Modeling of telescopic hydraulic cylinder

Abstract

Hydraulic cylinders are used in many fields, such as aerospace, construction, and automotive systems. Therefore, understanding the behaviour of hydraulic cylinders is crucial for enhancing the efficiency of hydraulic systems. This study addresses the problem of predefined libraries being unable to simulate real-world conditions, and they are ‘black boxes’, i.e., provide the result without a transparent understanding. This research employs a combination of both experimental and analytical methodologies. A hydraulic cylinder in MATLAB (Simscape library) is simulated and validated experimentally by comparing the pressure variation with time. After the validation of the model, impact load conditions are considered, and the results obtained from it shed light on the dynamic response of the hydraulic cylinder. A comprehensive model of the hydraulic cylinder was developed considering the effects of piston loading conditions like friction (Coulomb friction model) and inertial forces. Matlab has a predefined library of custom hydraulic fluid using which we can define our custom fluid by specifying the values of kinematic viscosity, density etc.