This paper deals with the compensation of a force-feedback pneumatic servovalve.
As pneumatic fluid has higher compressibility and lower viscosity than hydraulic fluid, the natural frequencies and the damping ratios of a pneumatic circuit are lower and smaller respectively than those of a hydraulic circuit. Therefore, the frequency characteristics of a pneumatic circuit have a sharp resonance at a very low frequency comparing with those of a hydraulic circuit. So, by the mere increase of the supply pressure of a force-feedback servovalve, we cannot expect much improvement of its performance because of the sharp resonances of the pneumatic circuit.
For a great improvement of a force-feedback Servovalve, it is necessary not only to increase the supply pressure but also to give some compensation to the resonant pneumatic circuits in order to give suitable dampings.
Here, the tank-resistance compensation method suggested by J.L. Shearer is compared with the compensation spring method tried by the author. As a result, it is verified that the both methods are useful for the compensation of a force-feedback servovalve. Comparing the two methods, it can be said that the spring gives a quicker response and a wider bandwidth to a force-feedback servovalve than the tank-resistance. At 10kg·cm
-2 of supply pressure, the bandwidth of the force-feedback servovalve used in this experiment is 70Hz with the tank-resistance compensation, while 190Hz with the spring compensation.
Furthermore, a greater improvement of the performance of a force-feedback servovalve is obtained by using the tank-resistance compensation along with the spring compensation. It is proved, in this case, that the widest stable region of a force-feedback servovalve is obtained when ω
n*T
ta nearly equals unity, where ω
n* is the resonance frequency of the pneumatic preamplifier of the force-feedback servovalve and T
ta is the time constant determined from the tank volume and the resistance.
The effect of the dimensions and parameters of a forcefeedback servovalve upon its stable region is described.
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