7-1

Accumulators, Hydraulic - Equations

The basic equations governing the behavior of accumulators are provided below for the 5 basic types of
accumulators. The equations are separated into two categories. The 1
st
category is accumulators which
have a spring and the dynamics are governed by the spring and piston mass. This category includes
spring and metal bellows type accumulators. The 2
nd
category is for bladder and bladder diaphragm
accumulators. In bladder and bladder diaphragm accumulators, the pressurized gas controls the
accumulator dynamics. Since accumulators are only relevant during dynamic operation, only dynamic
equations are provided.

Spring-Controlled Accumulators
For spring controlled accumulators the dynamics are governed by the spring constant and the mass of
the piston. A schematic of a generic spring loaded accumulator is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 Generic Spring Controlled Accumulator
The natural frequency of a spring accumulator is given by

n
=
k
s
m
p
(1)
which bounds the maximum response time for a spring accumulator.
A dynamic model for a spring accumulator consists of a 1
st
order differential equation for the accumulator
pressure and a 2
nd
order differential equation for the position of the piston mass. For the oil in the
accumulator, the continuity equation is

&
P
acc
=

V
acc
(Q
acc
A
p
& x) (2)
where
V
acc
= A
p
x +V
0
(3)
Q
acc
=
d
A
acc
2

P
1
P
acc
( ) (4)
P
rtn
A
acc
V
acc
P
acc
Q
acc
A
p
x
P
1
, Q
1
P
2
, Q
2
k
s
Piston

7-2
The flow equation is the basic hydraulic orifice equation. The piston position is computed using

m
p
&& x + F
f
( & x) + c& x + k
s
x = P
acc
P
rtn
( )A
p
F
0
(5)
In the above equations, the parameters are
x position of the piston
A
p
effective cross-sectional area of the piston
m
p
mass of the piston
c damping or friction coefficient associated with piston
k
s
spring rate of piston spring
P
acc
hydraulic fluid pressure in the accumulator
A
p
area of the piston
F
0
spring preload
Q
acc
flow into the accumulator (+ is flow in, - is flow out)
F
f
piston friction force
V
acc
volume of fluid in the accumulator
A
acc
inlet orifice area
P
rtn
return pressure

Gas Controlled Accumulators
A bladder accumulator schematic is shown in Figure 2. For a bladder or diaphragm accumulator, the
dynamics are controlled by the characteristics of the gas (usually nitrogen). The elastromeric
characteristics of the bag are not significant when compared to the gas and are ignored in the equations.
The two main equations that are used to analyze the gas characteristics are the ideal gas law (or van der
Waals equation) and the polytropic process thermodynamic equation. Equation (1) and (2) provide the
ideal gas law and van der Waals equation which are the governing equations of state (relationship
between temperature, pressure and volume) for any ideal gas at a particular instant in time. The ideal
gas law is easier to use, but is less accurate at higher temperatures and pressures. The van der Waals
equation is a 2
nd
order equation that provides a more accurate representation of the relationship between
pressure and temperature at higher pressures and temperatures.
PV = nRT Ideal Gas Law (6)
P + a
n
V
|
\

|
.
|
2
|
\

|
.
|
V nb ( )= nRT van der Waals equation (7)
where
P pressure
V volume
T temperature
R universal gas constant
n is the number of moles
a van der Waals constant = 0.1361 J-m
3
/mole
2

b van der Waals constant = 3.85E-05 in
3
/mole

7-3

The 2
nd
equation represents a polytropic process. A polytropic process is reversible process with heat
transfer, represented by the equation
PV
n
= constant (8)
or
P
1
V
1
n
= P
2
V
2
n
= constant (9)
In equation (9), the subscripts refer to states 1 and 2, respectively. For an isothermal polytropic process,
n is 1 and for an isentropic (constant entropy) polytropic process, n = k = 1.4, which is the ratio of specific
heats (k = c
p
/c
v
). For gas accumulators, an isentropic polytropic process is usually assumed. For slow
expansion or contractions of the gas, an isothermal assumption may be valid.
There are three items of importance for a reversible, isentropic process. First, a reversible, isentropic is
equivalent to a reversible, adiabatic process in which there is no heat transfer to the environment. No
heat transfer to the environment is a reasonable assumption since gas compression and expansion
usually occurs over a very short time in hydraulic systems. Secondly, a reversible process implies an
efficiency of 100%, which is never true. A 95% efficiency is usually assumed for gas accumulators.
Lastly, for nitrogen k is 1.4 at low pressure and temperatures. Because c
p
an c
v
are functions of
temperature, k is also a function of temperature. For more accurate calculations, c
p
and c
v
values (using
thermodynamic tables) should reflect the operating temperature of the gas.

Figure 2 Generic Bladder Controlled Accumulator
As mentioned previously, the behavior characteristics for a bladder accumulator are governed by the gas
and for analysis purposes we assume a reversible, isentropic process. For proper analysis and to
support sizing, it is necessary to start with an accumulator in the precharged state and compute the
behavior from charging to expansion of the gas. There are 3 states of the gas as listed below (P, V, T
refer to gas properties).
State 1 Precharge
P
1
precharge pressure
V
1
accumulator nitrogen volume, which is assumed to be equal to total accumulator volume

7-4
T
1
nitrogen temperature at precharge (might be ambient or steady state service
temperature)
State 2 Charged Accumulator
P
2
maximum hydraulic system pressure (typically this is pump outlet pressure)
V
2
accumulator gas volume after nitrogen is compressed
T
2
nitrogen temperature after charged (after compressing the nitrogen)
State 3 Discharged (gas has expanded)
P
3
minimum allowable hydraulic system pressure
V
3
accumulator nitrogen volume after expansion
T
3
nitrogen temperature after expansion
Going from state 1, precharged accumulator to state 2, charged accumulator (accumulator becomes
charged when hydraulic fluid flows into the accumulator and compresses the bag to the hydraulic system
pressure) is a polytropic process, so
P
1
V
1
n
= P
2
V
2
n
= constant
or
V
1
=
P
2
P
1
|
\

|
.
|
1
k
12
V
2
(10)
From state 2 to 3,
V
2
=
P
3
P
2
|
\

|
.
|
1
k
23
V
3
(11)
Note that V
3
= V
1
V
f
= total accumulator volume fluid that flows into the system, so that
V
2
=
P
3
P
2
|
\

|
.
|
1
k
23
V
1
V
f
( )
(12)
Substituting (12) into (10) and simplifying yields
V
1
=
P
2
P
1
|
\

|
.
|
1
k
12
P
3
P
2
|
\

|
.
|
1
k
23
P
3
P
2
|
\

|
.
|
1
k
23
1

(
(
V
f
(13)
Equation (13) defines the relationship between V
1
, total accumulator volume and V
f
, the required fluid
flow. This equation is used to size accumulators for a given flow requirement (to supplement pump flow).
For k, different subscripts are used to denote the possibility of temperature differences between
compression and expansion of the gas.
Another equation of interest for gas accumulators is the time to recharge the accumulator from a
expanded state to a charge state. This equation is derived from the equations for an isentropic, polytropic
process. As before,

7-5
P
g
V
g
k
= constant (14)
where
k 1.4 for dry air or nitrogen
P
G
gas pressure
V
G
gas volume
Differentiating equation (14) leads to

&
P
g
V
g
k
+ kP
g
&
V
g
(V
g
(k1)
) = 0 (15)
or

&
P
g
V
g
k
= kP
g
V
g
k1
&
V
g
(16)
Next, solve for

&
V
g


&
V
g
=
&
P
g
V
g
k
kP
g
V
g
k1
=
&
P
g
V
g
kP
g
(17)
Using the continuity of mass equation (which is the pressure derivative equation, noting that

&
P
liq
=
&
P
g

and substituting equation (17) for

&
V
g
yields

&
P
liq
=

V
liq
Q
acc


V
liq
&
P
liq
V
g
kP
g
|
\

|
.
|


1+
V
g
V
liq
kP
g
|
\

|
.
|
&
P
liq
=

V
liq
Q
acc

and finally,

&
P
liq
=

V
liq
Q
acc
1+

kP
g
V
g
V
liq
|
\

|
.
|

(
(
(18)
Equation (18) gives the rate of change of hydraulic fluid pressure in the accumulator as a function of Q
acc
,
V
g
, V
lig
and P
g
.

Gas Piston Accumulator
A gas piston accumulator is shown in Figure 4. A gas piston accumulator has a piston which slides
against the accumulator housing on seals. On one side of the piston is nitrogen and on the other side is
the hydraulic fluid and connection to the system. A fill port allows pressurization of the nitrogen.

7-6

Figure 4 Piston Accumulator Schematic

Equations for piston accumulator can be derived by applying F = ma on the piston, similar to equation (5),

m
p
&& x + F
f
( & x) + c& x = P
acc
P
gas
( )
A
p
(19)
P
gas
is a function of gas volume (i.e., piston piston) and is computed using
P
g
V
g
k
= constant (20)
The constant can be computed based on accumulator steady state conditions. k is the ratio of specific
heats and will be function of temperature. A nominal operating temperature will need to be determined.
Volume is computed from piston position and piston area. This equation assumes the change in gas
pressure will be much faster than the change in piston position, which is a reasonable assumption. An
alternative to equation (20) would be use the ideal gas law or van der Waals equation. Both of these also
require an estimate or operating temperature.

Metal Bellows
A metal bellows accumulator can be analyzed similar to piston accumulator. Using F = ma, a force
balance on the metal bellows accumulator piston (see Figure 5) would be

m
p
&& x + F
f
( & x) + c& x + k
s
x = P
acc
P
gas
( )
A
p
F
0
(21)
This equation is similar to a gas piston accumulator with the addition of a spring term. Use of equation
(21) requires knowledge of the metal bellows spring characteristics. Note that F
0
in the discharge state
may be zero or negligible. The gas pressure can be computed using equation (20) or the ideal gas law or
van der Waals equation.

Fill Valve
P
1
, Q
1
P
2
, Q
2
Pipe
Nitrogen
Hydraulic
Fluid
Piston Stops
Piston
Housing

7-7


Figure 5 Metal Bellows Accumulator Schematic