The present study is concerned with the design effort on an IDPF servovalve, particularly in the case when it is applied to gimbaled engine positioning hydraulic servomechanisms. Firstly, resonances which arise from the mechanical compliance in gimbaled engine supporting mechanisms are analyzed, and it is shown that compensation of resonances is mandatory for the stabilization of liquid rocket's attitude control systems. For this problem, an IDPF compensation method is proposed, the technique for determining the values of its compensation constants is described, and the validity of this technique is verified by an analog computer simulation. Next, an IDPF servovalve with such the compensation function is devised, composed of a torque-motor, a nozzle-flapper, a spool-valve and an IDPF hydromechanical network, and the design method is established. Finally, by means of a hydraulic servo device, it is experimentally verified that the IDPF servovalve has a good capability of compensating for resonances of gimbaled engine mechanisms. Also, an analog computer-experimental device simulation of a rocket's pitch attitude control system is presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the IDPF servovalve.
The results in this paper are general in nature and might apply just as well to a system that controls a massive antenna or a massive table on a milling machine.
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