided into
different support groups through opening and closing of hy-
————————————————
• Lu Liqun is currently working as the associate professor in school of
transportion and vehicle engineering in Shandong University of Technolo-
gy, China, PH-8605332786837. E-mail: [email protected]
• Wang Xiujing is currently pursuing masters degree program in Shandong
University of Technology, China, PH-8605332786837. E-mail:
[email protected]
• Wang Hantao is currently pursuing masters degree program in Shandong
University of Technology, China, PH-8605332786837. E-mail:
[email protected]
Fig.2 Four-point supporting system
Three-point supporting is applied to uneven road surface
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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 5, Issue 6, June-2014 1251
ISSN 2229-5518
and the center of loads must be located inside the triangle ence and allowable deviation is usually no more than 20mm
formed by three-point supporting. Four-point supporting is determined by the engineering practice. The change in rota-
applied to the condition of the unbalanced gravity center of tional angle is measured by the internal potentiometer with
load and has a higher requirement on the road surface. Three- the maximum measurement range of ± 20 °.
point and four-point supporting can be interchanged. Using Two operation modes include three-point and four-point
hydraulic suspension, in addition to providing vehicle lifting supporting can be adopted in vehicle leveling system which
and leveling functions, What's more, the telescopic and com- the function of vehicle lifting, single-point leveling and front
pensation function of hydraulic cylinders ensures bearing of and rear tilt leveling can be realized. In addition, both left and
wheel sets being uniformly and avoiding slipping, accommo- right tilt leveling can be acquired by the four-point support-
dating uneven road conditions. ing. Open-loop control is adopted in single-point leveling. The
leveling interface is displayed on LCD screen in the cab when
2.2Control strategies of leveling the system is in open-loop leveling control mode. control vari-
Leveling system in SPMT is a control device to adjust the able is proportional to the input voltage of the handle and the
body’s tilt attitude, which consists of a controller, an angle direction is corresponding with the direction of the handle
sensor, a hydraulic lift system and other auxiliary devices ( as pushing. Control variable drives hydraulic proportional valve
shown in Figure 3 taking 4-axis as an example). An angle sen- to work and manipulates each hydraulic cylinders of suspen-
sor is installed on each suspension, as the SPMT’s ground sion to lift or fall by converting control variable into voltage
condition of work is better and can be considered as approxi- signal and current signal. Closed-loop control is adopted in
mate level, the height of the suspension can be determined by vehicle lifting, front and rear tilt leveling and both left and
the angle sensor so that the height of each support point is right sides tilt leveling.
detected. The control expectation is the difference between the
other suspension height and the suspension height of refer-

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Angle sensor 1 Hitch 1 Suspension group 1

Angle sensor 2 Hitch 2 Suspension group 2

Angle sensor 4 Hitch 4 Suspension group 4

Proportional valve 4

Engine Hydraulic pump

Proportional valve 2
Controller

Proportional valve 1

CAN-bus
Controller

Controller

Handling device

Fig.3 The steering system of SPMT

on each lifting cylinder and there is a hose connecting two

2.3 Leveling Security Policy shuttle valves. If a hose of lift cylinder is broken, shuttle
Hydraulic lifting system has a safety device. Each suspen- valves will cut off the oil line of the broken hose automatically,
sion cylinder is connected to hydraulic lines on the body with and the other hose still works to ensure the normal operation
a rubber hose. if a hose on the cylinder is broken, the support- of the lift cylinder. The characteristic of system is that the
ing point of the cylinder will be failure without a safety de- frame can be lift in a certain range with reference to the equi-
vice. Therefore, a safety device is consist of two shuttle valves librium position through a hydraulic controlling system.
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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 5, Issue 6, June-2014 1252
ISSN 2229-5518
Four-point support leveling must ensure not only the port of the virtual leg out when the pressure is adjusted to a
body’s level but also bearing uniformly of four-point support. reasonable value .
It is necessary to solve the contradiction between leveling and
uniformly supported under redundancy supporting and the
mutual coupling between the various support systems when
3 DESIGN OF LEVELING SYSTEM
four-point support is adopted. Otherwise, it will cause a phe- 3.1 Hydraulic Suspension System with Lifting
nomenon of " virtual leg " which is one support of the body The leveling system was designed taking 150T SPMT lifting
bears almost no force, the body and the load borne are beard suspension system as a research object according to the prin-
by the other three supports, however this situation is not al- ciple and control strategy of the leveling system. During de-
lowed in the engineering. The bearing range of each support is sign, hydraulic lifting suspension system and steering system
determined according to the sum of goods and vehicle weight can share the same variable pump , which provides motive
through pressure sensor attached to each suspension loop of force[5][6][7]. The pump is a swash plate axial piston pump
platform. The value of each pressure sensor is monitored real with constant power control and load sensing control by cut-
time in the process of leveling. If the vehicle is found to have ting off pressure, which is used in open loop hydraulic trans-
"virtual leg" phenomenon, it should immediately stop level- mission[8].
ing. The leveling operation start again after putting the sup-

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Fig. 4 150t self-propelled modular transporter(SPMT) lifting suspension system (unilateral)
1- proportional sandwich directional valve；2-pressure sensor；3-pilot operated check valve；4-throttle and check valves；5-suspension cylinder；6-
pressure relief valve；7-measured pressure pipe fitting；8-ball valve；9-shuttle valve

The working pressure and the output flow of pump are other side is the same as it’s.
regulated by constant power control and the engine is protect-
ed, which makes the constant power could not exceed the 3.2 Force Analysis on Hydraulic Suspension
predetermined driving power under the constant driving The car with 6- axis can carry 150 tons of goods and has it-
speed. The function of constant power control starts to work self 40 tons weight, therefore each axis’ capacity may up to 32
while the pressure is less than the predetermined pressure tons. Each axis is consist of two hydraulic suspension mecha-
value[9][10]. The pressure cut off(the constant pressure con- nism, so each hydraulic lift cylinder’s full load is 16 tons. The
trol)precedes constant power control through reducing the lift cylinder bears the maximum force when the vehicle is in
pump's displacement when the pressure reaches a predeter- full load and the frame is lift to the highest location. Taking
mined value. Load sensitive control is realized by a load sens- the cantilever as the research object, its force diagram is shown
ing valve. This valve is a flow control valve, which can adjust in Figure 5 (already marked the known size and angle).
the pump according to the load pressure and makes the varia- In the Figure：
ble pump meet the actuator’s (cylinder or hydraulic motor) G —full load of hydraulic suspension G=160KN
need. The schematic diagram of hydraulic lifting suspension F —the force of suspension cylinder（KN）
system is shown in Figure 4. In order to express the relation- N —hinge constraint reaction（KN）
ship between the various elements clearly, the unilateral con-
trol loop of SPMT was drawn in schematic diagram and the

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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 5, Issue 6, June-2014 1253
ISSN 2229-5518

IJSER Fig.5 The force analysis on hydraulic cylinder

Rotating arm（neglect its own weight）is in balance under

the action of three non-parallel force. From the theorem of
three force balance，it can be conclude that t three force must
intersect at one point（as shown in Figure 5b）.
From the right triangle △ABE in Figure 5a， then
is 20~32Mpa. The working pressure of lifting cylinder is de-
fined as 25Mpa in advance .
F = pA = p ⋅ pD 2 / 4 （2）
Where：p－the working pressure of suspension cylinder（
Mpa）
BE 274 D－the plunger diameter of suspension cylinder（mm）
AB = °
= °
≈ 2361.(∠EAB = 6.619° )
tg 6.619 tg 6.619 =
Then： D =
4F 138mm
pp
Then AC = AB + BC = 2361 + 555 = 2916
Therefor Taking design of suspension mechanism into account ,
plunger diameter of cylinder can be integral to D=140mm.
CD 595 Then working pressure of oil cylinder in full load is calculated
δ = ∠DAC = arctg = arctg ≈ 11.53°
AC 2916 as：
That is: β = 180° − ∠DAC = 168.47° = F / p D 2 24.3MPa
p 4=
γ = 180° − α − β = 4.911° Taking the pressure loss of oil way into account and ac-
For Fig.5[b]，according to the sine theorem：
cording to the hydraulic component, the press loss is deter-
F G
=
sin β sin γ
（1）
mined as ∑ p = 1MPa . Ultimately, the working pressure of
Then： oil cylinder in full load is defined as
sin168.47°
=F × 160 ≈ 374KN P = p + ∑ p = 24.3 + 1 = 25.3MPa
sin4.911°
3.3 The Working Pressure of Hydraulic Lifting System 3.4 Determination of the Multi-valve Flow on Lifting
According to the engineering experience，common work- System
ing pressure on hydraulic components of hoisting machinery The stroke of lifting oil cylinder is known as s＝347mm and he
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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 5, Issue 6, June-2014 1254
ISSN 2229-5518
cargo table is required to be completing 650mm lifting winin 1 [4] Lu Li-qun, Shi Bo-qiang, Guo Peng-yan,etal. Study of Control in
min，therefore，the speed of oil cylinder is： Muti-steering Pattern of Self-propelled Heavy Platform Vehicle[J].
s 347 Coal Mine Machinery, 2008,29(8)：164-166
v= = = 347 mm / min [5] Kou Weiguang,Zhou Huiqun,Yang Jing. Study of Modeling Method
t 1 for Hydraulic System[J]. Machinery & Electronics, 2010(5)：24-27
because
q = v× A [6] Paynter H M. Analysis and design of engineering systems[M]. Cam-
Where，v－the move speed of piston in lifting cylinder； bridge: The MIT Press, 1960:132-153
A－the area of piston in lifting cylinder. [7] Karnopp D, Margolis L, System R. Dynamics modeling and simula-
tion of mechatronic systems[M]. New York: John wiley and sons,
A = πd 2 / 4 ，d is the diameter of lifting cylinder. 2005:232-253
Then the flow of every lifting cylinder is： [8] Ren Shan.Application of load- sensing pump and propor tional mul-
ti- way valve in large road machine[J].Fluid power Transmission and
q= v × A = 5.34 L / min Control, 2008,5(3)：30-31
Lifting oil cylinders are divided into two groups，then the [9] Yu Xiqing,Wu Genmao,Lu Yongxiang etal.Control mode and control
flow of each group oil cylinder is： performance of multi-way valve[J]. Construction Machinery and
6×5.34=32.05L/min Equipment, 1995(8)：18-21
hypothesis all of the lifting cylinder working in the same time [10] Li Junxia,Kou Ziming.Characteristic ananlysis and simulation study
with the same lifting speed，then the required flow is： of electricity-liquid proportion overflow valve[J].Journal of China
Lz=12×5.34=64.1L/min Coal Society, 2010，35（2）：320-323
According to the determined working pressure of lifting sys-
tem and the required flow of each group, multi-way valve M4-12
of Rexroth company produced has been chosen and it has the
performance with high voltage load sensitivity. Six suspension oil
cylinders are controlled in each group （refer to Figure 4）. This

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kind of multi-way valve is applied to variable pump, which it is
controlled with closed core type , bus-mastering and load sens-
ing. The using of the multi-way valve can control the lifting sys-
tem accurately and make support technology of three point or
four point and automatic leveling of the body coming true.

4 CONCLUSION
The principle and the characteristics of leveling according
to the lifting suspension system on SPMT was analyzed.
Three point leveling is adapted to uneven road surface while
the four point leveling is fit for condition of unbalanced load.
A suspension leveling system is designed taking 150T
SPMT as example. High precision lifting of suspension cylin-
der can be achieved because a closed loop control forming
with electro-hydraulic proportional valves and angle sensor of
Rexroth is adopted.
Load sensing proportional directional valve of leveling sys-
tem can control the movement direction of suspension hydrau-
lic cylinder which is not depended on the load. The output
pressure of the pump rises with the load increasing through
introducing the load sensing circuit into the variable mecha-
nism. The energy-saving is realized because the pump’s out-
put flow is equal to the required flow of the system.

REFERENCES
[1] Zhao Jingyi,Guo Rui .Developing of independent suspension electro-
hydraulic control system of heavy platform vehicle. Journal of Northeastern
University.2008,29(S2):237-240
[2] Zhao Jingyi,Li Kan,Li Jiansong. Study on saving control for hydraulic
self-propelled transporter. 7th International Conferecne on Fluid
Power Transmission and Control(ICFP2009).2009:P906-910
[3] Lou Huawei.Design and Simulation of Hydraulic Levelling System
Controlled by Electro-hydraulic Proportional valves
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