Multi-objective optimization of a high speed on/off valve for dynamic performance improvement and volume minimization
Qi Zhong, J.H. Wang, Enguang Xu, Cheng Yu, Yanbiao LI
Abstract
Hydraulic circuits with high speed on/off valve (HSV) for servo control have become commonplace in aerospace. However, the individual valve that is not volume-optimized results in a large total size of hydraulic control system, diminishing the practicality. To address this issue, the high-precision equivalent reluctance model of the HSV is established by employing an equivalent magnetic circuit, on which the dynamic characteristic of the HSV, as well as the effects of structural parameters on switching behaviour, are investigated. Based on this model, multi-objective optimization is adopted to design an HSV with faster dynamic performance and smaller volume, NSGA-II genetic algorithm is applied to obtain the Pareto front of the desired objectives. To assess the impact before and after optimization, an HSV based on the optimized structure is manufactured and tested. The experimental results show that the optimized HSV reduces 47.1% of its solenoid volume while improving opening and closing dynamic performance by 14.8% and 43.0% respectively, increasing maximum switching frequency by 6.2%, and expanding flow linear control area by 6.7%. These results validate the optimized structure and indicate that the optimization method provided in the paper is beneficial for developing superior HSV.