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# Translational Hydro-Mechanical Converter

Interface between hydraulic and mechanical translational domains

## Library

Hydraulic Elements

## Description

The Translational Hydro-Mechanical Converter block models an ideal transducer that converts hydraulic energy into mechanical energy, in the form of translational motion of the converter output member, and vice versa. The compressibility option makes the converter account for dynamic variations of the fluid density.

Using this block as a basic element, you can build a large variety of hydraulic cylinder models by adding application-specific effects, such as leakage, friction, hard stops, and so on.

The converter is simulated according to the following equations:

$q=\frac{d\left(\frac{\rho }{{\rho }_{l}^{0}}V\right)}{dt}=\frac{d\left(\frac{\rho }{{\rho }_{l}^{0}}\right)}{dt}V+\frac{\rho }{{\rho }_{l}^{0}}\cdot \epsilon \cdot \left({v}_{R}-{v}_{C}\right)\cdot A$

$F=\epsilon \cdot p\cdot A$

where

 q Flow rate to the converter chamber A Effective piston area vR Converter rod velocity vC Converter case velocity F Force developed by the converter p Gauge pressure of fluid in the converter chamber V Piston volume α Relative amount of trapped air ρl0 Fluid density at atmospheric conditions ρg0 Gas density at atmospheric conditions p0 Atmospheric pressure γ Specific heat ratio βl Bulk modulus at atmospheric conditions and no gas ε Converter orientation with respect to the globally assigned positive direction. If pressure applied at port A exerts force in positive direction, ε equals 1. If pressure applied at port A exerts force in negative direction, ε equals –1.

The piston volume is computed according to

$\begin{array}{l}V={V}_{dead}+A\cdot \left({x}_{0}+x\right)\\ \frac{dx}{dt}=\epsilon \cdot \left({v}_{R}-{v}_{C}\right)\end{array}$

where

 Vdead Chamber dead volume x0 Piston initial position x Piston displacement from initial position

Port A is a hydraulic conserving port associated with the converter inlet. Ports R and C are translational mechanical conserving ports associated with the rod and the case of the converter, respectively.

The block dialog box does not have a Source code link. To view the underlying component source, open the following files in the MATLAB® editor:

• For incompressible converter implementation — matlabroot\toolbox\physmod\simscape\library\m\+foundation\+hydraulic\+elements\translational_converter_incompressible.ssc

• For compressible converter implementation — matlabroot\toolbox\physmod\simscape\library\m\+foundation\+hydraulic\+elements\translational_converter_compressible.ssc

where matlabroot is your root folder.

## Basic Assumptions and Limitations

The block simulates an ideal converter, with an option to account for fluid compressibility. Other effects, such as hard stops, inertia, or leakage, are modeled outside of the converter.

## Dialog Box and Parameters

Piston area

Effective piston area. The default value is 5e-4 m^2.

Converter orientation

Specifies converter orientation with respect to the globally assigned positive direction. The converter can be installed in two different ways, depending upon whether it exerts force in the positive or in the negative direction when pressure is applied at its inlet. If pressure applied at port A exerts force in negative direction, set the parameter to Acts in negative direction. The default value is Acts in positive direction.

Compressibility

Specifies whether fluid density is taken as constant or varying with pressure. The default value is Off, in which case the block models an ideal transducer. If you select On, the block dialog box displays additional parameters that let you model dynamic variations of the fluid density without adding any extra blocks.

Piston initial position

Initial offset of the piston from the cylinder cap. The default value is 0.

Volume of fluid in the chamber at zero piston position. The default value is 1e-4 m^3.

Specific heat ratio

Gas-specific heat ratio. The default value is 1.4.

Initial pressure

Initial pressure in the chamber. This parameter specifies the initial condition for use in computing the block's initial state at the beginning of a simulation run. The default value is 0.

## Ports

The block has the following ports:

A

Hydraulic conserving port associated with the converter inlet.

R

Mechanical translational conserving port associated with the rod of the converter.

C

Mechanical translational conserving port associated with the case of the converter.