Fluid Power and Control

Lecture 1: Introduction

Joel Mbwiga
Lecturer-in-charge
Course Assessment
• Course Name: Fluid Power and Control
• Course Code: MEB 4102
• Course Assessment
Continuous Assessment 40 %
i. 1 assignment 10 %
ii. 2 Tests @ 15 %
Practical Assessment 20 %
i. Lab work 10 %
ii. Practical assignment 10 %
Semester Examination 40 %
 Course Overview Fluid Power is power transmission
using fluid

• Fluid Power importance: aerospace, machine tools, agricultural, industrial,

processing equipment, transportation vehicles, etc.
• Objectives:
• Have an understanding of the fundamental theoretical concepts governing fluid power
• Be familiar with common hydraulic and pneumatic components (pumps, actuators,
motors, valves, etc.), their use, symbols, and their performance characteristics.
• Have the ability to design and implement simple fluid power systems common in
industrial applications using commercial components: circuits for directional, speed,
pressure, force, and flow control.
• Through practical and design project, students will gain familiarity with the actual
components and fluid power circuits found in common industrial applications.
 Contents
Assignment: Prepare hand-written detailed notes: chapter 1: Fluid Power, chapter 2: Hydraulics, chapter 3:
Pneumatics Marking: Correctness 3 %, Completeness 1 %, Private literature study and creativity 5 %, Exercise
and examples 1 % to be collected in 13th week
• Introduction to fluid power; History, applications, advantages and limitations; General components
of fluid power systems
• Introduction to hydraulic systems design; Energy and power in hydraulic systems; Physical
properties of hydraulic fluids; hydraulic reservoir
• Hydraulic Pumps; pumping theory, gear, vane, and piston pumps; pump specifications,
performance and selection
• Hydraulic Cylinders, Motors, and Rotary Actuators
• Control Components: directional control valves, pressure control valves, flow control valves, servo
valves, proportional valves
• Other circuit components: reservoirs, accumulators, conductors and fittings; contamination and
filtration
• Hydraulic circuit design and analysis
• Hands-on lecture on the hydraulic trainer

Lab work – individual assignment, Marking: design and hydraulic circuit 3 %, independence 2 %, implementation
5 % , Practical group assignment – design project; marking: prototype 6%, report 4 % to be collected 13th week
Test 1
Contents cont…
• Pneumatics theory: air preparation and components
• Pneumatic compressors, cylinders, motors, and rotary actuators
• Directional, force, and speed control of air cylinders;
• Pneumatics: circuits and applications, design considerations
• Pressure Intensifiers; Air-Over-Oil Applications;
• Hands-on lectures on the pneumatic trainer

Test 2
Fluid Power
Introduction to Fluid Power
• Fluid Power is the technology that deals with the generation,
control, and transmission of power, using pressurized fluids
• Fluid power is called hydraulics when the fluid is a liquid and
is called pneumatics when the fluid is a gas
• Hydraulic systems use liquids such as petroleum oils,
synthetic oils, and water
• Pneumatic systems use air as the gas medium because air is
very abundant and can be readily exhausted into the
atmosphere after completing its assigned task.
COMPONENTS OF A FLUID POWER
SYSTEM
Hydraulic System 1. A tank (reservoir) to
hold the hydraulic oil.
2. A pump to force the oil
through the system.
3. An electric motor or
other power source to
drive the pump.
4. Valves to control oil
direction, pressure,
and flow rate.
5. An actuator to convert
the pressure of the oil
into mechanical force
to do the useful work.
6. Piping to carry the oil
from one location to
the other.
COMPONENTS OF A FLUID POWER SYSTEM
cont.. 1. An air tank to store a given
Pneumatic System volume of compressed air.
2. A compressor to compress
the air that comes directly
from the atmosphere.
3. An electric motor or other
prime mover to drive the
compressor.
4. Valves to control air
direction, pressure and flow
rate.
5. Actuators, which are similar
in operation to hydraulic
actuators.
6. Piping to carry the
pressurized air from one
location to another
ADVANTAGES OF FLUID POWER
SYSTEM
i. Fluid power systems are simple, easy to operate and can be
controlled accurately
• Fluid power gives flexibility to equipment without requiring a complex
mechanism
• Using fluid power, we can start, stop, accelerate, decelerate, reverse or
position large forces/components with great accuracy using simple levers and
push buttons.
ii. Multiplication and variation of forces
• Linear or rotary force can be multiplied by a fraction of a kilogram to several
hundreds of tons.
iii. Multifunction control
• A single hydraulic pump or air compressor can provide power and control for
numerous machines using valve manifolds and distribution systems.
iv. Low-speed torque
• Unlike electric motors, air or hydraulic motors can produce a large amount of torque
while operating at low speeds.
v. Constant force or torque
• Fluid power systems can deliver constant torque or force regardless of speed
changes.
vi. Economical
vii. Not only reduction in required manpower but also the production or
elimination of operator fatigue, as a production factor, is an important
element in the use of fluid power.
viii. Low weight to power ratio
• The hydraulic system has a low weight to power ratio compared to electromechanical
systems
• Fluid power systems are compact.
ix. Fluid power systems can be used where safety is of vital importance
• Safety is of vital importance in air and space travel, in the production and operation
of motor vehicles, in mining and manufacture of delicate products.
 APPLICATIONS OF FLUID POWER
• Agriculture: Tractors and farm equipments like ploughs, movers, chemical
sprayers, fertilizer spreaders.
• Aviation: Fluid power equipment like landing wheels on aeroplane and helicopter,
aircraft trolleys, aircraft engine test beds.
• Building Industry: For metering and mixing of concrete ingredients from hopper.
• Construction Equipment: Earthmoving equipments like excavators, bucket loaders,
dozers, crawlers, and road graders.
• Defence: Missile-launch systems and Navigation controls
• Entertainment: Amusement park entertainment rides like roller coasters
• Fabrication Industry: Hand tools like pneumatic drills, grinders, bores, riveting
machines, nut runners
• Food and Beverage: All types of food processing equipment, wrapping, bottling
• Foundry: Full and semi-automatic moulding machines, tilting of furnaces, die
casting machines
• Material Handling: Jacks, Hosts, Cranes, Forklift, Conveyor system
• Automation: Robots, Flexible manufacturing, processing units, sorting units
Classification of Fluid Power Systems
i. Based on the control system
• Open-loop system: There is no feedback in the open system and performance is
based on the characteristics of the individual components of the system
• The open-loop system is not accurate and error can be reduced by proper calibration
and control
• Closed-loop system: This system uses feedback
• The output of the system is fed back to a comparator by a measuring element
• The comparator compares the actual output to the desired output and gives an error
signal to the control element
• The error is used to change the actual output and bring it closer to the desired value.
• A simple closed-loop system uses servo valves and an advanced system uses digital
electronics.
ii. Based on the type of control
• Fluid logic control: This type of system is controlled by hydraulic oil or air. The system
employs fluid logic devices such as AND, NAND, OR, NOR, etc.
• Two types of fluid logic systems are available:
 a) Moving part logic (MPL): These devices are miniature fluid elements using moving parts
such as diaphragms, disks and poppets to implement various logic gates.
b) Fluidics: Fluid devices contain no moving parts and depend solely on interacting fluid jets
to implement various logic gates.
• Electrical control: This type of system is controlled by electrical devices.
• Four basic electrical devices are used for controlling the fluid power systems: switches,
relays, timers and solenoids
• These devices help to control the starting, stopping, sequencing, speed, positioning, timing
and reversing of actuating cylinders and fluid motors.
• Electrical control and fluid power work well together where remote control is essential.
• Electronic control: This type of system is controlled by microelectronic devices.
• The electronic brain is used to control the fluid power muscles for doing work.
• This system uses the most advanced type of electronic hardware including programmable
logic control (PLC) or microprocessor.
• In the electrical control, a change in system operation results in a cumbersome process of
redoing hardware connections.
• The difficulty is overcome by programmable electronic control.
• The program can be modified or a new program can be fed to meet the change of
operations.
• A number of such programs can be stored in these devices, which makes the systems more
flexible.
• Fluid power plays an important role in many sectors of the economy:
aerospace, machine tools, agricultural, industrial, processing
equipment, transportation vehicles, etc.