Study on the Alternating Flow Hydraulics and Its New Potential Application in the Geotechnical Testing Field

Abstract

The alternating flow hydraulics (AFH) had demonstrated the unique features in the past. One of the most well-known inventions was the hydraulic machine-gun synchronizer, which had become the standard equipment of airplane during World War I. The studies on the AFH between 1960 and 1980 had trigged many researchers' interests and reached the summit. The disadvantages of the AFH like low efficiency and cooling difficulty had prevented the further development. Few people are engaged in studying the AFH at present. However, the unique characteristics of the AFH inspire the researchers to continuously explore the new special suitable applications. The overviews of the AFH and the new potential application in the geotechnical testing field have been discussed in this paper. First, the research results of the AFH in the past have been summarized. Then, the classifications of the AFH have been introduced in detail according to the working principle, the number of hydraulic transmission pipelines and the mode of input energy. The advantages and the disadvantages of the AFH have been discussed. A novel potential suitable application in the soil test field has been presented at last. The detailed designing ideas of a new dynamic trixial instrument have been given, which will be a more innovational and energy-saving plan according to the current studies. A series of simulation experiments have been done. The simulation results show that the proposed scheme for the new dynamic trixial instrument is feasible. The paper work will also give some inspirations in the reciprocating motion control system.