The 13th Scandinavian International Conference on Fluid Power, SICFP2013, June 3-5, 2013, Linköping, Sweden

Design Rules for High Damping in Mobile Hydraulic Systems

Mikael Axin and Petter Krus

Division of Fluid and Mechatronic Systems, Department of Management and Engineering, Linköping University, Sweden
E-mail: mikael.axin@liu.se, petter.krus@liu.se

Abstract
This paper analyses the damping in pressure compensated closed centre mobile working hy-
draulic systems. Both rotational and linear loads are covered and the analysis applies to any
type of pump controller. Only the outlet orifice in the directional valve will provide damping
to a pressure compensated system. Design rules are proposed for how the system should be
dimensioned in order to obtain a high damping. The volumes on each side of the load have
a high impact on the damping. In case of a small volume on the inlet side, the damping be-
comes low. However, the most important thing is to design the outlet orifice area properly.
There exists an optimal orifice dimension for maximized damping; both smaller and larger
orifice areas give lower damping independently of the volumes. This paper presents a method
to dimension the outlet orifice area and the load volumes in order to obtain a desired system
damping. Experimental results, which confirm the theoretical expectations, are also presen-
ted. The conclusions are that it is possible to obtain a high damping contribution from the
outlet orifice if the system is dimensioned correctly. However, the energy efficiency needs to
be considered while improving the damping.

Keywords: Damping, compensator, outlet orifice, efficiency

1 Introduction damping has a tendency to oscillate, which has a negative im-

pact on both the productivity of the application and the com-
In most fluid power systems, directional valves control the
fort of the operator [5].
speed of the actuators. Two different types of valves are
commonly used in mobile machines; open centre and closed This paper analyses the damping in systems using pressure
centre. This paper addresses closed centre valves. Closed compensated closed centre valves. Both rotational and linear
centre valves are commonly used in systems where the pump loads are covered. The pump controller can be of any type; it
is actively controlled, for example in constant pressure and does not affect the analysis. Design rules for how the system
load sensing systems [1] [2] [3]. should be dimensioned in order to obtain a high damping are
proposed. Experimental results, which confirm the theoretical
Several loads often share one common pump in mobile ma-
expectations, are also presented.
chines. If the system pressure level is adapted to the highest
load and several functions are operated simultaneously, load
interference challenges will occur. This means that the pres-
2 Damping
sure level at the highest load will affect the velocity of the A valve will with contribute damping if the flow increases
lighter loads. In applications where velocity control is an im- when the pressure drop across the valve increases and vice
portant property, the valves are often equipped with pressure versa. An example of a hydraulic system with high damping
compensators. The pressure drop across all directional valves is the constant pressure system, see figure 1. The pump is
will then be constant and the flow will be proportional to the controlled to maintain a constant pressure before the valve.
opening area of the valve. If the load starts to oscillate, the pressure in the cylinder will
A drawback with pressure compensators is that the load will also oscillate. Increased cylinder pressure, which means an
be poorly damped [4]. To obtain damping from a valve, the accelerating force on the piston, results in decreased pressure
flow has to increase when the pressure drop across the valve drop across the valve and consequently also decreased flow
increases and vice versa. A pressure compensated valve en- through the valve. The acceleration will then be slowed down
deavours to achieve low influence on the flow from the load and the oscillations will decrease, as shown in figure 1.
pressure. Except for secondary effects such as leakage, stiff- If the directional valve is complemented with a pressure com-
ness of the compensator spring and load friction, only the out- pensator, a constant flow valve is realized. The function of the
let orifice in the directional valve will provide damping to a pressure compensator is to maintain a constant pressure drop
pressure compensated actuator. A hydraulic system with poor across the directional valve, regardless of pressure variations

13
Velocity [-]

Velocity [-]
Time [-] Time [-]

Figure 1: Simulation of a constant pressure system. The os- Figure 3: Simulation of a system with a constant flow valve
cillations are decreased relatively fast which means that the and an outlet orifice. A good system design results in a high
damping is high. damping and a bad design results in a low damping.

on the pump and load side. The flow through the valve will
tain a high damping from the outlet orifice. This paper will
then not change when the cylinder pressure oscillates. There-
systematically describe how to design the system and propose
fore, nothing will dampen the accelerating force. An ideal
design rules for how to achieve a high damping. Rotational
pressure compensated hydraulic system with a closed centre
and linear loads will be discussed. The difference between
valve is therefore completely undamped, which means that
rotational and linear loads is that the volumes on the inlet and
the oscillations will not decrease, see figure 2.
outlet side of the load will change during the stroke in case of
a linear load. A rotational load has constant volumes. Experi-
mental verifications of the findings are presented in section 5.

3 Rotational Load
A system consisting of a constant flow valve, a rotational in-
Velocity [-]

ertia load and an outlet orifice, see figure 4, can be described

by equations (1)-(4). The viscous friction has been ignored to
simplify the analysis and the valve is considered to be much
faster than the rest of the system. The valve dynamics are
therefore ignored. The dynamics of pressure compensated
valves have been studied in, for example, [6] and [7].

Time [-] Vb ,pb

Ab qb
Figure 2: Simulation of a system with a constant flow valve.
The pump controller can be of any type; it does not affect the
results. Ideally, the system is completely undamped.
Tm Jt Dm

The simulation model in figure 2 is simplified to a pressure θm

source, a constant flow valve, a cylinder and a load. The outlet
qa
orifice in the directional valve is thus missing. If an outlet
orifice is included in the simulation, it is possible to obtain Va ,pa
a high damping, see the solid line in figure 3. However, a
bad system design results in a low damping according to the
dashed line in figure 3. Figure 4: The system analysed in this section, a constant flow
It is important to design the system correctly in order to ob- valve, a rotational inertia load and an outlet orifice.

14
 0.8

d θm Va d pa 0.7
qa − Dm = (1)
dt βe dt
d 2 θm 0.6
Jt = Dm (pa − pb ) − Tm (2)
dt 2

Damping [-]
0.5
d θm Vb d pb
Dm − qb = (3)
dt βe dt 0.4
s
2
qb = qa = Cq Ab pb (4) 0.3
ρ
0.2
Linearized and Laplace transforming equations (1)-(4) result
0.1
in equations (5)-(8). The derivation of the equations is shown
in [8].
0
Va Increased opening area-
Qa − Dm sθm = sPa (5)
βe Figure 5: The damping as a function of the opening area for
Jt s2 θm = Dm (Pa − Pb ) − Tm (6) the outlet orifice. The volumes on each side of the load are
Vb assumed to be equal.
Dm sθm − Qb = sPb (7)
βe
Qb = Kcb Pb (8)
It is possible to obtain a higher damping than δh = 0.21 by
changing the volumes on each side of the piston. To increase
where the damping, the volume on the inlet side should be large
∂ qb Cq Ab
Kcb = =√ (9) compare to the volume on the outlet side according to equa-
∂ pb 2ρ pb
tions (11) and (12). As can be seen in figure 6, it is possible
An expression for Kcb where maximum damping is obtained to obtain a high damping contribution from the outlet orifice
has been derived in [9] for a linear load. Substituting to a by increasing the volume on the inlet side. For example, the
rotational load gives the expression in equation (10). maximum damping becomes δh = 0.72 if the inlet volume is
s five times larger than the outlet volume.
Vb
Kcbopt = Dm γ 3/4 (10)
βe Jt (γ − 1)
0.8

where 0.7
Va
γ = 1+ (11)
Vb 0.6

The maximum damping of the system can be calculated using

Damping [-]

0.5
equation (12), also derived in [9].
0.4 inlet volume increasing
1 √
δhmax = ( γ − 1) (12)
2 0.3

The most common system design is that the volumes on each 0.2
side of the load are equal. In that case, the maximum damp-
ing of the system is δh = 0.21 according to equations (11) 0.1

and (12). To obtain the optimal damping, the required outlet

0
orifice area can be calculated using equations (4), (9) and (10), Increased opening area-
resulting in equation (13).
s Figure 6: A higher damping can be obtained if the inlet
qa Kcbopt ρ volume is large compared to the outlet volume.
Abopt = (13)
Cq2
Increasing the inlet volume will increase the damping. How-
The outlet orifice opening area should according to equa- ever, there are drawbacks with this approach. In case of chan-
tion (13) increase with the square root of the inlet flow rate; ging the flow direction, and thereby the direction of the ro-
all other parameters are constant. Since the valve is assumed tation, there will be a large volume at the outlet side instead.
to be pressure compensated, the inlet flow is directly propor- Consequently, the damping will be low, see figure 7. If the
tional to the inlet orifice opening area. The damping as a func- outlet volume is five times larger than the inlet volume, the
tion of the outlet orifice area is shown in figure 5. maximum damping is δh = 0.05.

15
 0.8 possible. The pressure drop across the valve can then be kept
small, resulting in low losses. It is therefore recommended to
0.7
design the opening area to be optimal for the minimum load.
By doing so, the damping will be optimal for that load and
0.6
then decrease for higher loads. Designing the opening area
optimally for the minimum load maximizes the optimal out-
Damping [-]

0.5
let orifice area according to equations (10) and (13).
0.4
4 Linear Load
0.3 inlet volume decreasing
A system consisting of a constant flow valve, a linear load
0.2 with a gear ratio and an outlet orifice, see figure 9, can be de-
scribed by similar equations as the rotational load in section 3.
0.1 Equations (14)-(17) describe the linearized system. The vis-
cous friction in the cylinder has been ignored to simplify the
0
Increased opening area- analysis.
U
Figure 7: The damping will be low if the inlet volume is small
compared to the outlet volume. This will be the case if the
flow direction changes compared to figure 6. Ab pb
mL Vb
To dimension the outlet orifice area in order to get a desired qb
damping, the load needs to be known, see equation (10).
In mobile hydraulic applications, the load situation varies κ
greatly over time in a typical working cycle. It is therefore im- qa
portant to consider the load when designing the outlet orifice xp
area. It is only possible to optimize the damping for a specific
Va
load. The damping will no longer be optimal if the load situ- pa
Ac
ation alters. In figure 8, it is shown how a load change will in-
fluence the damping. It is assumed that the outlet orifice area Figure 9: The system analysed in this section, a constant flow
is dimensioned to obtain the highest possible damping for a valve, a linear load with a gear ratio and an outlet orifice.
nominal load. It is then shown how an increased/decreased
load will affect the damping.
Va
Qa − Ac sXp = sPa (14)
0.8 βe
U 2 mL s2 Xp = Ac Pa − κ Ac Pb − Fp (15)
0.7
Vb
κ Ac sXp − Qb = sPb (16)
0.6 βe
Qb = Kcb Pb (17)
Damping [-]

0.5

0.4 The expression for Kcb where maximum damping is obtained

is shown in equation (18) and the maximum damping is cal-
0.3 Jt decreased 10 times culated in the same ways as for a rotational load, see equa-
Jt increased 10 times tion (12) [9].
0.2
s
Vb
0.1 Kcbopt = κ Ac 2
γ 3/4 (18)
βeU mL (γ − 1)
0
Increased opening area-
where
Va
Figure 8: The outlet orifice area is designed to obtain the γ = 1 + κ2 (19)
Vb
optimal damping for a nominal load. It is then shown how
the damping will change if the load situation alters. The outlet orifice area where optimal damping is obtained is
derived according to equation (20).
As can be seen in figure 8, the damping will decrease if the s
load changes. From an efficiency point of view, it is advant- κ qa Kcbopt ρ
Abopt = (20)
ageous to have as large opening area of the outlet orifice as Cq2

16
The difference between rotational and linear loads is that the 0.4
volumes on the inlet and outlet side of the load will change
0.35
during the stroke in case of a linear load. In the following
example, a dead volume of 20% is assumed on each side of 0.3
the piston. While the piston moves upwards, the inlet volume
will increase and the outlet volume decrease. The damping

Damping [-]
0.25
will therefore increase during the stroke. In figure 10, the
damping as a function of the outlet orifice opening area is 0.2
shown during a whole stroke.
0.15

0.8 0.1

0.7 0.05

0.6 0
Piston moves upwards-
Damping [-]

0.5
Figure 11: Three different designs of the outlet orifice area.
0.4 The solid line shows an orifice area where the damping is
piston moves upwards optimized at the piston’s lower end position, the dashed line
0.3
shows a smaller orifice area and the dashed-dotted line a lar-
ger orifice area. The losses will increase with a decreased
0.2
orifice area.
0.1

0 Similar to the rotational load case, the load needs to be taken

Increased opening area - into consideration when designing the outlet orifice, see equa-
tion (18). It is shown how a load change affects the damping
Figure 10: The damping will increase during the cylinder in figure 13. The damping is assumed to be optimized for a
stroke. A dead volume of 20% on each side of the piston is nominal load when the piston is at its lower end position. It
assumed. is then shown how an increased/decreased load will affect the
damping.
One design approach is to maximize the damping in the worst For the linear load case, it is not obvious to design the opening
case scenario. In that case, the outlet orifice area should be di- area to be optimal for the minimum load. This is because the
mensioned optimally at the piston’s lower end position. The optimal opening area will change while the piston moves up-
damping will then increase while the piston moves upwards, wards. Designing the opening area to be optimal for the min-
see the solid line in figure 11. It is possible to design the outlet imum load will minimize the losses since the opening area can
orifice area smaller if a higher damping is required. However, be designed large, see equations (18) and (20). However, the
drawbacks with that approach are slightly lower damping at damping will become small in case of higher loads according
the piston’s lower end position, see the dashed line in fig- to figure 13. If the opening area is designed to be optimal
ure 11, and higher losses across the orifice. A large opening for a higher load, it is possible to obtain a higher damping
area will reduce the losses at the outlet orifice. This, however, when the load decreases. It is, however, important to ensure
is at the expense of a lower damping, see the dashed-dotted that the damping does not shift to the left of the peaks in fig-
line in figure 11. There is no point in designing the opening ure 13 when the load decreases. Drawbacks with designing
area to the left of the peaks in figure 10, since the damping the opening area optimally for a higher load are a larger pres-
will then be low while the losses are large. In applications sure drop across the outlet orifice and lower damping at the
where damping is important, it is appropriate to design the piston’s lower end position. To obtain the highest possible
outlet orifice somewhere between the optimal area at the pis- overall damping during the cylinder stroke, the outlet orifice
ton’s lower end position and the optimal area at the piston’s area should be designed to be optimal somewhere between
higher end position. the minimum and maximum load.
It is possible to obtain a higher damping than δh = 0.05 at the
piston’s lower end position by increasing the dead volumes in
5 Experimental Results
the cylinder. For example, in case of 50% dead volume, the
optimal damping would increase to δh = 0.11 at the lower end A test rig has been constructed to validate the damping contri-
position, see figure 12. Drawbacks with this approach are that bution of the outlet orifice. It consists of a traditional pressure
the system response will decrease and that more space will be compensated valve on the inlet side, a cylinder with a mass
required. By increasing the dead volumes further, the volume load and a servo valve on the outlet side, see figure 14. Differ-
change can eventually be ignored and the damping becomes ent designs of the outlet orifice can be achieved by controlling
constant, similar to the rotational load in figure 5. the opening area of the servo valve. A constant pressure pump

17
 0.8 0.8

0.7 0.7

0.6 0.6

mL decreased 10 times

Damping [-]
0.5
Damping [-]

0.5

0.4 0.4

piston moves upwards 0.3

0.3 mL increased 10 times

0.2 0.2

0.1 0.1

0 0
Increased opening area- Increased opening area-

Figure 12: The damping in the worst case scenario can be Figure 13: The outlet orifice area is designed to give the
increased by increasing the dead volumes in the cylinder. A highest possible damping when the piston is at its lower end
dead volume of 50% on each side of the piston is assumed. position. It is then shown how the damping will change if the
load situation alters.

supplies the system. Pressure sensors are attached on the sup-

ply side and on both cylinder chambers. The cylinder and
the servo valve are equipped with position sensors. External
volumes are mounted on both sides of the piston. By using
either one, it is possible to manipulate the dead volumes on
either side of the piston.
In the experiments, a step is made in the flow by opening the
inlet valve. Oscillations in the cylinder velocity are then stud-
ied. The experimental results are presented in figures 15-18.
In tests (a) and (b), there is a large volume on the inlet side,
which means that a relatively high damping can be expected.
In test (a), the outlet orifice area is dimensioned close to the
maximized damping. As can be seen in figure 15, there are
almost no oscillations in the cylinder velocity. In test (b), the
outlet orifice area is larger than in test (a) and the damping Figure 14: The experimental test stand. The pressure com-
becomes lower, see figure 16. pensated valve can be seen at the lower right and one of the
In test (c), there is a large volume on the outlet side of the volumes to the left.
cylinder, which means that the damping is expected to be low.
The outlet orifice area is dimensioned close to the maximized design rules are general and some are specific depending on
damping. Nevertheless, the damping is still low according to whether the load is rotational or linear.
figure 17. This is consistent with the mathematical analysis
according to equations (12) and (19). Design the outlet orifice area correctly There exists an op-
In test (d), the outlet orifice area is so large that it can be timal orifice dimension; both smaller and larger orifice
equated with having no outlet orifice at all. Theoretically, the areas give lower damping. The outlet orifice area which
hydraulic system will not contribute any damping without an gives the highest possible damping can be calculated
outlet orifice, as shown in figure 2. This is almost the case in using equations (10) and (13) for a rotational load and
the measurements as can be seen in figure 18. The damping equations (18) and (20) for a linear load.
that is still obtained is due to secondary effects ignored in the
mathematical analysis, such as friction and leakage. Consider the volumes on each side of the load The damp-
ing will be higher if the inlet volume is large compared
to the volume on the outlet side of the load. In case of a
6 Design Rules
linear load, the volumes will change during the cylinder
This section summarizes the findings from sections 3 and 4 stroke. The outlet orifice can only be designed optim-
concerning how a pressure compensated hydraulic system ally for a specific volume. It is appropriate to design the
should be designed in order to obtain a high damping con- outlet orifice optimally somewhere between the piston’s
tribution from the outlet orifice in the directional valve. Some lower and higher end positions.

18
 2 3.5

1.8
3
1.6

1.4 2.5

1.2
Velocity [-]

Velocity [-]
2
1

0.8 1.5

0.6
1
0.4

0.2 0.5

0
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
Time [s] Time [s]

Figure 15: Test (a): A high damping is obtained when there is Figure 17: Test (c): When there is a large volume on the out-
a large volume on the inlet side of the cylinder and the outlet let side of the cylinder, the damping becomes low even if the
orifice is designed close to its optimum. outlet orifice is designed close to its optimum.

2 2

1.8 1.8

1.6 1.6

1.4 1.4

1.2 1.2
Velocity [-]

Velocity [-]

1 1

0.8 0.8

0.6 0.6

0.4 0.4

0.2 0.2

0 0

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3

Time [s] Time [s]

Figure 16: Test (b): The damping becomes lower when there Figure 18: Test (d): Without an outlet orifice, only second-
is a large volume on the inlet side and the outlet orifice area ary effects such as friction and leakage will contribute to the
is too large. damping.

19
Consider load changes The size of the load will affect the [6] H. Pettersson, P. Krus, A. Jansson, and J.-O. Palmberg.
optimal orifice area. For a rotational load, the orifice The design of pressure compensators for load sensing hy-
should be designed optimally for the minimum load. For draulic systems. In UKACC International Conference on
a linear load, the orifice should be designed optimally Control’96, 1996.
somewhere between the minimum and maximum load.
[7] D. Wu, R. Burton, G. Schoenau, and D. Bitner. Analysis
of a pressure-compensated flow control valve. Journal of
Consider the losses When improving the damping, it is im- Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control, 129:203–
portant to consider the losses. The final valve design will 211, 2007.
always be a compromise between high damping and low
losses. [8] H.E. Merritt. Hydraulic Control Systems. John Wiley &
Sons, Inc., 1967.

7 Conclusions [9] M. Axin, J.-O. Palmberg, and P. Krus. Optimized damp-

ing in cylinder drives using the meter-out orifice - design
A hydraulic system consisting of a pressure compensated and experimental verification. In 8th International Fluid
valve, a load and an outlet orifice has been studied in this pa- Power Conference (IFK), volume 1, pages 579–591,
per. Without the outlet orifice, the hydraulic system will not Dresden, Germany, 2012.
contribute with any damping at all. Also with an outlet ori-
fice, the damping might become low. However, it is possible
to obtain a high damping contribution from the outlet orifice Nomenclature
in the directional valve if the system is designed correctly. The quantities used in this paper are listed in the table. Cap-
To obtain a high damping, the outlet orifice area should be ital letters are used for linearized and Laplace transformed
designed properly. There exists an optimal orifice dimension; variables.
both smaller and larger orifice areas give lower damping. It
is also important to consider the volumes on each side of the Quantity Description Unity
load. The damping will be higher if the volume on the inlet Ab Outlet orifice opening area m2
side of the load is large compared to the outlet volume. It Abopt Outlet orifice opening area m2
is possible to obtain a high damping in one flow direction which gives the highest damping
by having a large inlet volume. However, the damping will Ac Cylinder area m2
be low for the other flow direction since the outlet volume is Cq Flow coefficient -
large in that case. Dm Hydraulic motor displacement m3 /rad
It is important to consider the losses while improving the Fp External force N
damping. Some combinations of system parameters might Jt Rotational inertia load kg m2
give a high damping but also unrealistically high power Kcb Flow-pressure coefficient for m3 /Pa s
losses. This is a well-defined optimization problem which the outlet orifice
will give different optimal system designs depending on the Kcbopt Kcb which gives the highest m3 /Pa s
penalty factors for the damping and the energy efficiency. damping
mL Load mass kg
References pa Pressure on the inlet side of Pa
the load
[1] B.R. Andersson. A survey of load-sensing systems. The pb Pressure on the outlet side of Pa
BFPR Journal, 13:103–115, 1980. the load
qa Flow into the load m3 /s
[2] P. Krus. On Load Sensing Fluid Power Systems - With qb Flow out of the load m3 /s
Special Reference to Dynamic Properties and Control As- Tm External torque Nm
pects. PhD thesis, Linköping University, 1988. U Mechanical gear ratio -
Va Volume on the inlet side of m3
[3] B. Lantto. On Fluid Power Control with Special Refer- the load
ence to Load-Sensing Systems and Sliding Mode Control. Vb Volume on the outlet side of m3
PhD thesis, Linköping University, 1994. the load
xp Piston position m
[4] B.R. Andersson. Valves contribution to system damp- βe Bulk modulus Pa
ing. In The 5th Scandinavian International Conference γ Parameter -
on Fluid Power (SICFP’97), Linköping, Sweden, 1997. δh Damping -
δhmax Maximum damping -
[5] R. Rahmfeld and M. Ivantysynova. An overview about θm Rotational angle rad
active oscillation damping of mobile machine structure. κ Cylinder area ratio -
International Journal of Fluid Power, 5(2):5–24, 2004. ρ Density kg/m3

20