Modelling and characteristics analysis of an electro-hydraulic proportional valve with a discrete pilot stage for underwater hydraulic manipulators

As the harshness of the underwater operating environment and complexity of underwater tasks gradually increase, underwater hydraulic manipulators with high reliability and precision attract more research attention. To improve the reliability and dynamic performance of the traditional electro-hydraulic proportional valve (EHPV) used in the underwater hydraulic manipulator, an improved electro-hydraulic proportional valve with a discrete pilot stage (DEHPV) is proposed. In the pilot stage, two 2-position 3-way normally open high speed switching valves (HSVs) are used, and the initial oil spring stiffness in the control chamber is large enough to maintain the dynamic performance of the DEHPV. First, the working principle and configuration of the DEHPV are both given, and the coupled electric-magnetic-mechanical-fluid model of the DEHPV is presented. Moreover, a dual-valve hybrid pulse width modulation (DVHPWM) control strategy is proposed to improve the position tracking accuracy of the DEHPV. Furthermore, a co-simulation model of the DEHPV considering the multi-field coupling law is established to study the dynamic characteristics. Extensive experiments are carried out to verify the effectiveness of the proposed structure as well as its good dynamic performance and control accuracy.