Article

Optimizing an Electrohydraulic Position Control System using the DOE Method

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Abstract

Hydraulic systems are widely used in industry, since they can produce large torques, high-speed responses with fast motions and speed reversals. Automatic control of hydraulic systems has evolved into an increasingly superior alternative for many industrial applications [3]. Advances in hydraulic hardware and electronics have combined to make the design and implementation of these systems more intuitive, reliable, cost effective, repeatable and user friendly. Controlling the position of a cylinder is one of the most demanding hydraulic motion control applications [11]. In a closed-loop position control system, the system performance is determined by various factors such as controller settings, system pressure, environment temperature, etc. To optimize system performance, a study was conducted utilizing Design of Experiment (DOE) on an automated hydraulic position control system. In the designed experiment, four controllable factors are considered at two different levels – three controller settings and the system pressure. The controller setting parameters include the proportional gain (P), the integral gain (I), and the derivative gain (D). These are the critical parameters for typical PID-based control systems [7]. The step response time and the position accuracy were selected as key measurements of the system performance. The step response time measures how fast the control system can respond to a position error, and the position accuracy measures how accurate the system is in terms of position control. Statistical analyses, including Analysis of Variance and factorial plots, were carried out using statistical software. The paper illustrates the physical control system in hardware setup and software programming, the DOE method applied, data collection, and statistical analysis. The results and future study are explained and discussed.

Keywords: design of experiment (DOE), electrohydraulic system, closed-loop control, PID control, performance optimization

How to Cite:

You, Y. & Shraim, M., (2022) “Optimizing an Electrohydraulic Position Control System using the DOE Method”, The Journal of Technology, Management, and Applied Engineering 38(1), 1–14.