International Journal of Automotive Technology, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 2736 (2009) DOI 10.

1007/s1223900900046

Copyright 2009 KSAE 12299138/2009/04404

RESEARCH ON THE ELECTRO-HYDRAULIC VARIABLE VALVE ACTUATION SYSTEM BASED ON A THREE-WAY PROPORTIONAL REDUCING VALVE
J.-R. LIU1), B. JIN1)*, Y.-J. XIE1), Y. CHEN1) and Z.-T. WENG2)
1)

The State Key Laboratory of Fluid Power Transmission and Control, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China 2) Ningbo HOYEA Machinery Manufacture Co., Ltd, Ningbo 315131, China (Received 4 September 2007; Revised 26 July 2008)
ABSTRACTAs the internal combustion engine moves into the 21st century, fully flexible valve actuation systems are being proposed as an enabling technology for advanced internal combustion engine concepts. Electro-hydraulic valve actuator systems are being considered as a potential variable valve technology. Compared to the servo control system, the system using a proportional valve has the advantages of low price, high anti-pollution ability and high reliability. Our research focuses on exploring the dynamic characteristic of the electro-hydraulic variable valve system, which is based on three-way proportional reducing valve. In this paper, the structure and working principles of the system are described. The dynamic mathematical model of the system is derived. From the analysis of a linearized model and dynamic simulation, it is demonstrated that the system will be stable only if the proportional reducing valve has a positive opening. Some structural factors that affect the systems dynamic characteristics, such as input signal, the stiffness of the return spring and the pre-tightening force of the return spring, are studied using AMESim. The experimental results coincide with the theoretical and simulated analyses. Further study shows that the dynamic response can be improved effectively by adopting closed-loop control of valve lift. KEY WORDS: Electro-hydraulic, Variable valve, Dynamic characteristics, Three-way, Proportional reducing valve

NOMENCLATURE
Pc KI U Ap K Xp X0 FL Ku L R Ke I Xv Fm mv D Fv Ki Kv QL : input pressure of the single-rod hydraulic cylinder : constant : input voltage signal : area of the hydraulic cylinder : stiffness of the return spring : displacement of the piston : initial reduction length of the return spring : load force : pulse duty factor : coil inductance : resistance of the coil and amplifier : velocity back electromotive force coefficient : input current : displacement of the valve spool : magnetic force of the proportional electromagnet : mass of the armature and valve spool : viscous damping coefficient of the valve spool : load force of the valve spool : current-force gain of the proportional electromagnet : displacement-force gain of the proportional electromagnet : flow rate of the load

Kq Kc Cip Vc

e
Mp Bp Kce Cd w Z

Ps Kp KD Ki e y0 yf

: flow rate gain coefficient : flow rate-pressure coefficient : inner leakage coefficient of the hydraulic cylinder : volume of the controlled chamber of the hydraulic chamber : bulk modulus of elasticity : total mass of the piston and load : viscous damping coefficient of the piston : total flow rate-pressure coefficient : flow rate coefficient : area gradient : positive opening size : oil density : system pressure : proportional coefficient : differential coefficient : integral coefficient : error : expected valve lift : feedback of valve lift

1. INTRODUCTION
Valve timing, lift and duration of conventional internal combustion engine driving systems, which use a cam mechanism to control the intake and/or exhaust valve,
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*Corresponding author. e-mail: bjin@zju.edu.cn

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cannot be adjusted because the border line of the cam is fixed. Flexible intake and/or exhaust valve motions can greatly improve the fuel economy, emissions and torque output performance of internal combustion engines (Chen and Cui, 2002). Flexible valve actuation can be achieved using mechanical, electromagnetic and electro-hydraulic valve mechanisms (Dresner, 1989). The cam-based mechanisms can offer limited flexibility of the valve event. The Fiat 3D cam variable valve mechanism (Titolo, 1991) can implement variable valve lift and timing, but only within in a certain range. The Honda VTEC mechanism (Takefuml, 1991) is a multiple-step device that can switch between two discrete cams and offer discontinuous change of valve timing. To achieve continuous valve timing, lift and duration, camless engines, which include electromagnetic and electrohydraulic mechanisms, are proposed. The electromagnetic mechanisms, such as the GM R&D Magnavalue (Theobald et al., 1994), FEV (Boie et al., 2000), Siemens (Hartke and Koch, 2002), Aura (Schneider, 2001) and Magneti Maralli (Cristiani et al., 2002), can generate continuous variable valve timing and duration, but these devices cause high valve-seating velocities. The electro-hydraulic systems, such as the Ford camless (Wright et al., 1994) and the Sturman systems (Sturman, 1997), can provide fully flexible control of valve events. The advantages of the electro-hydraulic mechanisms are low energy consumption and high reliability. This paper is organized as follows: Section 2 presents the structure and working principle of the electro-hydraulic variable valve system, which is based on a three-way proportional reducing valve. Section 3 presents the structural factors which influence the dynamic performance of the system which is analyzed using a linearized mathematical model, and the stability of the system is also analyzed in this section. Section 4 addresses the simulation model of the system, which is built by AMESim. Through simulation, the dynamic performance of the electro-hydraulic system, which is affected by the structural factors, is analyzed. Section 5 presents the experimental results of electrohydraulic variable valve system. Section 6 presents future work on improving the dynamic performance. Section 7 contains a summary of the work.

Figure 1. Schematic diagram of the electro-hydraulic variable valve system. of the high-speed proportional reducing valve. The expression can be defined as follows Pc = K1 U (1) Where, Pc is the input pressure of the single-rod hydraulic cylinder, Pa; K1 is the constant; U is input voltage signal, V. The relationship between the output hydraulic force of the hydraulic cylinder and the load force in the steady state can be described by Pc Ap = K ( Xp + X0 ) + FL
2

(2)

Where, Ap is the area of the hydraulic cylinder, m ; K is the stiffness of the return spring, N/m; Xp is the displacement of the piston, m; Xo is initial reduction length of the return spring, m; and FL is the load force, N. According to Equations (1)~(2), one can write K1 FL UA p X o ---X p = ----(3) K K It is clear from Equation (3) that the valve lift, timing and duration can be changed by varying the input voltage magnitude, triggered time and pulse width, respectively.

2. STRUCTURE AND WORKING PRINCIPLE OF ELECTRO-HYDRAULIC VARIABLE VALVE SYSTEM

The schematic diagram of the electro-hydraulic variable valve system, which is based on the three-way proportional reducing valve, is shown in Figure 1. As shown in Figure 1, the system consists of a proportional relief valve, oil reservoir, hydraulic pump, high-speed proportional reducing valve, motor, single-rod hydraulic cylinder, return spring and valve. In the steady state, the input pressure of the single-rod hydraulic cylinder is proportional to the input voltage signal

3. ANALYSIS OF THE STABILITY OF THE ELECTRO-HYDRAULIC VARIABLE VALVE SYSTEM

3.1. Dynamic Mathematical Model of the Electro-hydraulic Variable Valve System In order to determine how structural factors influence the dynamic performance of electro-hydraulic variable valve systems, the dynamic mathematical model of the system is required (Merritt, 1967; Wong et al., 2008). The dynamic differential equation of the coil current in a proportional electromagnet can be defined as follows (Sabri, 2006). dI v ------- + IR + K e dX K u U = L ---dt dt (4)

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Where, Ku is the pulse duty factor; L is the coil inductance, H; R is the resistance of the coil and the amplifier, ; Ke is the velocity back electromotive force coefficient; I is the input current, A; and Xv is the displacement of the valve spool, m. The dynamic force equilibrium equation of the valve spool can be defined as follows dX d Xv v ------+ Fv F m = m v --------2 +D dt dt
2

The Laplace transform expressions of Equations (11)~ (13) can be described by Q L = K q X v ( s ) K c P c ( s ) Vc Q L C ip P c ( s ) = A p X p ( s ) s + ---Pc ( s ) s (14)

(15) (16)

P c ( s ) A p = M p X p ( s ) s 2 + B p X p ( s ) s + KX p ( s ) + F L According to Equations (14)~(16), one can write:

(5)

Where, Fm is the magnetic force of proportional electromagnet, N; mv is the mass of the armature and valve spool, Kg; D is the viscous damping coefficient of the valve spool, N/(m/s); and Fv is the load force of the valve spool, N. The dynamic output force of the proportional electromagnet can be described by (Guan, 2003) Fm = Ki I Ky Xv (6) Where, Ki is the current-force gain of the proportional electromagnet; and Ky is the displacement-force gain of the proportional electromagnet. The Laplace transform expressions of Equations (4)~(6) can be described by K u U ( s ) = LIs + IR + K e X v s F m = m v X v s + DX v s + F v F m = K i I ( s ) K y X v ( s ) According to Equations (7)~(9), one can write
Ku KiU (s ) ( Ls + R )Fv Xv( s )= --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3 2 MvLs +( LD + MvR )s +( LKy + RD + Ke Ki )s +RKy
2

c ----------- eKqApXvKcee 1 + eKces FL Xp(s)= ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------VcMps3+(BpVc+MpeKce)s2+(KceBpe+KVc+eA2 p ) s + Kce K e

(17) (18)

K ce = K c + C ip Where Kce is the total flow rate-pressure coefficient. According to Equations (10)~(17), one can write
Ku Ki Xp ( s ) ----------- = ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------U( s ) MvLs3+( LD+MvR )s2+( LKy + RD + KeKi )s +RKy

e K q Ap ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (19) VcMps3+(BpVc+MpeKce)s2+(KceBpe+KVc+eA2 p ) s + Kce K e

(7) (8) (9)

It is clear from Equation (19) that Ku, K, FL and U are the main structural factors that influence the dynamic performance of the electro-hydraulic variable valve system. 3.2. Analysis on Stability of the System in Diffierent Opening Modes In this system, the three-way proportional reducing valve is the key component whose opening mode determines the stability of the electro-hydraulic variable valve system. In positive opening mode, the flow rate gain coefficient Kq and flow rate-pressure coefficient Kc can be defined as follows 2 ( Ps Pc 2 P) + ------c Kq = Cd w ---------------------- 2 1 - 1 - C wZ ------------------------ + -----------K c = -----2 d ( Ps Pc ) P c (20) (21)

(10)

The linearized discharge expression of the valve can be defined as follows QL = Kq Xv Kc Pc (11) Where, QL is the flow rate of the load, L/min; Kq is the flow rate gain coefficient; and Kc is the flow rate-pressure coefficient. The continuity expression of the working chamber of the hydraulic cylinder can be defined as follows V c dP dX p ---c ------+ Q L C ip P c = A p -------dt e dt (12)

Where, Cip is the inner leakage coefficient of the hydraulic cylinder; Vc is the volume of the controlled chamber of the hydraulic chamber, m3; and e is the bulk modulus of elasticity, Pa. The dynamic relationship between the output force of the piston and the load force can be described by d 2 XdX p p + KX p + F L + B p -------P c A p = M p --------dt dt 2 (13)

Where, Cd is the flow rate coefficient; w is the area gradient; Z is the positive opening size; is the oil density; and Ps is the system pressure. In zero-opening mode, the flow rate gain coefficient Kq and flow rate-pressure coefficient Kc can be defined as follows 2 ( Ps Pc ) K q = C d w -----------------------

(22) (23)

1 K c = C d wX v --------------------------2 ( Ps Pc )

Where, Mp is the total mass of the piston and load, Kg; and Bp is viscous damping coefficient of the piston, N/(m/s);

The system parameters are listed in Table 1 and the poles of the system are listed in Table 2. The system is unstable because there are two poles in the right half S-plane in the zero-opening mode. However, in

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Table 1. System parameters of the electro-hydraulic variable valve system. Parameter Ki Cd Vc w Mp Z Ps Ap Value 6 0.68 2.601e-6 1.884e-2 0.1 2e-4 6 1.13e-4 870 0.02 700 50 4e-12 8000 1 Unit null null m3 m Kg m MPa m2 Kg/m3 Kg MPa N/(m/s) m3/S/Pa N/m null

Table 3. Simulation parameters of the electro-hydraulic variable valve system. Parameter Valve diameter rod diameter of the valve Lower displacement limit Higher displacement limit Piston diameter Rod diameter of the piston Leakage coefficient Value 6 3 0.002 0.002 12 7 0.001 Unit mm mm m m mm mm L/min/bar

mv

Bp Cip K Ku

Table 2. System poles in the positive and zero opening modes. Positive opening 1 2 3 4 5 Value 18433 859+7999i 859-7999i 225+141i 225-141i Zero opening 1 2 3 4 5 Value 2169+9397i 2169-9397i 8563 213+147i 213-147i Figure 3. Output pressure of the proportional reducing valve Pc in zero opening mode.

the positive opening mode, the system is stable because all poles are located in the left half S-plane. As shown in Figure 2, the simulation model is built by AMESim and the simulation parameters are listed in Table 3. The simulation results are shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4.

Figure 4. Output pressure of the proportional reducing valve Pc in positive opening mode. The output pressure of the proportional reducing valve Pc is unstable in the zero-opening mode, whereas the output pressure of the proportional reducing valve Pc is stable in the positive opening mode. In order to validate the simulation results, the experimental system is built (as shown in Figure 19) and the experimental results are shown in Figure 5 and Figure 6. It is clear in Figure 5 and Figure 6 that the experimental results agree well with the simulation results.

Figure 2. Model of the electro-hydraulic variable valve system.

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Figure 5. Experimental output pressure of the proportional reducing valve in zero-opening mode.

Figure 7. Valve lift for different input magnitudes.

Figure 6. Experimental output pressure of the proportional reducing valve in positive opening mode.

Figure 8. Output pressure of the proportional reducing valve for different input magnitudes.

4. SIMULATION ANALYSIS OF THE DYNAMIC PERFORMANCE OF THE ELECTRO-HYDRAULIC VARIABLE VALVE SYSTEM
It would appear that structural factors that affect the dynamic performance of the electro-hydraulic variable valve system were found. They are Ku, K, FL, and U. In order to analyze the dynamic performance of the system, a simulation model was built using AMESim. In the following simulation results, the opening time is defined as the necessary time when the lift rises from 10% of the stable value to 90% of the stable value, and the closing time is defined as the necessary time when the lift falls from 90% of the stable value to 10% of the stable value. 4.1. Simulation Result of Input Voltage Magnitude In order to analyze the influence of the input voltage magnitude on the dynamic performance of the system, a simulation is adopted. The simulation results are shown in Figure 9. It is obvious in Figure 7 that the valve lift increases with increasing input voltage. This result agrees well with

Figure 9. Influence of variable input voltage magnitude. Equation (3). Figure 8 shows that the output pressure of the proportional reducing valve Pc increases and the hydraulic force, which acts on the piston of the hydraulic cylinder, is proportional to Pc. Hence, Pc increases with increasing input voltage. This result agrees well with Equation (1). In Figure 9, the input signal pulse width is 47 ms, the system pressure is 6 MPa and the stiffness of the return spring is 8000 N/m with a 52 N pre-tightening force. It is obvious that valve lift increases from 4 mm to 9 mm when the input voltage magnitude increases from 1 V to 1.5 V.

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Figure 10. Average velocity curves of different input magnitudes.

Figure 12. Average velocity curves of different pulse widths.

Figure 11. Influence of variable input pulse width. In order to analyze the average velocity when the valve is opening and closing, the average velocities of 0.5 mm ~3.5 mm lift for different input magnitudes are analyzed and the simulation result is shown in Figure 10. It is clear in Figure 10 that the opening average velocity increases, because the driving force (hydraulic force minus the sum of the spring and pre-tightening forces) increases with increasing input voltage. And closing average velocity increases slightly because the return spring force increases with increasing input voltage magnitude. 4.2. Simulation Result of Input Pulse Width In order to analyze the influence of input pulse width on the dynamic performance of the system, the simulation is adopted. The simulation results are shown in Figure 11. The system pressure is 6 MPa, the input voltage is 1.5 V and the stiffness of return spring is 8000 N/m with a 52 N pre-tightening force. It is clear in Figure 11 that the valve lift increases from 3 mm to 8 mm when the pulse width increases from 9 ms to 39 ms with the input voltage magnitude at 1.5 V. In order to analyze the average velocity when the valve is open and closed, the average velocities of 0~3 mm lift with different input pulse widths are shown in Figure 12.

Figure 13. Valve lift curves of different pre-tightening forces. Figure 12 shows that the average opening velocity increases slightly because the Ku and input voltage are increasing. However, the average closing velocity is increasing when the input pulse width is increased. This phenomenon is caused by the increased spring force. 4.3. Simulation Result of the Pre-tightening Force the of Return Spring The results of the pre-tightening force on the dynamic

Figure 14. Influence of the pre-tightening force of the return spring.

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Figure 17. Influence of the stiffness of the return spring. Figure 15. Average velocity curves of different pre-tightening forces. performance of the system are shown in Figure 14 and Figure 15. The input signal pulse width is 47 ms with the input voltage magnitude at 1.25 V, the system pressure at 6 MPa and the stiffness of return spring at 8000 N/m. Figure 13 shows that the valve lift decreases when the pre-tightening force of the return spring increases. This result agrees well with Equation (3). It is clear in Figure 14 that the valve lift decreases from 9 mm to 5.5 mm when the pre-tightening force of the return spring increases from 36 N to 68 N. In order to analyze the average velocity when the valve is open and closed, the average velocities of 0.6 mm~5.4 mm lift with different pre-tightening forces for the return spring are shown in Figure 15. Figure 15 shows that the average opening velocity decreases because the driving force (hydraulic force minus the sum of the spring and pretightening forces) decreases with the increase of the pretightening force. However, the average closing velocity is increasing due to the increasing sum of the pre-tightening and spring force. 4.4. Simulation result of the stiffness of the return spring

Figure 18. Average velocity curves of different stiffnesses of the return spring. The results of the stiffness of the return spring on the dynamic performance of the system are shown in Figure 17 and Figure 18. The input signal pulse width is 47ms with the input voltage magnitude at 1.25V, the system pressure at 6 MPa and the pre-tightening force at 52 N. Figure 16 shows that the valve lift decreases when the stiffness of the return spring increases. This result agrees well with Equation (3). In order to analyze the influence of the stiffness of the return spring on the dynamic performance of the system while maintaining the pre-tightening constant, the simulation is performed. The simulation result is shown in Figure 17. It is clear in Figure 17 that the valve lift decreases from 7 mm to 4 mm when the stiffness of the return spring increases from 8000 N/m to 14000 N/m. In order to analyze the average velocity when the valve is opening and closing, the average velocities of 0.4 mm~4 mm lift with different stiffnesses of the return spring are shown in Figure 18. It is clear in Figure 18 that the average opening velocity is decreasing because the driving force (hydraulic force minus the sum of the spring and pretightening forces) decreases with the increase of the stiffness. The average closing velocity has an optimal value when the stiffness of the return spring is increasing because the valve lift decreases when the stiffness of the return

Figure 16. Valve lift of different stiffnesses of the return spring.

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spring increases. Hence, the spring force is at its maximum value when the stiffness of the return spring is increasing.

5. EXPERIMENT OF THE ELECTROHYDRAULIC VARIABLE VALVE SYSTEM

In order to validate the simulation results and analyze the dynamic performance, the following experiments were carried out. The experimental system of the electro-hydraulic variable valve system, which is based on the three-way reducing valve, is shown in Figure 19. The pressure transducer is used for measuring the input pressure of the single-rod cylinder. The displacement transducer, which can linearly convert a 0~25 mm displacement signal to a 0~5 V voltage signal, is used for measuring the displacement of the valve. The oscilloscope is used for

Figure 21. the experiment results of variable input voltage magnitude. displaying and storing the input, pressure and displacement signals. 5.1. Experimental Results of the Variable Input Voltage magnitude The experimental results of different input voltage magnitudes are shown in Figure 21. In the experiment, the input signal pulse width is 47 ms, the system pressure is 6 MPa and the stiffness of the return spring is 8000 N/m with a 52 N pre-tightening force. Figure 21 shows that the valve lift increases from 3.8 mm to 8.8 mm when the input voltage magnitude increases from 1 V to 1.5 V. Figure 21 shows that the opening time is shortened and closing time is slightly shortened at the same lift interval when the input voltage magnitude increases. 5.2. Experimental Results of the Variable Input Voltage Pulse Width The experimental results of the different input pulse width are shown in Figure 22. In the experiment, the input signal magnitude is 1.5 V, the system pressure is 6 MPa and the stiffness of the return spring is 8000 N/m with a 52 N pretightening force. Figure 22 shows that the valve lift increases from 2.5 mm to 7.5 mm when the pulse width is

Figure 19. Block diagram of the experimental system.

Figure 20. Picture of the experimental system.

Figure 22. the experiment results of variable input pulse width.

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Figure 23. the experiment results of the pre-tightening force of return spring. increasing from 9 ms to 39 ms. It is clear in Figure 22 that the opening time is basically unchanged and closing time is shortened over the same lift interval when the input pulse width increases. 5.3. Experimental Results of Different Pre-tightening Force The experiment results of the different pre-tightening forces of the return spring are shown in Figure 23. In the experiments, the input signal magnitude is 1.25 V with a 47 ms pulse width, a system pressure of 6 MPa and a stiffness of the return spring of 8000 N/m. Figure 23 shows that the valve lift decreases from 8.5 mm to 4.5mm when the pretightening force of the piston increases from 36 N to 68 N. It is clear in Figure 23 that the opening time is increasing and the closing time is shortened over the same lift interval when the pre-tightening force of the return spring is increased. 5.4. Experimental Results of Different Stiffness of the Return Spring The experimental results of different stiffness of the return spring are shown in Figure 24. In those experiments, the input signal magnitude was 1.25 V with a 47 ms pulse width, a system pressure of 6 MPa and a pre-tightening

Figure 25. Dynamic performance of the open and closed loop system. force of 52 N. Figure 24 shows that valve lift is decreased from 7 mm to 3.5 mm when the stiffness of the return spring is increased from 8000 N/m to 14000 N/m. It is clear in Figure 24 that the opening time is increasing at the same lift interval when the stiffness of the return spring is increasing. However, the closing is not shortened with a increase in the stiffness. It has an optimal value.

6. FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
It is obvious from the experimental results that the rising and falling time of the valve is too long in the open loop system. It is not suitable for a high-speed engine. As shown in Figure 10, increasing the input signal can accelerate the valve speed. Hence, in order to improve the dynamic performance of the system, study of the closed-loop of the valve lift needs to be conducted. A PID controller is added and the transfer function is shown as follows. K-i U(s) ----------= K p + K D s + ---s e(s) (24)

Where, Kp is the proportional coefficient; KD is the differential coefficient; Ki is the integral coefficient; e is the error whose expression is defined in Equation (25). e = yo yf (25) Where, yo is the expected valve lift; yf is the feedback of the valve lift. The simulation of the closed-loop system is done by AMESim. The simulation results are shown in Figure 25. It is obvious that the rising and falling times are shortened by adopting closed-loop control of the valve lift. It can greatly improve the dynamic performance of the system.

7. CONCLUSIONS
Figure 24. the experiment results of the stiffness of return spring. This paper presents an electro-hydraulic variable valve system which is based on the three-way reducing valve.

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The key factors affecting the dynamic performance of the system are discussed in detail. The conclusions are as follows. (1) The system is more inexpensive than using the servo valves because it uses high-speed proportional valves. (2) The system is stable only if the proportional reducing valve has a positive opening mode. (3) The valve lift, timing and duration can be controlled by changing the input signal of the proportional reducing valve. (4) The experimental results agree with the simulation results. This model can be used for optimizing system parameters such as the pre-tightening force and stiffness of the return spring. (5) By using the closed-loop PID controller, the system dynamic performance can be greatly improved. The work in this paper is just a beginning. In order to meet the demand of high-speed motors (6000 rpm or more), much more work must be done in the future.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTThis paper is supported by the nature science foundation of Zhejiang province, China. Project Number: Z106543.

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