Model Identification and Analysis of a High Performance Hydrostatic Actuation System

A hydrostatic actuation system referred to as the Electro Hydraulic Actuator (EHA) has been designed and prototyped. In this paper, a mathematical model of the EHA is reviewed and analyzed. This theoretical analysis is supported by open-loop experimental results that indicate the presence of nonlinearities but at a degree that is considerably less than that of conventional hydraulic systems with servo-valves. The behavior of the system can be approximated as piece-wise linear with the damping ratio and natural frequency changing according to a piece-wise operating region. The EHA model is used in conjunction with experimentation and numerical optimization for quantifying the influence of unknown parameters in this system. A parametric model for the EHA is subsequently proposed and validated.