Hydraulic Component Design Library

Version 4.2 September 2004

Copyright IMAGINE S.A. 1995-2004

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Using the HCD Library........................................................................................... 1
1. Introduction.......................................................................................................... 1
2. Tutorial examples ................................................................................................ 3
2.1. Constructing hydraulic check valves using HCD .......................................... 3
2.2. Constructing a hydraulic jack using HCD ..................................................... 11
2.3. Constructing spool valves.............................................................................. 16
2.4. 3-position 3-port hydraulic directional control valve .................................... 19
2.5. Hydraulic jack with moving body ................................................................. 23
3. A Few General Rules ........................................................................................... 25
3.1. Introduction ................................................................................................... 25
3.2. Causality ........................................................................................................ 25
3.3. Use of special facilities for setting parameters .............................................. 26
3.4. Use of the mass dynamics blocks .................................................................. 26
3.5. Setting chamber length at zero displacement ................................................ 27
3.6. Major reconstructions .................................................................................... 27

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Using the
HCD Library
1. Introduction
HCD stands for Hydraulic Component Design (previously named Hydraulic AMEBel -which
stands for AMESim Basic element library-). You can use the HCD library to construct a
submodel of a component from a collection of very basic blocks. HCD greatly increases the
power of AMESim but it is a good idea to be thoroughly familiar with the standard AMESim
submodels before you start using HCD.
Why was it necessary to create this library? This question will be answered in this section. After
this, five examples of the use of HCD are presented. In the last section a few general rules are
established to enable you to use HCD effectively.
The first four examples are concerned with absolute motion. It is likely that the majority of
applications of HCD that you will use will fall into this category. The fifth example is concerned
with relative motion. It is recommended that you reproduce the first FOUR examples using
AMESim.
When you use AMESim, you build a model of an engineering system from a collection of
components. For these components AMESim originally used graphical symbols or icons based
on standard representations (such as ISO symbols for hydraulic components). For an engineer
working in a particular field, this makes the final system sketch look very standard and very easy
to understand. However, there are two problems associated with this approach:
diversity of components,
diversity of skills.{ XE "diversity problems" }
The diversity of components problem can be stated quite simply: no matter how many
components you have, there are never enough. As an example think of a hydraulic jack. Here
are some possibilities
the jack can have one or two hydraulic chambers,
it can have one or two rods,
it can incorporate one, two or zero springs.
This gives 12 combinations and each would need a separate icon. Behind each icon must be at
least one submodel. For many AMESim icons, one submodel is enough. In this case, we would
have 12 submodels. If we consider telescopic jacks, the number of possibilities doubles.
Sometimes it is useful to allow different causalities on the ports. With all the possible
combinations of causality on ports there could be well over a hundred submodels of jacks.
It is not possible to provide huge numbers of icons and submodels within the standard AMESim
libraries. Hence only the more common component icons and submodels are provided. The
expert AMESim users can of course create extensions by using AMESet to add both new icons
and new submodels but at this point we encounter the second diversity problem.

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What skills are necessary to produce good submodels of components in AMESim or any other
software? Here is a list:
an understanding of the construction and operation of the component;
an understanding of the physics governing the operation of the component;
an ability to translate the physics into a mathematical algorithm to determine the
outputs of the submodel from its inputs;
an ability to translate this algorithm into a working piece of code.
Implicit within these skills are also the ability to test, debug and correct the submodel. This
means that the submodel developer requires ability in engineering, physics, mathematics and
computer science. This is the problem of diversity of skills. People having all these skills are
relatively rare - constructing good submodels is a specialist activity.
HCD was developed to overcome these diversity problems. Remember the traditional AMESim
library uses symbols, where possible, based on standard ISO symbols. These symbols impose a
subdivision of the model into submodels. Clearly this subdivision is not the only one possible;
neither is it necessarily the best. We could use subdivision based on larger units or smaller units.
HCD uses a subdivision that enables us to build the greatest number of engineering system
models from the smallest number of icons and submodels. Returning to the case of the hydraulic
jack, we can easily see that all possible jacks can be built up from various combinations of the
following elements:
hydraulic fluid under pressure
annular variable volume chamber
mechanical spring
piston generating force due to differential pressures and areas
This suggests that this is a good subdivision to use. Compared with subdivision based on
standard ISO symbols it is clear that the basic blocks are much smaller. We could describe them
as technological units since each element is a tangible object for an engineer. With most HCD
icons, you could almost go to the engineering store, collect the corresponding physical objects
and use them to make a component.

Shopping List
1 piston
2 annular variable volumes
2 mechanical springs
2 tins of hydraulic oil
We will return to this example in the next Chapter 2 were we introduce a series of examples
which progressively introduce features of HCD.

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2. Tutorial examples
2.1. Constructing hydraulic check valves using HCD
In this section you will create the hydraulic check valves shown in
Figure 1. These components were chosen because their method of
working is clear, even to the non-specialist.
Figure 1
The standard AMESim library already supplies submodels for these components and they are
useful for general simulation of hydraulic systems. They do not include any dynamics since it is
assumed they react sufficiently fast, compared with the rest of the system.

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 2 shows the category icon for HCD. The components in this category are shown in
Figure 4. The first 17 components are used as for absolute motion and the 18 following are used
for relative motion. Figure 3 shows two special purely hydraulic components. With the relative
motion icons there is one body inside another and both are capable of motion. With the absolute
motion icons, if there is an outer body, it is considered fixed. We will concentrate first on the
absolute motion icons.

Figure 4 : Components of the Hydraulic Components Design library

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For most of the absolute motion icons, there are two linear shaft ports and at least
one hydraulic port which supplies a pressure. Of very great importance is the
active area on which pressure acts. The icon indicates this by the use of thicker
lines or curves on the concerned part and, to make it even clearer, arrows also
indicate the active area. These icons are normally joined together by their linear
shaft ports to form an object which might be a spool valve, a hydraulic actuator or, as in the
present case, a check valve. However, many other objects can be constructed in the same way
such as hydraulic brake components, parts within an automatic gearbox or fuel injection
systems.
The most commonly used hydraulic icon is the hydraulic volume with compressibility
which is associated with a submodel which computes hydraulic pressure. This icon has
provision for 4 hydraulic flow ports which receive a flow rate and a volume. From this
the total volume and the total inflow can be calculated. If this total inflow is positive the pressure
rises, if it is negative the pressure falls.
The simplest possible check valve consists of a ball which is free to move over a limited
displacement. In one extreme position it is fully closed and completely blocks the flow, and in
the other extreme position it is fully open. In equilibrium, the position depends on the pressures
at the two hydraulic ports.

Figure 5

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HCD contains two icons of a ball in a hydraulic flow path. One has
the ball on a plain circular seat and the other on a conical seat. A
submodel associated with the plain seat icon is shown in Figure 5.
Note that:
- there are two hydraulic flow ports and at each a pressure is received as an input;
- if the ball is in the extreme right position, the flow path will be blocked whereas if it is
- in the extreme left position the flow path is at its maximum opening;
- the rods attached to the ball are optional and have a default diameter of zero in the
submodels.
The ball will be subject to forces due to the pressure and, if they do not
balance, the ball will move. This means we must take into account the
inertia of the ball. Since the movement of the ball in the check valve is
limited, we need the right hand inertia icon shown. Details of its
external variables are shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6
Figure 7 shows two possible versions of the system we are building. Each contains the check
valve and two pressure sources to perform a simple test on it. Why two versions? The reason is
simple. In order to make HCD as easy to use as possible, many HCD icons are associated with
two submodels. Looking again at Figure 5, you will see the external variables of submodel
BAP21. The external variables of BAP22 are a mirror image of these. You will get essentially
the same results from either of these systems but, to make the example easier to follow, build the
system shown in Figure 7(a). Note that there are zero force sources (F000) plugged into the free
mechanical ports.

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Figure 7
In Submodels mode it is easier to set submodels by selecting Premier Submodel. However, if
you set the submodel for the inertia manually, you will find there are two possible submodels
which differ only in the way they treat the limitations in the displacement. These are often
referred to as end stops. The two methods of modeling differ in the way they deal with the
contact at an end stop:
- a perfect inelastic collision with the velocity coming instantaneously to rest or
- a mechanical spring and damper.
Both methods are valuable but the problem with the second method is knowing how to set the
spring and damper rates. MAS005 uses the first method.
In Parameters mode for the submodel MAS005 set the mass to 10 g (0.01 kg), the lower
displacement limit to 0 mm, the upper displacement limit to 4 mm (0.004 m). The submodel
takes the weight into account and hence an angle can be set. In our case the weight force is
probably insignificant compared with the pressure force so the value set for the angle is not
critical. It is probably not appropriate to set Coulomb friction and stiction. A non-zero viscous
friction would make the unit more stable but in practice it is normally fully open or fully shut.
Set the viscous friction to 0. The other parameters refer to Stribeck friction. This was introduced
because it gives a smoother transition from stiction to Coulomb friction. Normally the Stribeck
friction parameters can be left at their default value. Since we set Coulomb friction and stiction
to zero they will not be effective in any case.
In the submodel BAP22 both rod diameters must be set to zero. The maximum flow rate
coefficient is never far from the default value of 0.7. The critical flow number controls how fast
this flow coefficient is reached and normally can be left at its default value.
The total force on the ball is calculated from the pressures acting on the ball and from the
external forces. The pressure force is calculated on the assumption that, referring to Figure 7(a),
the right hand port pressure acts on an area adjacent to the orifice and the left hand port pressure
acts on the rest of the ball. This assumption is satisfactory under most circumstances but there is
provision for a correction term which is known as a jet force. This force tends to close the ball
valve. A coefficient, the jet force coefficient, is used to disable or enable this term. It is defaulted
to 0 to disable the term and when set to 1 will enable it. It can be set to other values if
experimental data is available and fine-tuning of the submodel is desired.
Set the left-hand pressure source to a constant value of 50 bar. Set the right hand pressure source
to ramp from 0 bar to 100 in 1 second and back to 0 bar in a further 1 second. Perform a
simulation over 2 seconds with a communication interval equal to 0.01 second. Figure 8 shows a
typical plot of the flow rate through the check valve plotted against the differential pressure.
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Remember this is a dynamic submodel and the flow rate can be non-zero even when the
differential pressure is negative. Even though the steady state characteristic for a particular
pressure drop is for the valve to be closed, the inertia causes a ball position to lag behind the
steady state position resulting in a reverse flow. Note that for similar reasons the opening and
closing curves are not the same.

Figure 8
To get the steady-state characteristic, ramp the pressure much more slowly and increase the
simulation time accordingly.
Note that the ball submodels compute some volumes which are external variables at the two
flow ports. The explanation of these will be deferred to the next section on hydraulic jacks
where they are of great importance.

Figure 9
Next you will add a spring (SPR000) to convert the check valve to a spring-loaded unit. The
modified system is shown in Figure 9. Attach a zero velocity source (V001) to the other port of
the spring.
Note that:
- The spring is always in compression.
- There are two ways of constructing the valve shown as (a) and (b) in the Figure 9. It
does not matter which side of the ball the inertia effect is positioned. However, the
spring must be to the left or else it will be tending to open the valve instead of closing
it.
- The spring supplies a force at both ports and so the left spring port must be closed
with a zero velocity source rather than a zero force source.

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We must adjust the spring rate and preload to give a desired characteristic. By choosing
appropriate values we can set a cracking pressure and a flow rate pressure characteristic.

Figure 10
The basic displacement and the corresponding velocity are calculated within the mass submodel
MAS005. As shown in Figure 5 and Figure 6, these values are passed through the submodel
BAP21. Figure 10 shows the external variables of the spring submodel. SPR000 will accept the
velocity from BAP21 and another velocity (which is always zero) from V001.

Figure 11
When setting the parameters for the spring, we will try to give a small pre-load to the check
valve which will determine its cracking pressure. The parameters shown in Figure 11 will give a
pre-load of 10 N.

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Figure 12
Rerun the simulation with the same pressure sources as in the previous example. Figure 12
shows the flow rate pressure characteristic of the check valve indicating a cracking pressure of
about 5 bar. The change in the slope of the curve at about 22 bar is caused by the ball reaching
the limit of its travel. Figure 13 shows the velocity of the ball. Note that there are signs of
instability in the unit when it is partially open. (It is better to reduce the communication interval
to 0.001 seconds to see this more clearly.) This can be cured by including a damping orifice. We
will follow this idea in the third tutorial example.

Figure 13

Figure 14

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As an optional exercise you can alter your check valve to make it into the valve shown in
Figure 14. This valve senses the pressure in two supply systems and connects the demand
system to whichever supply system has the higher pressure. The two ports in the center are in
reality probably only one port. Make sure the line submodel DIRECT is set for both of the lines
joining the ball submodel to the node.
The valve is set up for testing and the two pressure sources represent the two supply systems and
the flow source is the demand.
Set a demand ramping from 0 to 10 L/min (in the flow source this will be -10 L/min) in 10
seconds, the left pressure source ramping from 0 to 100 bar and the right source from 100 to 0
bar also in 10 seconds. To allow movement of the double ball you must set the lift
corresponding to zero displacement in the left ball submodel. Set the lower limit in mass end
stops to 0 and the upper limit to 0.005 m (= 5 mm). For the right ball, set the ball opening
corresponding to zero displacement to 0 and same parameter to 5 mm for the left ball submodel.
Run the simulation for 10 seconds then plot the flow through each ball valve and also the output
pressure.

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2.2. Constructing a hydraulic jack using HCD

(a)

(b)
Figure 15

In this section we will return to hydraulic jacks discussed in the introduction. We will consider
the simple jack shown in Figure 15(a). Note this has a mass included and is one of the standard
AMESim jacks. The simplest HCD construction for this is shown in Figure 15(b).
Begin by constructing the double system shown in Figure 16 so that the results using HCD can
be compared with those using the standard AMESim library equivalent. Note that inertia icon
has been placed so that it gives a sign convention for displacement in agreement with the one
used in the standard jack submodel HJ000. Use the Premier Submodel to select as many
submodels as possible automatically. Select the mass submodel with ideal end stops. In
Parameters mode set the parameters so as to make the two systems as nearly the same as
possible. This does require some care so here is a little advice.

Figure 16

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The submodels BAP11 and BAP12 represent the piston and the two volumes either side of the
piston. There are not two pistons but one. Each submodel deals with the pressure force on one
side of the piston. The arrows and the thick line indicate the area to which the pressure is
applied. Note that the mass submodel could be placed on the left or even between the two halves
of the piston. The rod diameter must be set to 0 in the left submodel. In both these submodels the
piston diameter must be set to 25 mm to agree with the standard jack submodel HJ000. In the
right submodel the rod diameter must be set to 12 mm. At this stage do not worry about the
parameters labeled chamber length at zero displacement. We will return to this parameter later.
Note that with HCD submodels when setting parameters it can be very useful to use the
following features:
Global parameters
Copy parameters
Common parameters
Thus for the diameters of pistons we could introduce a Global parameter named pdiam set to 25
mm. This could then be manually set once and copied to the other submodel. Alternatively it
could be set with the Common parameters facility.
In HJ000, the default stroke is 0.3 m and the default mass is 1000 kg. Hence in the mass with
ideal end stops we set the mass to 1000 kg, the lower limit to 0 m and the upper limit to 0.3 m.
The arrow and + sign indicate that, when the displacement is zero, the mass is in the extreme left
position. The initial displacement in HJ000 is 0 which assume also that the piston is on the left
side. So we keep the initial displacement also to 0 m in MAS005.
Set the supply pressure to 100 bar, adjust the input signal frequency to 1 Hz and run a
simulation. Figure 17 shows some typical results for the displacement.

Figure 17
Why are the results slightly different? The answer is quite simple. In the bottom system
(Figure 16(b)) there are DIRECT (direct connections) submodels between the valve and the jack.
This means that there is no dynamics in the lines at all. This is equivalent to saying the valve is
attached directly to the jack. The pressure dynamics is due solely to the hydraulic volumes
within the jack and these volumes vary with the piston position. In contrast, in the upper system
(Figure 16(a)), there are no hydraulic volumes within the jack but there are HL000 hydraulic
pipe submodels between the valve and the jack. These have pressure dynamics but are based on
a fixed volume.
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Figure 18

Figure 19
It is easy to add pressure dynamics corresponding to the hydraulic volumes within the jack.
Figure 19 shows the modified system.
The crucial icon here is the hydraulic chamber which is connected to the hydraulic
flow ports of the two halves of the piston. The corresponding submodel is BHC11 and
this is used to model the pressure dynamics. There are 4 ports and each requires as
input a flow rate in L/min and also a volume in cm3 .The submodel sums the 4 volumes and adds
a dead volume. It also sums the 4 flow rates. From these values the derivative of the pressure can
be calculated.
The submodel can be used in complex situations involving several separate hydraulic volumes
and can also accommodate leakage flows. In the current situation only 2 ports are really required
and so 2 ports are plugged with the zero flow rate and volume source shown in Figure 18.
Make the changes to produce the system shown in Figure 19. Set the dead volumes in BHC11 to
50 cm to agree with the values in HJ000.
When the displacement of the mass is zero, the piston is at the extreme left position. This means
that the length of the right hydraulic chamber is 0.3 m or 300 mm and that of the left chamber is
0. Hence set the parameter labeled chamber length at zero displacement in BAP11 to 300 mm
and the corresponding parameter in BAP12 to 0 mm.
Why the mixture of length units in mm and m? As well as jacks, HCD submodels are also used
to construct numerous types of valves. Often units of m are far too big and mm are much more
convenient. The mass models, however, use m because they are likely to be connected to
standard AMESim submodels.

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Figure 20
Figure 20 shows a comparison of the displacements produced using our HCD jack and HJ000.
Now the two models return the same results.
You can also examine the volumes in the two hydraulic chambers BHC11 as shown in
Figure 21.

Figure 21
One option that we have not yet included in our HCD library jack is leakage past the piston.
This is easy remedied by inserting the leakage icon between the two halves of the piston as
shown in Figure 22. The corresponding submodel, BAF11 (and its mirror image BAF12),
computes leakage flow rates which are outputs on ports 1 and 2 and in addition supplies a
volume which is always zero. This means that these ports can be connected to the hydraulic
chamber submodel BHC11.
The leakage flow rate is calculated based on the piston diameter, clearance, length of piston and
viscosity. A viscous friction term is also calculated.

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Figure 22

We now consider the jack shown in Figure 23. This jack is not
included in the standard AMESim library. By now it should be clear
that this can be constructed using the system shown in Figure 24.

Figure 23

Figure 24
Note that with HCD submodels, it is very easy to see the assumptions on which the model is
based. It is clear from Figure 24 that the pressure dynamics is taken into account, that there is
leakage and that the end stops are modeled. With Figure 23, the assumptions are not clear at all.

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2.3. Constructing spool valves

P

A
Figure 25

Figure 26

We will construct the specific pressure regulation valve shown in Figure 25. The supply pressure
is at the port labeled P and the load is supplied from port A. The port A pressure is also supplied
as a pilot pressure to the valve. The idea behind the valve is to try to maintain a predetermined
pressure at port A. The spring tries to maintain the valve open and the pilot pressure opposes
this. If the load pressure is low, the spring opens the valve allowing more flow. If it is high, the
pilot pressure partially or fully closes the valve. There is a drain to tank.

Figure 27
Figure 26 shows a sketch of a typical unit and Figure 27 a simple HCD representation. Note
that:
- the hydraulic chamber dynamics is modeled using the pipe submodel HL000;
- no leakage is incorporated;
- there is a stabilizing or damping orifice which is part of port A without which the
component can perform very badly;
- there are 3 circular or annular faces of the piston on which pressure acts to oppose or
assist the spring.

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Figure 28 presents the same model with some extensions. The line submodels HL000 are
replaced by compressibility elements BHC11. We must stress that the variable volume of the
pilot chamber is passed to the BHC11 submodel. In contrast in Figure 27 a conventional orifice
is used together with a HL000 line between the orifice and the pilot port. This means a fixed
volume is used to represent the variable volume pilot pressure chamber. There will be some
differences but, provided the parameters for HL000 are set to correspond to the mean volume of
the pilot pressure chamber, results should be very similar.

Figure 28
The submodel corresponding to the damping orifice is BHO11. This differs from OR000 in that
it provides a zero volume output on each port in addition to the flow rate output.
Many different variations are possible. We can of course put the mass dynamics in alternative
positions but this will not change the results. Other variations are due to different assumptions
and these may produce significantly different results. In Figure 27, two models of line with
compressibility are used (HL000). The volume of the pilot chamber is not included in the
compressibility effect.
Also the leakage between the left (damping) and the supply port is accommodated in Figure 28.
This is equivalent to having an additional orifice in parallel to the damping orifice.
Which set of assumptions is better? If the volume of the pilot chamber is very small compared
with the pipe to which it is attached and there is no significant restriction between them, the
model in Figure 27 is probably enough. But if the damping orifice is directly connected to the
pilot chamber or if the volume of this chamber varies with the displacement of the valve, the
model in Figure 28 will be better. However, remember that with HCD it is possible to test
different combinations of assumptions and compare results.

Figure 29
Figure 29 presents another way to model the spring chamber. Figure 27 and Figure 28 are closer
to the physical situation with a drain to tank. However, closer inspection shows that there is no
provision for leakage. We could easily put in a leakage but is likely to be extremely small. It
follows that the only difference between the treatment of spring chambers is that in Figure 29,
the pressure force is always zero whereas in Figure 27 and Figure 28 it will be zero only if the
tank pressure is zero.
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Construct the system shown in Figure 28 and use Premier Submodel to set the submodels.
In Parameter mode set the characteristic of both orifices by specifying a diameter. For the
variable orifice set the maximum diameter to 8 mm. Do not forget to set the integer parameter to
specify that the characteristics are defined by the orifice diameter. Set the damping orifice
diameter to 0.5 mm. For the signal source attached to the variable orifice ramp the signal from 0
to 1 in 5 seconds and then from 1 to 0 in a further 5 seconds. This will simulate a variable load
cycle.
For the submodels BAP12 and BAO011 set the default piston/spool diameter of 10 mm. In
BA0011 and the central BAP12 submodel set the rod diameter to 4 mm. For the other BAP12
submodel and for BAP16 set the rod diameters to 0 mm. This will ensure that in the central
chamber the pressure forces will balance. In contrast the pressure in the left-hand chamber will
oppose the spring force. For the leakages BAF11 set the diameter and contact length to 10 mm.
Use global variables where appropriate.
In MAS005, set the mass to 0.03 kg, the viscous friction to 10 N/(m/s), the lower displacement
limit to 0 m and the upper displacement limit to 0.0007 m (= 0.7 mm). Set the initial
displacement (displacement port 2) to 0.0007 m. When the displacement is zero, the spool is at
its extreme left position and this means the unit is fully open so set the parameter underlap
corresponding to zero displacement in BAO011 to 0 mm.
In BAP16 the spring stiffness and preload determine the load pressure the valve tries to maintain.
The displacement will be determined by the mass submodel MAS005. When this displacement is
0 the spool will be at its left-most position and so spring force at zero displacement will be the
force at maximum spring length. Set this to 200 N with a string stiffness of 10 N/mm. The pilot
chamber will be at its longest when the displacement is zero. The parameter chamber length at
zero displacement might be say 40 mm and this is used to calculate the chamber volume.
However, since we have no pressure dynamics, the parameter can be left at its default value. The
same is true in all the other submodels except BAP12 which is supplying a volume to the
hydraulic chamber submodel. When the displacement is zero the chamber length is at its
smallest so enter the value zero. We could use a bigger value to give a dead volume but this is
allowed for within the hydraulic chamber submodel BHC11. Set the dead volume of the control
chamber (left BHC11) to 2 cm and the dead volume of the output chamber (right BHC11) to
100 cm.

Figure 30

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Set the supply pressure to a constant value of 100 bar, then run a simulation for 10 seconds.
Figure 30 shows the load pressure. Note that the unit tries to maintain a pressure of about 25 bar.
What happens to the pressure at about 5 seconds? If you plot the displacement, you will find the
unit becomes saturated (fully open) at this time.
You can easily show that certain parameters influence the stability of the unit. Try setting the
damping orifice diameter to 1 mm and plot the load pressure and spool displacement. You
should find that the unit has become unstable. Next set the damping orifice to 0.8 mm which is
close to instability. Show that a very small volume in the pilot pressure chamber or even a very
small volume in HL000 also tend to make the system unstable.

2.4. 3-position 3-port hydraulic directional control valve

Figure 31
In this section you will construct a directional control valve. Figure 31 shows a 3-position 3-port
unit. Note the absence of any actuating force, the unit is held in the central position by springs. If
the spool moves to the left, the pressure supply P will be connected to port A. If the spool moves
to the right, A is connected to tank T. If the spring is very light, even a very small applied force
will open the unit fully in one direction or the other and hence the valve tends to be either in the
fully open position or fully closed. A stronger spring will mean that the force required to fully
open the valve is much bigger than the force required to begin opening the valve. This makes it
possible to hold the valve in intermediate position neither fully open nor fully closed provided it
is sufficiently stable.
Figure 31 does not show any form of actuation. Units may be operated manually, electrically or
by a pilot hydraulic pressure. To give the unit stability the spring chambers may be connected to
the central chamber with damping orifices.
Figure 32 shows a simple mechanical operated valve constructed using HCD.

Figure 32
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Note that :
- The submodel representing the mass of the spool is placed in the center.
- The two-spring/piston submodels are connected to the central chamber. The one on
the left is connected through a damping orifice.
- One of the hydraulic chambers requires five flow rate/volume pairs as input. In order
to do this a hydraulic node is attached.
- A representative load is used in the form of a variable orifice.
- The pressure supply is represented by a simple pressure source.
- Manual actuation is provided by a force source.

Figure 33
Construct the system and set submodels using the Premier Submodel facility. Note that all the
piston/spool diameters and rod diameters have consistent default values which are suitable for
this example. In the mass submodel MAS005, set the mass to 50 g and the lower and upper limits
of displacement to -0.002 m and 0.002 m respectively. This gives a total movement of 4 mm and
gives 0 m displacement in the central position. Set the parameters of both instances of BAP16 to
the values shown in Figure 33 and set the chamber lengths of the BA011 submodels to 20 mm.
Set the load by setting the orifice diameter to 4 mm. Ensure the signal source connected to that
variable orifice is a constant value of 1. Set the damping orifice to 0.8 mm. Set the duty cycle for
the actuating force to the values in Figure 34 and the pressure source to a constant value of
150 bar.

Figure 34
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Run the simulation for 10 s and plot various results. Figure 35 shows the spool displacement
plotted against time and the flow rate through the load orifice plotted against spool
displacement.

Figure 35
Note that :
- the unit becomes saturated in each direction;
- there is a perfectly sharp cut off of the flow rate at the central position.
At this point we return to the spool/orifice submodels BAO011 and BAO012. These differ only
in one being a mirror image of the other. In the present system, since the mass is in the center,
only BAO011 is used. If the mass had been put in an extreme left or right position, both
submodels would have been used. The current parameters of BAO011 are shown in Figure 36.

Figure 36
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The parameter underlap corresponding to zero displacement is extremely important. The default
value is 0 mm. Figure 37 shows a zero, a positive and a negative underlap at zero displacement.
Rerun the simulation with the parameter set to 1 mm and then -1 mm in both spool/orifice
submodels. With the first value, there will be a leakage in the central position. With the second,
there will be a dead-band effect.

Figure 37
Two other parameters that must be mentioned are :
- underlap corresponding to minimum area
- underlap correspond to maximum area.
With the default values, the flow area is 0 when the underlap is 0 and increases linearly with
positive underlap. The first parameter puts a lower limit on the area which may be due to
leakage or due to some small fixed orifice. The second parameter puts an upper limit in the same
way. This may be due to the area of the hole into which the annular orifice passes or due to the
spool traveling so far that it completely uncovers the annular orifice as shown in Figure 38.

Figure 38
All these results assume a perfect fit of the spool within its bore. In practice there will be some
clearance and also rounded edges on the spool and these will give rise to leakage. In Submodels
mode change the spool submodels to BAO013. (If you do not have the mass between the two
spool submodels, you will have to select BAO014 for one spool.) These submodels take into
account a clearance and a rounded edge of the spool.

Figure 39
Figure 39 shows the parameters for these submodels. Note that the parameter underlap
corresponding to minimum area is not there since in this submodel leakage is taken into account
explicitly using the clearance and rounded edges. Change the BAO011 submodels to BAO013
and rerun the simulation. You will find the load orifice shows a small flow rate even when the
spool is in the central position. There is also always a small leakage from P to T. Try increasing
the clearance and the radius of the rounded corners. You will find that increasing these
parameters increases the leakage flow.
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Figure 40
This example has been modeled using a high level of detail. This is appropriate for a designer of
valves of this type but for more general use a simpler approach may be more appropriate. Thus
in many cases the dynamics of the spool and its control system may be approximated by a
second order transfer function. The parameters may be identified from the supplier's data.
Figure 40 shows a highly simplified system. Note that :
- the dynamics is provided by the second order lag so that a natural frequency and
damping factor can be supplied ;
- the displacement is limited by a saturation element ;
- the final value of the displacement is differentiated so as to provide a consistent
velocity ;
- the only other characteristics taken into account are the dimensional data in the
BAO011 and BAO012 submodels.

2.5. Hydraulic jack with moving body

Normally a hydraulic jack body is rigidly fixed and can be assumed to be immovable. However,
there are situations when this is not the case and in order to get realistic results it is necessary to
take the motion of the jack body into account. The HCD relative motion icons and submodels
allow this to be done.
We will construct a jack with a moving body and compare it with a jack with a fixed body.
Construct the system shown in Figure 41. Note that :
- When you have a chain of HCD components, do not try to mix relative and
absolute icons. The lower chain of components is solely relative icons and the
upper chain solely absolute icons.
- In HCD relative motion submodels all end stops are modeled as elastic. This is
because in the collision both masses are finite and it is essential to have the
contact force between them.
In the system, the lower jack body is connected to a spring damper which in turn is connected to
a zero velocity source. This models a jack with flexible mountings. Use the Premier submodels
facility to set the submodels, set some reasonable parameters and run a simulation. Figure 42
shows the displacements of the rod for the two moving and fixed jacks.

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Figure 41

Figure 42

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3. A Few General Rules

3.1. Introduction
The HCD library is designed to allow users to create components not in the standard AMESim
library, without using AMESet and without writing code. A relatively small collection of
technological elements is used from which it is possible to build a large number of components.
HCD has removed many, but not all, the traditional skills of model construction. Naturally the
user is assumed to have engineering skills so as to understand the general principles on which
the component or system works and how to interpret and analyze results. In addition two
residual skills remain :

an understanding of causality ;

an understanding of physics, not at a deep mathematical level, but at the level of being able to
assess what is likely to be significant.

3.2. Causality
Behind each component icon is a submodel. The sole purpose in life of a submodel is to take a
collection of known quantities, called its inputs, and calculate another collection of quantities,
known as its outputs. Where do the inputs come from ? They are the outputs of another
submodel.

Figure 43
Submodels are connected together at ports. Causality is the general principle that the connection
can only be made between the two submodels if each supplies the input requirements of the
other. Figure 43 shows a connection between the prime mover submodel PM001 and the pump
submodel PU001. The arrows indicate a flow of information. The quantity is the shaft speed and
is an output of PM001 and an input of PU001. T is a torque and is an output of PU001 and an
input of PM001. Both submodels have the inputs they require. In contrast Figure 44 shows an
attempted connection between an orifice submodel OR000 and a relief valve CV000. Both
submodels give an output of flow rate Q and require an input of a pressure P. The connection is
not allowed in AMESim. In bond graph terminology this is called causality conflict. Some
software in other domains permits causality conflict. In AMESim it is discouraged and it is
necessary to insert a special submodel between the orifice and check valve as in
Figure 45.
This is a special ! submodel use at your risk. The risk is that pressure, unlike voltage and
force has special restrictions on it and the simulation may fail if the pressure tries to achieve
values of -100 bar.

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Figure 44

Figure 45

This principle is very simple but crucial in using HCD.

3.3. Use of special facilities for setting parameters

The special facilities are :
Global parameters,
Copy parameters and
Common parameters.
It is quite common when constructing a component using HCD elements to have to define the
same quantity several times. Thus you might have a spool modeled using four HCD components
and hence you have to set the diameter of the spool in all four components. In such situations
introduce a global parameter. Then define the diameter in terms of this parameter.

3.4. Use of the mass dynamics blocks

In jacks, valves and many more components there is often some part capable of one-dimensional
motion. Normally one standard mass dynamics block is used to model this but you must not use
two as this will cause a causality problem. The best way to have two mass dynamics blocks in a
chain is to separate them by a spring, damper or other component that has a force output on both
linear mechanical ports. In other words the chain is no longer rigid but has a flexible element
introduced.
The mass dynamics blocks have velocity, displacement and acceleration as outputs on both
ports. Acceleration is there chiefly to give the option of attaching an acceleration sensor.
Velocity and displacement are normally passed along a chain of HCD components where they
are used to calculate :
a flow rate induced by the velocity;
the length of a chamber;
the volume of a chamber.
Of these, the only parameter that must be set that is likely to cause any problems is "chamber
length at zero displacement" and this is the subject of the next section.

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3.5. Setting chamber length at zero displacement

The displacement concerned here will be an input to the submodel. Normally this is derived
from a mass dynamics block in which an initial displacement is set and often a lower and upper
displacement limit. You must set the chamber length when this displacement is zero. The value
will be used to calculate a volume. In some circumstances this volume is not used. However, if it
is passed into the BHC11 hydraulic pressure dynamics block, it is essential that the volume is
correct and in particular it must not be negative.

3.6. Major reconstructions

Figure 46
If we construct a chain of HCD components as in Figure 46(a), a collection of compatible
submodels will be set. If we wish to change to system in (b), problems will arise because the old
submodels will now be incompatible. The solution to this problem is to remove all submodels
from the chain of HCD components before doing the reconstruction. This can be done manually
in Sketch mode using the right button.
However, there is another way of doing it. This uses the Shadow subsystem facility. It is a better
way because you are far less likely to lose parameter values.
Use this facility in Sketch or Submodels mode. Starting with the sub-system shown in
Figure 46(a), select the appropriate part of the system. Next select Copy to shadow in the edit
pull-down menu. At this stage all the marked component and line submodels have their
parameters recorded in a special backup system called the shadow sub-system.
You can now reconstruct the system as in Figure 46(b) setting the new submodels. As you do
this, AMESim attempts to copy parameters from the shadow sub-system.

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Reporting Bugs and using the Hotline

Service
AMESim is a large piece of software containing many hundreds of thousands of lines of
code. With software of this size it is inevitable that it contains some bugs. Naturally we
hope you do not encounter any of these but if you use AMESim extensively at some
stage, sooner or later, you may find a problem.
Bugs may occur in the pre- and post-processing facilities of AMESim, AMESet or in one
of the interfaces with other software. Usually it is quite clear when you have encountered
a bug of this type.
Bugs can also occur when running a simulation of a model. Unfortunately it is not
possible to say that, for any model, it is always possible to run a simulation. The
integrators used in AMESim are robust but no integrator can claim to be perfectly
reliable. From the viewpoint of an integrator, models vary enormously in their difficulty.
Usually when there is a problem it is because the equations being solved are badly
conditioned. This means that the solution is ill defined. It is possible to write down sets of
equations that have no solution. In such circumstances it is not surprising that the
integrator is unsuccessful. Other sets of equations have very clearly defined solutions.
Between these extremes there is a whole spectrum of problems. Some of these will be the
marginal problems for the integrator.
If computers were able to do exact arithmetic with real numbers, these marginal problems
would not create any difficulties. Unfortunately computers do real arithmetic to a limited
accuracy and hence there will be times when the integrator will be forced to give up.
Simulation is a skill which has to be learnt slowly. An experienced person will be aware
that certain situations can create difficulties. Thus very small hydraulic volumes and very
small masses subject to large forces can cause problems. The State count facility can be
useful in identifying the cause of a slow simulation. An eigenvalue analysis can also be
useful.
The author remembers spending many hours trying to understand why a simulation failed.
Eventually he discovered that he had mistyped a parameter. A hydraulic motor size had
been entered incorrectly making the unit about as big as an ocean liner! When this
parameter was corrected, the simulation ran fine.
In follows that you must spend some time investigating why a simulation runs slowly or
fails completely. However, it is possible that you have discovered a bug in an AMESim
submodel or utility. If this is the case, we would like to know about it. By reporting
problems you can help us make the product better.
On the next page is a form. When you wish to report a bug please photocopy this form
and fill the copy. Even if you telephone us, having the filled form in front of you means
you have the information we need.
To report the bug you have three options:
fax the form
reproduce the same information in an e-mail message
telephone the details
Use the fax number, telephone number or e-mail address of your local distributor.

HOTLINE REPORT
Creation date:

Created by:

Company:

Contact:

Keywords (at least one):

Problem type:

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Summary:
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! Other:

! Other:

Involved software version(s):

! All

! AMESim (all)

! AMERun (all)

! AMESet (all)

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! AMECustom 4.0

! AMESim 4.0.1 ! AMERun 4.0.1 ! AMESet 4.0.1

! AMECustom 4.0.1

! AMESim 4.0.2 ! AMERun 4.0.2 ! AMESet 4.0.2

! AMECustom 4.0.2

! AMESim 4.0.3 ! AMERun 4.0.3 ! AMESet 4.0.3

! AMECustom 4.0.3

! AMESim 4.1

! AMECustom 4.1

! AMERun 4.1

! AMESet 4.1

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