Modeling and Control of Retarder Using On/Off Solenoid Valves

Modeling and Control of Retarder using
On/Off Solenoid Valves
VIDAR STEINSLAND
Masters’ Degree Project

Stockholm, Sweden April 2008
XR-EE-RT 2008:007
Abstract
The Retarder is one of the main components in Scania’s trucks’ braking

system and is used to brake down the truck and for maintaining a steady
speed on descents. This Master’s Thesis aims to investigate if the current
system which uses a proportional valve to control the air pressure in the
Retarder, can be replaced with two on/off solenoid valves and a pressure
chamber to control the air pressure, which would result in a cheaper and more
robust system. By varying the air pressure, the braking torque in the truck
can be regulated. A model including electrical drives from a control unit,
valves, pressure chamber and a regulating valve is derived. Using the model
as reference, a controller is designed and implemented to control the valves,
and thereby the pressure. Based on experience from employees at Scania and
former research on on/off control of an Exhaust Gas Recirculation system, a
regular PID-controller is used as the base in the control. A pulsing scheme
where the valves are activated separately is used to distribute the control
signal to the two valves. Different ways of applying the control signal are
investigated, whether the valves run digital, i.e. 0 % or 100 %, or continuously
by varying the PWM signal. A boosting action using non-linear control, and
prediction are investigated in order to improve the control performance in
such way that the required time response and robustness is obtained. The
controller is eventually tested and verified on the real system.
Acknowledgments
I would like to express profound gratitude to my advisor at Scania, M.Sc.
Tomas Selling, for his invaluable support, perseverance, supervision and use-
ful suggestions throughout this research work. His moral support and con-
tinuous guidance enabled me to complete my work successfully. I am also
highly thankful to my supervisor Håkan Hjalmarsson, Professor at the School
of Electrical Engineering, Royal Institute of Technology, for his valuable sug-
gestions throughout this study.
I appreciate the kindness of Mr. Fredrik Strååt for his suggestions and ad-
vices concerning the Retarder control unit, and would specially thank Mr.
Richard Riis for his assistance with the prototypes used for tests and exper-
iments.
I am also thankful to Mr. Sören Åberg, who guided me about the direction
of my thesis from the beginning, and assisted with practical experiments.
Finally, I wish to express my appreciation to the rest of the members of
NEST at Scania, and friends and family that have supported me in doing
this thesis.
1
Contents
1 Introduction 9
1.1 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.2 Thesis Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.3 Functional Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.4 Actuation Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.5 Notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2 Retarder 15
2.1 Scania’s Retarder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.1.1 Retarder System Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.1.2 Retarder System Using On/Off Solenoid Valves . . . . 16
2.2 Dead Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.3 Solenoid Valves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.4 Equipment in Experiments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.4.1 ECU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.4.2 Prototypes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.4.3 Retarder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.4.4 Pressure Sensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.4.5 Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.4.6 Oscilloscope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.4.7 Multimeter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3 Modelling 23
3.1 System Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.2 ECU Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.3 Valve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.3.1 Electrical Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.3.2 Magnetic Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3.3.3 Mechanical Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3.3.4 Pneumatic Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.4 Regulating Valve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2
3.5 Model Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
4 Model Validation 37
4.1 Duty Cycle Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
4.2 Prototype 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
4.2.1 Filling Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
4.2.2 Ventilation Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
4.2.3 Friction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
4.2.4 Validation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
4.3 Prototype 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
4.3.1 Filling Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
4.3.2 Ventilation Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
4.3.3 Validation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
5 Model Refinements 55
5.1 Parameter Tuning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
5.1.1 Air Gap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
5.1.2 Discharge Coefficient, Cd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
5.1.3 Force Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
5.1.4 Valve inlet orifice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
5.2 Time Delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
5.3 Temperature Dependent Resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
5.4 System Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
6 Control Design 65
6.1 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
6.2 PID Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
6.2.1 Control Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
6.2.2 Model Based Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
6.2.3 Tuned Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
6.2.4 Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
6.3 Approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
6.3.1 Scheme 1 - Fill valve and Empty valve activated sepa-
rately for filling and venting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
6.3.2 Scheme 2 - Both valves activated simultaneously for
filling and venting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
6.4 Results - Scheme 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
6.4.1 Simulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
6.4.2 Tests on Prototypes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
6.5 Control Improvements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
6.5.1 Anti-Windup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
3
6.5.2 Improved control using prediction . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
6.5.3 Improved control using non-linear control . . . . . . . . 79
6.6 Comparison Between Scheme 1 and Scheme 2 . . . . . . . . . 80
7 Conclusions and Future work 83

7.1 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
7.2 Future Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
A Appendix 89
A.1 Linearization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
A.1.1 Fill valve and Ventilation valve are both activated . . . 90
4
List of Figures
1.1 Functional description - schematic figure of the valve housing . 11
2.1 Valve Interior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

2.2 Normally closed 3/2 valve. Unaffected (left) and affected (right) 18
2.3 Symbolic sketch of a normally closed 3/2 valve, unaffected
(right) and affected (left), where Port 1 is the inlet port, Port
2 is the outlet port and Port 3 is the drain. . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.4 Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) Scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.1 System Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

3.2 Modeling of the System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.3 ECU circuit when the PWM is low (left) and when the PWM
is high (right) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.4 Sub models for a solenoid valve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.5 Electrical circuit when the PWM signal is set high . . . . . . . 27
3.6 Electrical circuit when the PWM signal is set low . . . . . . . 28
3.7 The outlet orifice A0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
3.8 The regulation valve at its maximum stroke . . . . . . . . . . 34
4.1 Filling the dead volume with a duty cycle of 100 %, i.e. the
valves are fully open and there is a maximum flow through the
valves. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
4.2 Venting the dead volume with a duty cycle of 82 % . . . . . . 41
4.3 Current in the coil using a duty cycle of 75 % . . . . . . . . . 43
4.4 Current in the coil using a duty cycle of 40 % . . . . . . . . . 44
4.5 The modeled pressure and the measured pressure when 82 %
duty cycle has been applied to the fill (top) and empty (bot-
tom) valve separately . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
4.6 Pressure in the dead volume when filling valve and venting
valve are both applied a duty cycle of 82 % . . . . . . . . . . . 46
4.7 Pressure in the dead volume when filling valve and venting
valve are both applied a duty cycle of 50 % . . . . . . . . . . . 47
5
4.8 Modeled and real pressure when a scheme of different duty
cycles have been used as input to the fill and vent valve) valve
separately . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
4.9 Filling (left) and ventilating (right) the dead volume with and
orifice of 1.0 mm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
4.10 Filling (Left) and ventilating (Right) the dead volume with an
orifice of 1.3 mm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
4.11 Filling (Left) and ventilating (Right) the dead volume with
and orifice of 1.9 mm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
4.12 Inserted orifice of 1.0 mm in the inlet port of Prototype 2 . . . 51
4.13 Filling and Ventilation Verification with 1.0 mm orifice, 75 cm3
volume, and 82 % applied duty cycle to fill and vent valve
separately . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
4.14 Filling and Ventilation Verification with 1.0 mm orifice, 75 cm3
volume, and 60 % applied duty cycle to fill and vent valve as
seen in the figure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
5.1 Pressure Change in the Dead Volume as Different Cd’s are

used for the Fill Valve when Fill Valve is first activated, then
both valves simultaneously (Left). Zoomed plot of the Filling
Characteristics (Right). Cd,vent=0.97. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
5.2 Current in the coil for DC = 75 % (top) and DC = 40 %
(bottom) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
5.3 Current in the conductor at room teperature, Tsurround =
273 K, when a PWM signal of frequency, fP W M , and 100 %
duty cycle have been used as input. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
5.4 System identification’s circular flow. The rectangles are the
computer’s main responsibilities, and the ovals are user’s main
responsibilities. [3] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
6.1 Error Feedback Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

6.2 Output Feedback Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
6.3 A setup with the controller and a distributor distributing the
control signal to either of the two valves . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
6.4 Traditional Pulsing Scheme (left) and Pulsing Scheme 1 (right) 71
6.5 Resulting PID-controller in simulations, using an orifice of
1.3 mm and a volume of 75cm3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
6.6 Control signal behavior for one specific reference . . . . . . . . 73
6.7 Resulting PID-controller on prototype two with orifice of 1.3 mm
orifice, including boosting and prediction . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
6
6.8 The actual error and the predicted error in the next sample
(top). Control Signal when prediction is introduced (bottom). . 77
6.9 The prediction included in the control design. . . . . . . . . . 78
6.10 Error in previous, actual and next sample, based on the pre-
diction calculation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
6.11 Reulting PID-controller using Scheme 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
7
List of Tables
4.1 Duty cycle limits for valves to start to open and for valves
to keep fully open when a pressure force equal the system
pressure helps to open the valves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
4.2 Duty cycle limits for valves to start to open and for valves to
keep fully open when no pressure force is acting on the valves 40
4.3 Filling from Patm to 0.26Psup and ventilation from 0.88Psup to
0.71Psup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
4.4 Filling from Patm to Psup and ventilation from Psup to Patm . . 51
8
Chapter 1
Introduction
This Master’s Thesis was conducted at Scania CV AB in Södertälje, Swe-

den, at the department of Powertrain Control System Development, from
November 12, 2007 to April 6, 2008.
Scania is a big and global company operating in Europe, Latin America,
Africa, Asia and Australia, and is one of the leading manufacturers of heavy
trucks, buses, and industrial and marine engines in the world. Each year
Scania offers students Master’s Thesis work at the department of research
and development.
Modeling and control of Retarder is a work provided by Scania as a part
of the development and optimization of Scania’s Retarder. The work aims to
investigate a new method for regulating the braking torque using two on/off
valves instead of a single proportional valve used in Scania’s Retarder system
today.
1.1 Background
The Retarder is an integrated component in Scania’s trucks’ braking system,
mounted directly on the shaft at the end of the gear box. The Retarder is an
aid for reducing the speed without constant use of the regular service brake
and the exhaust brake. The actual retarder system uses a proportional valve
to control an air flow that determines an oil pressure in the Retarder, which
results in a braking torque. The proportional valve is constructed in such
way that it is very sensitive to temperature and vibrations, and has a strong
influence on the internal friction and calibration. Proportional valves are
quite expensive and experience has shown that they are affected by so called
hysteresis. Using two on/off valves, a fill and a ventilation valve, to regulate
the braking torque, the costs can be reduced and some of the disadvantages
9
affecting the dynamics can be eliminated. A former concept study performed
at Scania [16], investigating different approaches for controlling the Retarder,
confirms the advantages with the valves and concludes that a concept using
on/off valves would be the most convenient and robust method. This thesis
is based on the former research.
1.2 Thesis Objectives

A system using two on/off valves to control the air pressure will be modeled
and it will be investigated whether it is possible or not to make a controller
that fulfills Scania’s requirements specification. The valve unit used in both
the current retarder control and this work, should be capable of applying,
removing and regulating the braking torque created by the Retarder and is
therefore divided into three actuating functions; an accumulating function,
an emptying function and a regulating function. The main objective in this
Master’s Thesis is to investigate the regulating function. Elements that will
be included in the work are summarized in the following list:
• Modelling of the system and an implementation in Simulink containing
– Electrical Drives
– Two on/off valves’ electrical, magnetic and mechanical properties
– A pressure chamber and its pneumatic properties
– A regulating valve that balances air and oil pressure
• Investigation of how pulse-width-modulation can be applied in the con-
trol
• Design and implementation of controllers based on the model
• Recommendations on parameters in the system
• Verification of model and controller by measurements in real physical
models and truck.
• Code Generation in real-time workshop
1.3 Functional Description

Figure 1.1 shows the three actuating functions and how the components in
the retarder system are connected. The only part that is investigated in this
work is the regulating function in the lower part of the figure.
10
The valves convert the electrical signals provided by the Electronic Con-
trol Unit (ECU), connected to the connectors, to a pneumatic pressure in
the volume between the on/off valves and the regulating valve. The pressure
affects the regulating valve, which determines the braking torque in the Re-
tarder. A pressure supply, Psup , which is the source for building pressure in
the volume, is seen to be connected to the inlet port of the filling valve while
the air drainage is seen to be connected to the outlet port of the ventilation
valve. The pressure in the drainage equals the atmospheric pressure, Patm .
Due to security reasons, the ventilation valve is thought to be designed as
Figure 1.1: Functional description - schematic figure of the valve housing
normally open1 . For experiments and tests on bench in this work, a valve
that is normally closed2 is used, and is due to limitations on the physical
models available for use. The ventilation valve is illustrated as seen down to
the right in the regulating function in the figure.
1.4 Actuation Requirements

To obtain the desired control performance and robustness, there are several
requirements the system has to fulfill. General requirements on the system
1
Normally Open and Normally Closed Valves are described further in Section 2.3
2
Normally Open and Normally Closed Valves are described further in Section 2.3
11
and requirements on the regulating function will be considered, and is sum-
marized in the following specification.
General
• A change in the input (control signal) must result in a change in the
output (air pressure)
• Filling and ventilation should not affect each other
• A pressure supply, Psup , should be used as input to the fill
Included in the general requirement list are requirements of endurance, mark-

ing, deviations, resistance to oil in drainage air, ambient temperatures, avail-
able outputs from ECU, diagnostics, reliability, and testability. These will
not be included in the report since it is not of importance to this work.
Regulating function
• The function shall include one pressure sensor and two 2/2 on/off
valves 3 where the filling valve shall be normally closed and the venti-
lation valve normally open4 .
• The regulating valve has a maximum actuating volume of Vr,max for

maximum stroke.
• An output volume, Vch , which includes the volume in the chamber, the
volume in the valve housing, and the actuator volume in the regulating
valve, has to be decided (50 − 125 cm3 ).
• Desired pressure, Pch , should be reached within a time of Treq for all
valid conditions with a tolerance of ± Ptol . As a reference for the
results, Treq is for this work equal to 50 time units/samples.
• Filling from atmospheric pressure, Patm , to 0.26Psup , should be per-

formed in less than 0.1Treq .
• Ventilation from 0.88Psup to 0.71Psup should be performed in less than

0.05Treq .
3
A 2/2 valve is a valve with two ports and two states. For more information on different
kind of valves see Section 2.3.
4
A normally closed ventilation valve will be used in the modeling and in experiments
12
1.5 Notation
Notation
ECU
ε Power Supply Volt
UP W M Pulse Width Modulated Signal V
D Duty Cycle %
RM Measure Resistance Ω
Electrical
Lc Inductance in coil H
Rc Resistance in coil Ω
i Current in coil A
N Number of turns in coil -
Magnetic
µ0 Permeability in air Vs/Am
Aa Area of armature m2
lg Length of air gap in valve m
xp Position of armature in valve m
lg,of f Air gap length when the valve is closed m
lg,on Air gap length when the valve is opened m
Mechanical
ma Mass of armature kg
ks Spring coefficient N/m
b Viscous friction coefficient Ns/m
Fprs Pressure force N
Fpld Preload force N
Fk Spring force N
Fb Force, viscous friction N
Fsf Static friction N
13
Thermodynamics
Cd Discharge coefficient -
Cd,f ill Discharge coefficient fill valve -
Cd,vent Discharge coefficient vent valve -
k = Cp /Cv Specific heat ratio in air -
Cv Specific heat capacity at constant volume J/KgK
Cp Specific heat capacity at constant pressure J/KgK
Rgas Gas constant -
Ao Area of orifice m2
Tair Temperature of supply air K
M Mach number -
mch Mass of air in chamber kg
mf ill Mass of filling air kg
mvent Mass of venting air kg
Vch Chamber volume m3
Vr,max Max actuating volume in reg. valve m3
d Inlet and outlet diameter of valves m
Psup Supply pressure Bar
Patm Atmospheric pressure Bar
Pch Chamber pressure Bar
Pu Upside pressure Bar
Pd Downside pressure Bar
14
Chapter 2
Retarder
In this chapter the Retarder will be described further, and the equipment
used for experiments will be presented and explained.
2.1 Scania’s Retarder

The Retarder is used to create a braking torque for slowing down the speed of
the vehicle, and with a maximum braking power up to 500 kW, the Retarder
is one of the most powerful components in the truck’s braking system.
The Retarder is placed on the outgoing shaft on the gear box. Oil is
pumped in between a fixed stator and a movable rotor, and as a result of
the high oil pressure caused between the two components a braking power is
created. One of the main benefits of the Retarder is the reduced requirement
of the wheel brakes, which results in less brake wear. In this way, the wheel
brakes remain cool and unused, and thus are more efficient and powerful in
the need of additional braking.
The Retarder can be used manually or in automatic mode. Using the
Retarder in automatic mode allows even for maintaining a steady speed on
descents [1].
2.1.1 Retarder System Today

The current retarder system uses a proportional valve to control the oil pres-
sure between the rotor and stator. The inlet port of the proportional valve is
connected to an air pressure supply and has two outlet ports, one connected
to a cylinder containing a plunge and another to a drain. The valve is a
solenoid valve and can be activated by applying an analogue current to its
coil. Inside the valve there is a movable armature. If current is applied, a
15
magnetic field will appear between the armature and the iron core in the
valve. This will result in a magneto motive force which will affect the ar-
mature causing it to move proportional to the current. Air will pass to the
cylinder or to the drain depending on the armature’s position. According
to the air pressure in the cylinder the plunge will move, and an oil pressure
causing a braking torque will be created.
2.1.2 Retarder System Using On/Off Solenoid Valves

As described in the introduction, a new concept using on/off-valves is to
be examined in this work. The cylinder is substituted by a chamber with
constant volume1 . Two on/off solenoid valves are introduced, one for filling
and one for venting the chamber. How they are connected can be seen in
Figure 1.1. The inlet port of the filling valve is supplied with air pressure,
while the outlet port is connected to the chamber and to the venting valve.
To the outlet port of the ventilation valve there is a drain to the environment
where there is atmospheric pressure. By activating the valves separately or
simultaneously, one can fill and empty the chamber.
Basically the on/off valves can either be open or closed, but with use
of pulse width modulation (PWM) as input signal, it might be possible to
manipulate their behaviors so that the armature in the valves can switch
between the on and off position for one single PWM period, resulting in a
limited air flow through the valve.
A change in the air pressure due to air flow into the chamber affects a
regulating valve in the Retarder. The plunge in the regulating valve will
move from its initial position when the air pressure increases, and will even-
tually result in a higher braking torque in the Retarder that brakes down
the truck. If the pressure decreases, the regulating valve will move in the
opposite direction back to its initial position, and the braking torque will
be reduced. Mounted on the chamber is a pressure sensor. In this way the
pressure can be directly measured, and a controller based on the closed-loop
principle, with pressure as the feedback, can be designed.
2.2 Dead Volume

From Figure 1.1, it can be seen that the actuating volume in the regulation
valve, the extra volume in the chamber, and the volume in the housing are
1
Due to movement in the regulating valve there will be a varying volume in the chamber.
However these changes are sufficiently small compared to the total volume of the chamber
so that the volume can be considered constant.
16
connected. This volume is denoted the dead volume and will be used as a
reference to the total volume in the retarder through the thesis. The little
amount of air capacity in the actuating volume (21cm3 ), makes it difficult for
the controller to regulate the pressure. To increase the performance of the
controller, extra chamber volume has been inserted. The total volume has
yet not been decided, but is a part of the parameters that will be investigated
and decided, in order to fulfill the requirements on filling time, ventilation
time, and control performance.
2.3 Solenoid Valves

An On/Off valve is an example of a solenoid valve and will be described in
this section.
A solenoid valve is an electro mechanical valve where its dynamic behavior
has an influence on fluids (liquid or gas), and can be divided into two main
parts:
• Solenoid
• A moveable armature
The solenoid, seen as the gray boxes with a cross inside in Figure 2.1,
consists of a coil of wire wounded in the form of a cylinder. The coil covers
the movable armature, which is mounted on a spring that keeps the valve in
its initial position. The valve is activated by applying a current to the coil,
causing the armature to move away from its initial position.
Pos
X-dir
Air out Air in Air out
Figure 2.1: Valve Interior
17
As it appears from the figure, the interior of a solenoid valve is quite com-
plex. It contains four subsystems that all are related to each other; electrical,
magneto-dynamic, mechanical and fluid dynamical. When current is applied
to the system, a magnetic field is induced around the coil contributing to
a magnetic force. The magnetic force tries to overcome the counteracting
forces, i.e. spring force and friction forces, resulting in opening or closing of
the valve, depending on if the valve is normally open or closed.
Valves are divided into different groups, according to their function and use.
The most common valves are 2/2 valves, 3/2 valves and 5/2 valves. As seen
in Figure 2.2, a 3/2 valve has three ports (inlet port, outlet port, and a drain)
and two states (on and off), thereby the name.
Figure 2.2: Normally closed 3/2 valve. Unaffected (left) and affected (right)
The available valves used in this work are 3/2 valves where the drain (port 3)
has been sealed and operates therefore as a 2/2 valve. Observe that figure 2.2
shows a valve that opens or closes by pressing and releasing a button. This
is a mechanical valve. However, the principle is the same for solenoid valves,
but they are instead activated using a current.
As mentioned earlier, a valve can be normally open or normally closed. In

Figure 2.3 (right) a normally closed valve that is not affected by external
forces is shown. The flow path 1-2 will be closed while the flow path 2-3 will
be open. If the valve gets affected by external forces, see Figure 2.3 (left),
the drain (port 3) will close and path 1-2 will open. Only in this case a
flow from the inlet port to the outlet port can take place. For a normally
open valve, path 1-2 is open while path 2-3 is closed, when the valve is not
affected. Activating the normally open valve, the drain will open and path
1-2 will close.
18
Figure 2.3: Symbolic sketch of a normally closed 3/2 valve, unaffected (right)
and affected (left), where Port 1 is the inlet port, Port 2 is the outlet port
and Port 3 is the drain.
2.4 Equipment in Experiments

Modeling of the complete system requires an understanding of the system’s
behavior and it’s characteristic. To get a satisfying model which is similar to
the real system, experiments have been performed on two prototypes. One
containing a chamber with fixed volume and another where the volume in
the chamber can be adjusted. In both prototypes an electronic control unit
(ECU) is used to generate input signals to the valves. A laptop contain-
ing real-time software is used to acquire data from the pressure sensor and
outputs from the ECU, such as current.
2.4.1 ECU
The valves’ operating conditions are established by a PWM-scheme generated
by the ECU. Available outputs from the ECU relevant for the work are
current, pressure. The ECU can also be used to control other electrical
systems for the trucks. The ECU runs in a frequency fECU , i.e. the control
unit samples only once every period, TECU .
PWM signal
The PWM signal is a periodic square form signal in which the frequency and
the duty cycle can be chosen, and is shown below in Figure 2.4.
The duty cycle, D, is defined by the ratio, D = Ton /T , where Ton is the time
for which the signal is high and T is the period time. Ton is limited to be in
the interval [0, T ]. The duty cycle is often also referred to in percentage, D
19
T - Period
High
D=65%
Low
Td
High
D=25%
Low
Figure 2.4: Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) Scheme
∈ [0%, 100%]. Unless the current in the coil is not at its maximum, it will
continue to increase as long as the PWM is high. If the PWM goes low, the
current will start to discharge. When experimenting on the two prototypes,
the duty cycle and the frequency for the filling and venting valve can be
chosen separately, and is available as variables in the calibration software
tool used2 . This is an advantage since the choice of the duty cycle and the
frequency of the PWM signal for the two valves probably will affect the
filling and venting times in different ways and will be future parameters in
the control design.
2.4.2 Prototypes
During the Master’s Project two prototypes have been available for experi-
ments and validation use. The first prototype is only usable for early tests
and verification of the model. It has a fixed volume and can only be used
on bench. Prototype 2 can be mounted on the real Retarder in a truck, con-
necting the outlet pressure to the regulating valve, also making it possible to
verify the controller and its performance in the real system. Norgren Herion
3/2 valves with a sealed drain, which was described in Section 2.3, have been
used in both prototypes.
Prototype 1
Prototype 1 consists of a pressure supply inlet, a chamber with a fixed vol-
ume, Vch = 100cm3 , two on/off valves, each for filling and venting, and a
2
Gredi KleinKnecht [2]
20
pressure sensor. A given PWM signal can be used as input to the valves,
which will partly or fully open the valves depending on the duty cycle and
frequency of the PWM signal. Experiments can be done either with pressure
supply or without. If only the electrical, magnetic and mechanical part of
the valve is to be studied it is convenient to start with experiments where
no pressure supply is connected. When the pressure supply is connected, the
complete dynamics can be studied. The valves are equipped with a fixed
orifice of 1.9 mm.
Prototype 2
This prototype is equipped with the same valves as are used in Prototype
1, with the default orifice diameter of 1.9 mm. Smaller orifices can be in-
troduced to get a smaller air flow, and are inserted into the valve housing
on the inlet port to the valve. An extra orifice with diameter 1.0 mm has
been inserted into the housing as default, and can be seen in figure 4.12. It
is not meaningful to use smaller orifices, because orifices less than 0.8 mm
can cause problems with dirt.
The fixed volume of the chamber is 51 cm3 . Taking into account the vol-
ume in the regulating valve (21 cm3 ) and the connecting channels (2.8 cm3 )
the total dead volume in the prototype is approximately 75 cm3 . However, in
Prototype 2, extra volume can manually be added to the chamber if needed.
The total volumes available for use are 75 cm3 , 100 cm3 and 125 cm3 . This
is convenient when the regulating requirements are to be examined. A large
volume takes longer time to fill and ventilate, which is a drawback for filling
and venting time constraints, but is easier to regulate than a smaller volume
just because of this.
2.4.3 Retarder
A full scale retarder has been available for experiments on Prototype 2. In-
cluded in the retarder is the rotor and stator, and the regulating valve. It
has on the other hand not been connected to the gear box and no oil has
been present in the retarder. The effect of the oil pressure on the regulating
valve has therefore been neglected in the regulating valve model.
2.4.4 Pressure Sensor

To measure the air pressure to be controlled, a pressure sensor has been used,
manufactured by Denso Corporation with part number 1491406-4990007670.
The operating pressure, denoted in absolute pressure, is 0.06 to 2.1 MPa,
21
but is represented by the ECU in relative pressure related to the atmospheric
pressure, i.e 0 bar on the output corresponds to 1 bar in absolute pressure.
Durability of the pressure sensor and surrounding temperature affect its pre-
cision. Operating temperature is -40 to 135 ◦ C and the sensor requires a
supply voltage of 5 ± 0.1 V to work properly.
2.4.5 Software
”Gredi Kleinknecht” is a calibration tool for use with the ECU. It includes
functions to display, record and evaluate simultaneously acquired ECU in-
ternal and process data [2]. In this work Gredi Kleinknecht has been used in
experiments to acquire data such as current and pressure. The data has been
exported to Matlab where it easily can be examined. From Gredi, internal
parameters in the ECU can be set, such as input to the valves used in the
prototypes. Among the inputs that have been possible to vary are the PWM
duty cycle and the frequency.
Matlab and Simulink has been used in the modeling and simulation of the
system.
2.4.6 Oscilloscope
A Fluke 45 Dual Display Multi meter was used to examine the dynamics of
the ECU and the electrical part of the valves.
2.4.7 Multimeter
To examine the electrical circuit’s dynamics, a basic multimeter, Fluke 75,
manufactured by John Fluke has been used.
22
Chapter 3
Modelling
A system can be seen as an object or a collection of objects which properties

are to be examined [3]. Examining the system’s properties can be done by
doing experiments on it or by making a model of the system and perform
computer simulations on the model.
Experiments often require samples that can be very expensive or have to
be performed under specific conditions. Often it is dangerous to perform ex-
periments and it could be that the system to be examined still does not exist.
Because of all the difficulties by doing experiments, modeling of systems is in
many occasions to be preferred and is sometimes the only possibility. That
the system still does not exist is very common in practice and is the case
even in this work; The orifice in the valves in Prototype 2 is still unknown.
Making a model of the system the system’s dynamics can be examined. In
this way the parameters can be varied in the model until an optimal set
of parameters has been identified, without having to change the mechanical
construction in the prototypes.
Briefly said, a model of a system is a tool used to answer questions of the

system without having to do experiments on it [3]. Verbal, mental, physical
or mathematical models are all examples of different kinds of models. For
the mathematical model, which is used and discussed in this Master’s The-
sis, observable magnitudes in the system (current, pressure, distance etc) are
combined and transformed into mathematical relations. The mathematical
model is basically a collection of mathematical relations and can be used to
describe the behavior of the system, either by doing mathematical calcula-
tions or numerical experiments, so called simulations.
If a real system such as a prototype exists, system identification can be
used. A prototype is a physical model with properties as close as possible
to the real system’s properties. Using identification, experiments are per-
23
formed on the prototype and a model is built from measurements of inputs
to and outputs from the system by adapting the model properties to the real
system’s properties.
This chapter will describe the modeling of an electro-pneumatic system.
First physical modeling will be described, where mathematical relations for
the system are derived from known physical relations. Eventually system
identification will be mentioned and handled briefly.
3.1 System Description

The system consists of an ECU, two on/off solenoid valves, a chamber and a
regulating valve and has the setup shown in Figure 3.1. One of the valves is
used for filling air into the chamber, or more precisely into the dead volume1 ,
and is called the filling valve. The filling valve is connected to a system pres-
sure, Psup . The other valve is the venting valve and is used for emptying the
dead volume.
8.4 bar
System Pressure
PWM
Fill Valve
Chamber Regulating Valve

Air flow
PWM
Vent Valve
Oil
Drain
Figure 3.1: System Description
The resulting air pressure in the dead volume and the oil pressure in the
retarder balances a regulating valve which position determines the braking
torque in the retarder. An overview of the complete system and its different
models is shown in Figure 3.2.
In this section the mathematical model for each part is separately derived
and explained in details. Eventually, all parts are combined to a system and
the complete mathematical model is expressed in state space equations.
1
See Section 2.2 for description of the dead volume
24
Regulating
ECU Valve Chamber
Valve
Figure 3.2: Modeling of the System
3.2 ECU Model

The electrical circuit in the ECU can be simplified as shown in Figure 3.3,
and is divided into two cases, whether the PWM signal is high or low.
+ +
e +
-
UPWM e +
-
UPWM
- -
Figure 3.3: ECU circuit when the PWM is low (left) and when the PWM is
high (right)
The switching behavior of the PWM can be lethal for the electronics in the
ECU if a free wheel diode is not included on its output. If this is the case,
when either of the valves are activated, the solenoid valve is charged with
current. In periods when the PWM is low, the current discharges from the
valve’s coil and results in heating and worst case damaging the ECU and its
components. Because of this, the retarder control unit (ECU) is constructed
with free wheel diodes. The diode is connected in parallel with the electrical
drives on the ECU output, as shown in Figure 3.3 (left). The diode makes
the energy stored in the coil to be discharged in a closed circuit consisting
of the valve’s electrical components and the freewheel diode, preventing the
current to be absorbed by the ECU.
A drawback having the free wheel diode is the delayed current discharge
in the coil. When the PWM signal is deactivated or set to zero, because of the
diode, there will still be current in the circuit, resulting in a delayed closing
time of the valves. The time constant for the current discharge is determined
by the coil resistance and is hard to affect. Examining the system’s dynamics,
the delays have to be considered, and a model of the ECU is convenient.
25
According to Section 2.4.1, the output signal from the ECU, and input
to the valves, can be expressed as
½
high for t < DT ;
UP W M = (3.1)
low for DT < t < T .
where D is the duty cycle and T is the period of the PWM voltage. The
period depends on the frequency of the PWM signal. Using a frequency of
e.g. 100 Hz and a duty cycle of 60 %, the PWM voltage will be high for
6 ms and low for 4 ms during a total period of 10 ms. When the PWM is
high, UP W M equals the voltage supply e, and opposite, when the PWM is
low, UP W M equals 0 V.
3.3 Valve
With UP W M as an input signal to the valves, they can be controlled by
changing the duty cycle and the frequency of the PWM signal. As shown in
Figure 3.4 the modeling of the valves consists of an electrical, a magnetic,
a mechanical and a pneumatic part. Each part will be handled separately
where the mathematical expressions are derived.
UPWM Electrical
Magnetic
FM
Mechanical
xp
Pneumatic &
m
Figure 3.4: Sub models for a solenoid valve
3.3.1 Electrical Model

As mentioned in Section 2.3, the valves include a solenoid. The electrical
part can be modeled as an RL circuit including a resistance in series with an
inductor [4]. Because of the discontinuous free wheeling effect in the ECU,
26
two cases has to be considered when the electrical model is derived; Case 1
when the PWM is high and Case 2 when the PWM is low.
Case 1 - Energizing:
i R
+ VR - -
e +
VL L
-
+
Figure 3.5: Electrical circuit when the PWM signal is set high
When the PWM is high no current will flow through the diode. The diode
can be considered an open circuit. The power supply, e, works as the source
and energizes the solenoid, as seen in Figure 3.5. According to Kirchhoff’s
Voltage Law (KVL), the sum of all voltage drops equals zero. Using KVL,
the mathematical equation for the first case can be expressed as:
e − Ri − VL = 0 (3.2)
As seen in (3.2), the voltage drop over the resistance is given as VR = Ri,
while the voltage drop over the inductance is more complex. As an armature
exists inside the coil, an electro motive force (emf) is induced when the
armature starts to move and is due to a change in the inductance. The
voltage drop over the inductance can according to [6] be expressed as
dΦB d di dL
VL = N = (Li) = L + i (3.3)
dt dt dt dt
where N is the number of turns in the coil, and ΦB is the magnetic flux
density in the solenoid.
Inserting (3.3) into (3.2), the electrical circuit expression becomes
di dL
e − Ri − L −i =0 (3.4)
dt dt
27
R
-
+ VR - -
VD VL L
+ +
Figure 3.6: Electrical circuit when the PWM signal is set low
Case 2 - Discharging:
When the PWM is low, no power supply e is connected to the circuit. The
charged solenoid will operate as a source and current will flow in a loop
through the diode until the energy has been absorbed in the circuit. This is
called the discharging case, or Case 2. Using Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law, the
mathematical expression can be derived:
di dL
−L −i − Ri − Vd = 0 (3.5)
dt dt
As the armature moves, the effective air gap and the amount of iron core in
the solenoid will change, affecting the magnetic field inside the solenoid. A
movement of the armature will also result in a change in the inductance. The
inductance values for the on and off position of the armature, Lon and Lof f ,
are provided by the valve manufacturer. Since the magnetic field is hard to
measure, the inductance has been approximated as a linear function of the
armature’s position, xa , and is given by
Lof f − Lon
L(xa ) = Lof f + xa (3.6)
lg,on − lg,of f
where xa is the armature’s position, and lg,on and lg,of f is the air gap inside
the solenoid in the on- respective off-position, xa,on and xa,of f .
It should be mentioned that the air gap is maximum in the armature’s off-
position, and minimum in the armature’s on-position. When the armature
is at rest, i.e. the armature is in the off-position, xa equals zero, but lg > 0.
The air gap decreases as the armature opens, and should not be confused
with the armature’s position.
28
3.3.2 Magnetic Model
Due to the current in the coil, a magnetic field will appear inside the solenoid
and result in a magnetic force affecting the armature. According to [5], the
change in the magnetic force can be expressed as
dFM B 2 dAp
= (3.7)
dt 2µ0 dt
where B is the magnetic field, µ0 is the permeability in air, and Ap = constant
is the cross sectional area of the armature.
To make the model as easy as possible, the solenoid has been approximated
to be very long. Then, inside a long solenoid, the magnetic field is given
by [7] as
Ni
B = µ0 (3.8)
lg
where N is number of turns in the coil, and lg is the air gap inside the
solenoid. The valves are constructed such that the air gap is never zero.
This would then result in an infinite large magnetic field. Different air gaps
for the on and off position of the armature have been provided by the valve
manufacturer and can give information on how much the armature moves in
total. As a function of the armature’s position, the air gap is expressed as
lg (xa ) = lg,of f − xa (3.9)
Combining (3.7), (3.8), and (3.9), the magnetic force can eventually be ex-
pressed as
µ0 Ap N 2 i2
FM = (3.10)
2(lg,of f − xa )2
3.3.3 Mechanical Model

As discussed in the previous section, the magnetic force affects the armature.
However, other forces also have an influence on the armature. Recalling
Section 2.3, a principle sketch of the valve is shown in Figure 2.1. As seen,
the armature is connected to a spring that counteracts the magnetic force.
The spring has the spring constant ks and is preloaded with a force Fpld ,
both provided by the manufacturer. Due to the armature’s connection to
the valve house, static and viscous friction, Fsf and Fb respectively, could be
present. If pressure supply is connected to the valves, a resulting pressure
force Fprs will also have an influence. In the modelling, Fprs have been
29
assumed to be acting in the positive direction rather than counteracting the
armature’s motion. Newton’s Second Law yields, and together with assumed
and provided information, the mechanical model for the valve can be derived
as
mx¨a = FM + Fprs − Fpld − Fk − Fsf − Fb (3.11)
Pressure force
According to [7] a force due to hydrostatic pressure is given by
F = pA (3.12)
where p is the pressure and A is the affected body area.
As long as the pressure on the inlet port of the valve is bigger than the
pressure on the outlet port of the valve, a pressure force will help lifting the
armature in the valve. The resulting pressure force Fprs for each valve, can
be modeled as the difference between the upside (inlet port) pressure and the
downside (outlet port) pressure of the valve, which in mathematical terms is
expressed as
d
Fprs = Fu − Fd = π( )2 (Pu − Pd ) (3.13)
2
where d is the diameter of the affected body area, Fu is the force affecting
the upside, Fd is the force affecting the downside, Pu is the pressure on the
upside, and Pd is the pressure on the downside.
Viscous friction
The viscous friction can be modeled according to [7] as
Fb = bv = bẋa (3.14)
where v is the armature’s velocity and b is the viscous friction coefficient.
Spring force
The spring force is given by [7] as
F k = k s xa (3.15)
where xa is the armature’s position.
30
Preload force
The spring is preloaded a certain length, lpld , which is provided by the valve
manufacturer, and corresponds to a preload force, Fpld . The preload force is
given by
Fpld = ks lpld (3.16)
3.3.4 Pneumatic Model

A net force resulting in opening the fill valve leads to an air flow into the
chamber and regulating valve. Opposite, ventilation of the dead volume, i.e.
an air flow out of the dead volume, will occur if a net force results in lifting
the ventilation valve. If both valves are activated at the same time, there
will be a pressure increase or decrease depending on the net air flow in the
dead volume.
The pneumatic model is used to describe the air and heat transfer, and
the expansion and compression relations. Air is a compressible fluid which
behavior differs from that of a perfect gas. As a pressure supply of Psup is
used, which is considered as low pressure (p ≤ 1.0M P a), the deviations from
an ideal gas could be neglected. This is not necessarily true since the Re-
tarder can be subjected to extreme temperatures, where temperature has an
influence on the dynamics. However, a controller based on pressure feedback
can hopefully quickly compensate for errors due to temperature influence,
and the temperature variations have therefore not been considered in the
early work. The heat due to compression or expansion is minimal and has
also been neglected. This is due to an almost constant dead volume and will
be explained further in the next section.
Using the common law of gas [8], the pressure in the dead volume can be
expressed as
mch Rgas Tair
Pch = (3.17)
Vch
where Pch is the pressure [Bar], Vch is the total dead volume [m3 /kg], Rgas is
the gas constant [J/(kgK)], Tair is the temperature in the dead volume [K]
and mch is the mass of the air [kg].
The pressure change in the dead volume can now be derived by differen-
31
tiating left and right side of (3.17), and gives
Rgas Tair mch Rgas mch Rgas Tair

P˙ch = ṁch + Ṫair − V̇ch (3.18)
Vch V Vch2
| ch{z } | {z }
≈0 ≈0
where it can be seen that the heat and the volume change have been ne-
glected.
According to [8], the mass flow for valves, pipes, couplings, filters, etc. can
be calculated according to
Cd Pu A0 Pd
m˙ch = p Ψ( )ζ (k) (3.19)
Rgas Tair Pu
where s
k+1
2k k−1
ζ (k) =
k+1
 Pd

 s 1 if Pu
≤ Pcr
Pd 2 k+1
Ψ( ) = P P
( P d ) k −( P d ) k Pd
Pu 

u u
k+1 if Pcr < Pu
≤1
k−1 2
2
( k+1 )
k−1
where Ao is smallest outlet area, Cd the so called discharge coefficient, and

k ≈ 1.4 is the specific heat ratio in air.
The outlet area depends on the armature’s position. If the armature is closed,
no air will flow through the valve. As soon as the armature opens, the outlet
area gets bigger. The smallest outlet orifice area can be expressed as
Ao = πd0 xa (3.20)
where d0 is the diameter of the inlet orifice, and is illustrated in Figure 3.7.
Remember that the outlet area cannot be bigger than the area of the inlet
orifice. If this is the case, the outlet area has to be saturated to be
µ ¶2
d0
Ao = π (3.21)
2
which is the cross-sectional area of the inlet orifice.
32
Armature
Air Out
A0
Air in
Figure 3.7: The outlet orifice A0
Pcr specifies the critical pressure ratio for a component, e.g. a valve, and
depends on the shape of the orifice in the component. If the ratio between
the upside and downside, also called the pressure ratio, is less than the criti-
cal pressure ratio, the flow is called a critical flow. For pressure ratios higher
than the critical pressure ratio, the flow is called an under-critical flow. For
a sharp edged orifice the value of Pcr is given by the equation [8]
2 k−1k
Pcr = ( ) ≈ 0.528 (3.22)
k+1
The orifice in real pneumatic components often have a different shape and it
is not unusual that there are series of orifices that reduce the critical pressure
ratio. Therefore the Pcr -value is always less than 0.528 for real pneumatic
components.
The net airflow to the chamber can be seen as the change in the air mass in
the dead volume, and can be expressed as the mass flow into minus the mass
flow out of the dead volume.
ṁ = ṁf ill − ṁvent (3.23)
Inserting (3.23) into (3.18) the pressure change is given by

Rgas Tair
Ṗch = (ṁf ill − ṁvent ) (3.24)
Vch
3.4 Regulating Valve

The regulating valve consists of an inlet port, an outlet port, and a plunge
connected to a spring, and is shown in Figure 3.8.
Air from the dead volume flows through the inlet port, affecting the plunge.
33
air
oil
Figure 3.8: The regulation valve at its maximum stroke
The plunge moves according to the air pressure in the dead volume and the
oil pressure in the retarder, which is connected to the outlet port. Present
in the valve are friction forces and spring forces that counteract the plunge.
Figure 3.8 shows the regulation valve at its maximum stroke, where the pos-
itive direction is defined as a movement of the plunge from air side to the
oil side. The maximum expansion when regulating has been calculated to
be sufficient small compared to the total dead volume of ∼ 100 cm3 . The
volume expansion due to plunge movement in the regulating valve has there-
fore been neglected, and the dead volume has been considered constant. If a
much smaller dead volume is used, the expansion could have effects on the
system’s dynamics and should be considered to be included in the model.
The regulating valve can be modeled using Newtons Second Law, where
the sum of all the forces working on the system equals zero.
mplunge ẍplunge = Fprs,ch − Fprs,oil − Fk − Ff riction − Fpld

= Pch Aair − Poil Aoil − ks xplunge − Ff riction − Fpld(3.25)
where ½
Fsf if ẋplunge = 0
Ff riction =
Fdf if ẋplunge 6= 0
Aair is the affected plunge area on the air side of the valve, and Aoil is the
affected plunge area on the oil side of the valve. From these equations the
plunge’s position can be derived. Note that the friction includes two cases,
static friction, Fsf , which is present when the plunge is at rest, and dynamic
friction, Fdf , when the plunge moves.
34
3.5 Model Summary
In this section the equations for the complete model have been summarized
in state-space form. First the input signals, output signals and the states are
defined, which is followed by the expressions for all the states.
Input signals:
u1 = uP W M,sup
u2 = uP W M,vent
Output signal:
y = Pch
States:
x1 = isupply x2 = xp,sup x3 = ẋp,sup
x4 = Pch
x5 = ivent x6 = xp,vent x7 = ẋp,vent
35
State-Space Equations:
u1 − Rx1
ẋ1 = Lof f −Lon
(3.26)
Lof f + x
lg,on −lg,of f 2
ẋ2 = x3 (3.27)
µ ¶2
µ0 Ap N 2 x21 π d0 ks b Fpld
ẋ3 = 2 + (Psup − x4 ) −
x2 − x3 −
2mp (lg,of f − x2 ) mp 2 mp mp mp
(3.28)
p µ µ ¶ µ ¶¶
Rgas Tair d0 π x4 Patm
ẋ4 = Cd,f ill Psup x2 Ψ − Cd,vent x4 x6 Ψ
Vch Psup x4
(3.29)
where
 q
¡ 2 ¢ k−1
k+1
µ ¶ 
 k k+1 if x4
≤ 0.528
x4 s µ ¶
Psup
Ψ = ³ ´k ³
2 ´ k
k+1
Psup 
 2k x4
− x4
if x4
> 0.528
 k−1 Psup Psup Psup
 q
 ¡ 2 ¢ k+1
µ ¶ 
 sk k+1 k−1 if Patm
≤ 0.528
Patm µ³ ¶
x4
Ψ = ´ k2 ³ ´ k+1
x4 
 2k Patm
− Pxatm
k
if Patm
> 0.528
 k−1 x4 4 x4
u2 − Rx5
ẋ5 = Lof f −Lon
(3.30)
Lof f + x
lg,on −lg,of f 6
ẋ6 = x7 (3.31)
µ ¶2
µ0 Ap N 2 x25 π d0 ks b Fpld
ẋ7 = 2 + (x4 − Patm ) − x6 − x7 −
2mp (xof f − x6 ) mp 2 mp mp mp
(3.32)
36
Chapter 4
Model Validation
When the real system has been modeled, the model has to be verified. This
is done by comparing the model’s behavior with the behavior of the real sys-
tem. Since the real system is not yet available, the two prototypes described
in Section 2.4.2 have been used for verification. The prototypes are physical
models of the system to be implemented in the future, and will work approx-
imately as the real system. They will give a good indication on how well
the model represents the true system. Experiments have been performed on
Prototype 1 and Prototype 2. Data describing the system’s behavior has
been acquired and will be presented here.
Some of the questions concerning the system’s dynamics that are examined
can be summarized in a list:
• How fast can the dead volume be filled to its maximum, Psup , and to
0.26Psup ?
• How fast can the dead volume be ventilated from maximum pressure,
Psup , to atmospheric pressure, and from 0.88Psup to 0.71Psup ?
• Does the flow behave different for pressures close to Psup than for pres-
sures close to atmospheric pressure, Patm ?
• Are there any time delays in the system?
• For which duty cycles does the armature start to move/oscillate?
• For which duty cycles does the armature stay open?
• Is friction present?
• Does the ventilation valve differ from the filling valve?
37
• How does the frequency affect the valves behavior?
• Does the temperature in the system’s environment have any effects on

its behavior?
The PWM-signal used to run the valves consists of a certain frequency fP W M ,

and a power supply, e. The chapter is mainly concentrated on two main sec-
tions; experiments on Prototype 1 and experiments on Prototype 2. For each
prototype, the system’s characteristics and how it behaves are first examined.
This is rather an investigation of different valve and flow properties than a
validation. Eventually a validation of the mathematical model is presented.
4.1 Duty Cycle Limits

It was mentioned in earlier sections that the armature for certain duty cycles
can oscillate between the on and off position. How much it oscillates and
how long determines how much air will pass to the system’s dead volume.
An important property to examine, is therefore which duty cycles (DC) are
required to start moving the valves and to keep the valves fully open. It will
also be seen in the control section that there are certain advantages using
these duty cycles for closing and opening the valves instead of using mini-
mum and maximum possible duty cycles, 0 % respective 100 %.
From experiments, it has been observed that lower duty cycles are needed to
move the armature if the pressure on the valves’ inlet port are higher than
the pressure on the outlet port. This simply shows that the pressure helps
the armature to move rather than preventing it from opening, for both the
filling valve and the ventilation valve.
If the pressure on the inlet port is higher than on the outlet port, a move-
ment in the armature can be detected if a change in the chamber pressure
is detected. It has been observed that the duty cycle where this occurs is
different for the fill valve and the ventilation valve, and is probably due to
variations in the friction and preload parameters. Different duty cycles were
applied to the valves, while the pressure was measured. When the inlet port
of the valves is exposed to a pressure of Psup , the results can be summarized
in Table 4.1.
DCmin is the lowest allowed duty cycle to start moving the armature, while
DCmax is the minimum duty cycle that is needed to keep the valve fully
open. From Table 4.1 it can be seen that the valves open for different duty
38
Fill Valve
DCmin,f ill 28.5 %
DCmax,f ill 82 %
Ventilation Valve
DCmin,vent 25.5 %
DCmax,vent 80 %
Table 4.1: Duty cycle limits for valves to start to open and for valves to keep
fully open when a pressure force equal the system pressure helps to open the
valves
cycles. When DCmin is applied to either of the valves, a pressure change

will be detected. Duty cycles lower than DCmin does not generate a current
big enough to overcome the counteracting forces. For higher duty cycles, the
armature moves with a stronger oscillation and finally keeps open when the
duty cycle reach DCmax . However, using a PWM-signal with a duty cycle
DCmax , the valves start to oscillate again after a certain period of time. This
is a phenomena probably coming from a reduced current in the coil due to a
change in the coils resistance, and will be handled in upcoming sections.
When the pressure in the dead volume is the same as the system pressure,
the system pressure no longer helps the armature in the filling valve to stay
open. The same thing is the case for the ventilation valve when the pressure
in the dead volume is atmospheric pressure, i.e. Pup − Pdown = 0 and thereby
Fprs,vent = 0. In this case the only force acting in the positive x-direction is
the magnetic force. The same duty cycle, DCmax , is therefore needed to keep
the valves fully open whether the armature is exposed to a pressure of Psup
or Patm . The identification of these upper limits is based on the acoustics,
i.e. that a motion can be detected if an oscillating sound is heard. The
limits are for this reason not exact, but with pressure and current as the
only measurable output signals this is the only solution to find the limits.
The duty cycle limits when no pressure force helps to open the valves are
shown in Table 4.2
4.2 Prototype 1
As described in Section 2.4.2, this prototype consists of a fixed dead volume
of 100 cm3 and valves with an orifice of 1.9 mm. It cannot be mounted on
the truck, and is only used for early testing. In this section important system
properties for Prototype 1 are examined. A verification of the model is also
39
Fill Valve
DCmin,f ill 54.5 %
DCmax,f ill 82 %
Ventilation Valve
DCmin,vent 51.5 %
DCmax,vent 80 %
Table 4.2: Duty cycle limits for valves to start to open and for valves to keep
fully open when no pressure force is acting on the valves
included in this section.
4.2.1 Filling Characteristics

Recalling Section 1.4, the requirements on the filling time is that a pressure
of 0.26Psup has to be obtained in less than 0.1Treq . As seen in Figure 4.1
(left), it takes approximately Tf = 0.1Treq to obtain 0.26Psup in the dead
volume using 100 % DC, and fulfills therefore exactly the requirements. As
mentioned in Section 2.4.1, the ECU operates at a certain frequency, fECU ,
causing a worst case time delay of TECU . It also takes some time for the
valve to overcome counteracting forces, which is the time for the valve to
react. A total time delay, Td , i.e. the time from the control signal is sent,
to the valve starts to open, is observed. The delay can vary and depends on
the duty cycles used, and has to be considered in the modeling. Taking this
delay into consideration, the time to reach 0.26Psup is no longer 0.1Treq , but
0.14Treq , and is not satisfying enough.
The time to build up a pressure of Psup in the dead volume takes longer time.
The pressure in the dead volume for a duty cycle of 100 % can be seen in
Figure 4.1 (right), and shows that a pressure of Psup cannot be reached within
Treq seconds, which was stated as a requirement in Section 1.4. Actually it
takes about 1.4Treq to obtain a dead volume pressure the same as the system
pressure, including the time delay.
4.2.2 Ventilation Characteristics

Ventilation occurs when the ventilation valve is open and empties the dead
volume. Air flows to the atmosphere and the pressure in the dead volume
decreases. Also for ventilation there are specific requirements and becomes
interesting when a controller is designed. A prerequisite is that the system is
40
Pch/Psup
1
PWM Duty Cycle
0.3 1
PWM dutycycle [Normalized]

Pch/Psup [Normalized]
0.8
Td = 0.04 Treq Tf = 0.10 Treq 0.8
0.2 0.6
0.6
0.4
0.4
0.1
0.2 0.2
0 0 0
420 422 424 426 428 430 432 420 430 440 450 460 470 480 490
Time [sample] Time [sample]
Figure 4.1: Filling the dead volume with a duty cycle of 100 %, i.e. the
valves are fully open and there is a maximum flow through the valves.
fast enough to fulfill what is required, i.e. the volume has to be small enough
and the orifice big enough to empty the volume in a certain amount of time.
A pressure drop from Psup to Patm is shown in Figure 4.2 (right).
0.9
1 Pch/Psup
PWM Duty Cycle
1

0.85
0.8
0.8
0.8
0.6
0.6
0.75
0.4
0.4
Tv = 0.08Treq
0.7
0.2 0.2
0.65
0 0
784 785 786 787 788 789 790 780 800 820 840 860
Figure 4.2: Venting the dead volume with a duty cycle of 82 %
One can see from the figure that a time of 1.4Treq is needed to completely
empty the dead volume, given that the fill valve is deactivated. The time to
ventilate from 0.88Psup to 0.71Psup takes approximately 0.08Treq as seen in
Figure 4.2 (left), and does not fulfill the requirement of 0.05Treq .
A conclusion is that a valve with 1.9 mm orifice and a volume of 100 cm3
cannot fulfill the requirements of filling and emptying times.
41
4.2.3 Friction
In most systems there is friction due to contact with e.g. walls or ground. The
dynamic friction coefficient bs has been provided by the valve manufacturer.
To identify whether static friction is present or not, one can disconnect the
pressure supply, let the dead volume have atmospheric pressure, and let the
ventilation valve be deactivated. Then no pressure force affects the fill valve.
It should be sufficient to investigate the fill valve since the valves are of the
same kind. When the armature does not move, there is no spring force or
dynamic friction counteracting the valve. The only forces that are present
are a magnetic force due to applied current to the fill valve, preload force
and possible static friction. A duty cycle just beneath the limit identified
earlier, is used as input. For this duty cycle the armature just about does
not move, i.e. that the magnetic force has to overcome preload and static
friction to move. Calculating the magnetic force by reading the current and
subtracting with the preload force the static friction is identified as
Fsf = FM − Fpld (4.1)
Unfortunately, as was experienced in tests, the provided preload did not seem
to be reasonable for a usable model, and had to be adjusted which will be
discussed in the next chapter. Therefore the static friction has not been
identified with an exact result, but rather been tuned in a reasonable way to
get the desired model.
4.2.4 Validation
In this section the model outputs and the outputs from prototype experi-
ments will be compared to each other. One of the factors that is vital in
getting a good model is the current used as input to the valves. The ECU
contains a lot of electronics that can be very complex, and as seen in the
modeling part, the ECU was simplified significantly. The current is one of
the outputs that can be validated, and will together with the pressure give
an indication of the model’s quality. It has also been seen that the system
behaves different for various duty cycles, so a scheme of different DC’s is in
the last part of the validation section used as input to the system where the
response has been observed and compared to the model.
Current
Recalling Chapter 3, the inductance in the coil changes according to the
armature’s position, and will for this reason affect the current in the coil.
42
The armature’s position affects the inductance in the solenoid, and thereby
the current. Since the armature starts to move for different PWM’s whether
pressure supply is connected or not, the current with pressure supply will
differ from the current without pressure supply for the same duty cycles.
The current in the coil when no pressure supply is connected and a duty
cycle of 75 % is applied to one of the valves can be seen in Figure 4.3.
250
duty cycle [%] and current [mA]
200
150
100
50 Duty Cycle [%]

Measured Current [mA]
Modeled Current [mA]
0
4.74 4.76 4.78 4.8 4.82 4.84
time [s]
Figure 4.3: Current in the coil using a duty cycle of 75 %
From Section 3.3, it was depicted that the current in a solenoid valve charges
and discharges according to (3.2) and (3.5). These equations can be simplified
by neglecting the freewheeling diode. The voltage balance in the circuit is
then expressed as
di dL
UP W M − Ri − L dt −i =0
dt
|{z}
≈0
It is important to know that the freewheel diode has been used in the sim-
ulations, and that this simplification just has been done in the manner to
portray the solenoid’s nature and time constant. The last term, which is the
electro motive force, is zero when the armature is at rest. This is the case
when the coil is fully charged, i.e. for infinite charging time, or when the
valves are deactivated. Solving the differential equation, the current can now
be expressed as
UP W M ³ −R t
´
i (t) = 1−e L (4.2)
R
L
where R = τ is the time constant. If a step is applied to the solenoid, when
time elapses to infinity, the solenoid will be fully energized and the current
43
reaches the steady state
lim i (t) ≈ 292 mA

t→∞
The current of 292 mA is the maximum current that ever will be present in
the solenoid as long as the parameters provided from manufacturers are used,
and corresponds to the maximum magnetic force that can lift the armature.
Depending on the duty cycle used for the PWM-signal, the steady current
varies between zero and 292 mA.
200
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
Duty Cycle [%]
20 Measured Current [mA]
Modeled Current [mA]
0
5.76 5.78 5.8 5.82 5.84 5.86
time [s]
Figure 4.4: Current in the coil using a duty cycle of 40 %
Comparing the modeled current and the measured current in Figure 4.3, it
can be seen that the time constant and the frequency of the steady oscilla-
tions are pretty much the same. In the model, a constant time delay of 15
milliseconds has been used that seen from the figure does not exactly cor-
respond to the real delay. This is probably the main reason to the current
displacement. The average steady state differs with about 15 mA, and can
probably be due to the coil resistance variation. The top to bottom steady
oscillations are nearly the same, but differs a bit. This gets worse for lower
duty cycles, as illustrated in Figure 4.4, where a duty cycle of 40 % has been
used.
Still the frequency and the average steady state are the same for the mod-
eled and the measured current, but the maximum and minimum current in
steady state differs significantly, and is apparently due to missing dynam-
ics in the electrical model. In Figure 4.4, the peak in the time interval
5.77 ms − 5.78 ms, is due to a movement in the armature, resulting in an
44
induced electro motoric force (emf). When the iron armature moves into the
solenoid, the induced emf counteracts the current already present in the coil,
and results in a longer charging time and a slower pressure increase in the
dead volume.
Pressure
The pressure in the dead volume determines the braking torque in the re-
tarder and is for this reason of high interest to investigate. Both filling and
emptying the volume should be studied, using different duty cycles to the
valves. First the filling and venting are studied separately with a duty cycle
that keeps the valves fully open. This will give the fastest filling and venting
time that is possible in the system and can give an indication of how well
the pneumatic model coincides with the real flow characteristic. Figure 4.5
shows the modeled pressure and the measured pressure when an 82 % duty
cycle has been applied to the fill and empty valve separately.
1
Measured Pressure
Modeled Pressure
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
410 420 430 440 450 460 470 480
Time [Sample]
1
Measured Pressure
Modeled Pressure
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
1260 1270 1280 1290 1300 1310 1320
Time [Sample]
Figure 4.5: The modeled pressure and the measured pressure when 82 % duty
cycle has been applied to the fill (top) and empty (bottom) valve separately
It can be seen that for this duty cycle the modeled pressure follows very
much the measured pressure, and is a result of tuning pneumatic parameters
such as discharge coefficients and critical pressure ratio. The model fills the
dead volume a bit faster than what happens in reality. When the pressure
in the chamber is close to the system pressure, the air flows slower through
the valve and is due to different flow patterns, such as choked and unchoked
flow, as seen in the pneumatic model in Chapter 3. In the real system,
45
a leak can also be observed, which has not been considered in the model.
Figure 4.6 shows the pressure in the dead volume when both valves are
activated simultaneously, using a DC of 82 %. Also for these inputs, the
model corresponds well to the real system. This experiment can be used to
give an indication of stationary points suitable for linearization if a model
based controller is to be designed.
1
Measured Pressure
0.95 Modeled Pressure
0.9
0.85
0.8
0.75
0.7
0.65
1000 1010 1020 1030 1040 1050 1060 1070 1080 1090
Time [Sample]
Figure 4.6: Pressure in the dead volume when filling valve and venting valve
are both applied a duty cycle of 82 %
As shown in Figure 4.7 the model pressure for low duty cycles does not
correspond as well to the real pressure as for high duty cycles. The error is
at its maximum 50 % and is not satisfying enough. This is believed to be due
to a bad model of the current in the solenoid, which affect the armature, and
can be explained as follows. For lower duty cycles it was seen in Section 4.2.4
that the model current was oscillating much more than the real current. In
the case where the duty cycle was 40 %, the minimum current was around
60 mA, and is not enough to lift the armature. The same happens with a
duty cycle of 50 %, so the armature is in the model closed for a longer time
than in the real process and can thereby not fill as fast as the valve does in
reality as shown in Figure 4.7. As will be seen in the next sections, this will
cause problems when operating with lower duty cycles.
Pressure with a scheme of random duty cycles as input

To test for several input signals to the system, a scheme of random duty
cycles were generated and used as input to the fill and ventilation valve. The
result is shown in Figure 4.8
Also here it can be seen that the model is far from reality for certain combina-
tions of input signals. As already mentioned, a bad current model will affect
the rest of the dynamics dramatically. Because of wrong current amplitude
in the model, the armature will switch between the on and off position more
46
Pressure Validation
1.2
Measured Pressure
1 Modeled Pressure
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200
Time [Sample]
Error
60
Error
40
Error [%]
20
−20
300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200
Time [Sample]
Figure 4.7: Pressure in the dead volume when filling valve and venting valve
are both applied a duty cycle of 50 %
than in reality for low duty cycles, causing a longer fill or vent time. Since the
armature’s position is not possible to measure, it is very difficult to have an
exact understanding of how the armature moves. What is known, is that the
inductance changes as the armature moves in and out of the solenoid. This
can be seen in the measured current data, and may be of help for improving
the model. Due to the thesis time restrictions, this has not been investigated.
4.3 Prototype 2
Prototype 2, as described in previous sections, is a physical model that can
be mounted directly on the retarder. The air pressure affects the regulating
valve that determines the oil pressure in the retarder, which corresponds to
a braking torque in the truck. According to calculations done by various
valve manufacturers, Prototype 2 has been derived with a nozzle of 1.0 mm
and a fixed volume of 75 cm3 including the volume in the housing and the
regulating valve, to compete with the specification requirements. The volume
can easily be extended by adding extra volume to the chamber mounted on
the prototype, as well as orifices with another dimension can be inserted on
the valve’s inlet port. Friction, open and close duty cycle limits, and current
properties should all be the same as for Prototype 1, this because the same
valves are used, and will not be investigated for Prototype 2. On the other
47
8 Measured pressure
Model pressure
Pressure [Bar]
0
2 4 6 8 10 12 14
time [s]
Duty Cycle [Normalized]
1
Duty cycle fill valve
Duty cycle vent valve
0.5
0
2 4 6 8 10 12 14
time [s]
Figure 4.8: Modeled and real pressure when a scheme of different duty cycles
have been used as input to the fill and vent valve) valve separately
hand, the flow behavior is different and will be handled in this section.
4.3.1 Filling Characteristics

As seen in Section 4.2, results have shown that for a volume of 100 cm3
and an orifice of 1.9 mm, also called nozzle, the filling and ventilation time
constraints are not fulfilled. Decreasing the volume, using the same nozzle,
will make the filling and ventilation times shorter and keep them within the
constraints. The same result can be obtained by keeping the same volume
and increase the orifice. The question is how small the volume should be and
how big the orifice should be. This could be investigated in the Simulink
model by changing the parameters, before making any operations on the
physical prototypes. Unfortunately the model does not correspond to the
reality that well that exact parameters for volume and orifice can be found
only using simulations. Therefore it has been considered necessary to perform
tests with different sizes on the volume and orifice in the real prototypes.
Experiments have shown that a nozzle of 1.0 mm is too small. Increasing
the volume with this nozzle does not make any sense. The volume of 75cm3
is therefore kept and the nozzle is changed until an optimal size has been
obtained. Figure 4.9 (left) shows the pressure change when a fully open filling
valve with a nozzle of 1.0 mm has been used. If the delay is not considered,
it takes about 0.19Treq to fill the volume with 0.26Psup on its best, with a
duty cycle of 82 %, corresponding to fully open. Since the orifice was too
48
0.3 1.2 0.9
Pch/Psup
PWM Duty Cycle
0.25 1
0.85
Td = 0.02 Treq Tf = 0.19 Treq
0.2 0.8
0.8
0.15 0.6
0.75
0.1 0.4
Tv = 0.15 Treq
0.7
0.05 0.2
0 0 0.65
364 366 368 370 372 374 376 378 870 872 874 876 878
Figure 4.9: Filling (left) and ventilating (right) the dead volume with and
orifice of 1.0 mm
small, it was increased to be 1.3 mm. The results can be seen in Figure 4.10.
Also for this orifice size, the filling and ventilation are too slow. Changing
the orifice to 1.9 mm, the fastest fill time is of 0.066Treq for a duty cycle of
100 %, and is shown in Figure 4.11 (left). If the valve response time and the
ECU time delay is to be considered, which is 0.04Treq , then the filling time
is 0.106Treq , and is very close to fulfill the time constraints.
0.9
Pch/Psup
0.3 PWM Duty Cycle
1
0.85
0.25
0.8
0.8
0.2
0.6
Td = 0.06 Treq Tf = 0.12 Treq
0.15
0.75
0.4
0.1 Tv = 0.092 Treq
0.7
0.05 0.2
0 0 0.65
480 485 490 382 384 386 388 390
Figure 4.10: Filling (Left) and ventilating (Right) the dead volume with an
orifice of 1.3 mm
4.3.2 Ventilation Characteristics

For the same orifices, the ventilation characteristics have been examined. The
bigger the orifice is, the faster is the ventilation of the dead volume. The
results are shown in Figure 4.9 (Right), Figure 4.10 (Right), and Figure 4.11
49
(Right). Examining the figures, one can conclude that also for venting the
dead volume, the orifices of 1.0 mm and 1.3 mm are too small to empty the
dead volume fast enough. The prototype having an orifice of 1.9 mm and a
volume of 75 cm3 is the one that closest fulfills the requirement of ventilation
of 0.05Treq .
0.9
Pch/Psup
PWM Duty Cycle
0.25 1
0.85

0.2 0.8
Tf = 0.066Treq
0.8
Td = 0.04Treq
0.15 0.6
0.75
0.1 0.4
Tv = 0.052Treq
0.7
0.05 0.2
0 0 0.65
486 488 490 492 1178 1179 1180 1181 1182 1183
Figure 4.11: Filling (Left) and ventilating (Right) the dead volume with and
orifice of 1.9 mm
Summarizing the results from filling and ventilation experiments for Proto-
type 1 and 2 in Table 4.3, one can conclude that a volume of 75 % and an
orifice of 1.9 mm is the only available prototype that is close to fulfill the
time constraints on filling and ventilation of the dead volume.
Table 4.3: Filling from Patm to 0.26Psup and ventilation from 0.88Psup to
0.71Psup
Dead Orifice Filling Venting

Prototype
Volume Diameter Patm to 0.26Psup 0.88Psup to 0.71Psup
P1 100 cm3 1.9 mm (0.04 + 0.10)Treq 0.08Treq
P2 75 cm3 1.0 mm (0.02 + 0.19)Treq 0.15Treq
P2 75 cm3 1.3 mm (0.06 + 0.132)Treq 0.092Treq
P2 75 cm3 1.9 mm (0.04 + 0.066)Treq 0.052Treq
The results can be used to give an indication on how big the volume and
the orifice should be. To fulfill the requirements, the dead volume should be
a bit less than 75 cm3 and an orifice of 1.9 mm, or the orifice a bit bigger
50
Table 4.4: Filling from Patm to Psup and ventilation from Psup to Patm
Dead Orifice Filling Venting

Prototype
Volume Diameter Patm to Psup Psup to Patm bar
P1 100 cm3 1.9 mm (0.04 + 1)Treq 1.4Treq
P2 75 cm3 1.0 mm (0.02 + 1.2)Treq 2.4Treq
P2 75 cm3 1.3 mm (0.06 + 1.1)Treq 1.6Treq
P2 75 cm3 1.9 mm (0.04 + 0.74)Treq 1.16Treq
with a volume of 75 cm3 . Having a bigger orifice than 1.9 mm would imply
that a bigger valve should be needed, which could result in a slower valve
response and more time delays in the system. A smaller volume is therefore
to be preferred.
4.3.3 Validation
It should be sufficient to verify the model for one orifice since this is the only
parameter that differs through the experiments on Prototype 2. The orifice
of 1.0 mm has been chosen in the verification. In order to validate the model
and the prototype, the model has to be modified by changing the orifice and
the volume. Since the orifice has been inserted in the valve housing, the
affected armature area by the pressure can still be thought to be the area
with diameter 1.9 mm, since this is the fixed orifice in the valve, and can be
seen in Figure 4.12.
Housing Valve
Orifice 1.0 mm 1.0 mm 1.9 mm
Figure 4.12: Inserted orifice of 1.0 mm in the inlet port of Prototype 2
As was done for Prototype 1, the modeled pressure and the measured pressure
will be compared, both for filling and venting the dead volume.
51
Pressure
A duty cycle of 82 % is first applied to both the filling and ventilation valve
separately to fill from Patm to Psup , respective ventilate from Psup to Patm .
For this duty cycle, the armature is fully open in both model and reality, so
that the pressure does not depend on the armature’s position. In this way
the pneumatic part can be verified. The simulation and the measured data
for the pressure when 82 % duty cycle was used are shown in Figure 4.13.
Filling: Orifice 1.0 mm and Volume 75 cm3
1
Absolute Pressure [Bar]
Measured Pressure
Modeled Pressure
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
360 370 380 390 400 410 420 430 440
time [s]
Venting: Orifice 1.0 mm and Volume 75 cm3
1 Measured Pressure
Modeled Pressure
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
860 880 900 920 940 960 980 1000 1020
Time [Sample]
Figure 4.13: Filling and Ventilation Verification with 1.0 mm orifice, 75 cm3
volume, and 82 % applied duty cycle to fill and vent valve separately
Filling and ventilation of the dead volume takes approximately the same
time in the model as in reality, about 1.1Treq respective 2.4Treq . On the
other hand, the curves do not correspond that well in the transreal phase.
As was the case for Prototype 1 for low duty cycles, that problem will
not disappear using another prototype. The same will happen here. The
results for a duty cycle of 60 % is shown in Figure 4.14 and as can be seen,
the valves are too weak to fill and vent to the real levels in the same time.
With this result it can again be concluded that in reality the valves switch
less between the on and off position and are open for a longer time during
the period the fill or vent valve is activated, which makes the fill- and vent
response much faster.
For duty cycles lower than 60 %, the results are even worse, and can in worst
case deteriorate the performance of a model based controller.
52
Filling: Orifice 1.0 mm and Volume 75 cm3
1.4
Measured Pressure
Modeled Pressure
1.2
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800
Time [sample]
Figure 4.14: Filling and Ventilation Verification with 1.0 mm orifice, 75 cm3
volume, and 60 % applied duty cycle to fill and vent valve as seen in the
figure
Chapter 5
Model Refinements
Modeling a system often requires a knowledge of many physical parameters

concerning the system’s dynamics. This could be parameters describing the
airflow through an orifice, the magnetic field in a solenoid, the damping forces
in the valve or time delays in the electronic control unit. A model is only an
approximation of a real system and special cases are very often considered
in the model design. Parameters used are mostly based on normal cases,
but in the real world not every system is similar. Therefore it is in many
cases necessary to change the model parameters to match the system that
is studied. If real data can be obtained, the model can be compared to the
real data. Parameters can up to a certain level be tuned so that the model
and the system match each other. This is called parameter tuning and will
be part of the content in this chapter. Other factors that can improve the
model will also be handled.
5.1 Parameter Tuning

Factors that have been observed to affect the system significantly are the air
gap in the valve, the discharge coefficient Cd , the spring preload force Fpld
and the valve inlet orifice A0 .
5.1.1 Air Gap

From the valve manufacturer, data such as coil resistance, inductance, and
air gap inside the solenoid has been provided. The air gap is one of the
factors determining the magnetic force which is influencing the armature.
Interpreting (3.10), a smaller gap generates a stronger magnetic force, which
is due to a stronger magnetic field in the gap. Using manufacturer provided
55
data, a model was obtained that far from the real data matched the real
system. In the armature on-position, the provided air gap corresponded to
a so strong magnetic force causing the valves to keep fully open already for
duty cycles below 60 %, while in fact the limits are 82 % and 80 %.
According to the valve manufacturer it was clear that the air gap inside
the solenoid changed when the armature moved, between lg,on and lg,of f ,
which is the length of the air gap in the on and off position. However, the total
air gap that results in a magnetic field inside the solenoid does not necessarily
change as much as the provided air gap, which can be explained in a simple
way using Figure 2.1 in Chapter 2 as reference: When the armature starts
to move, the air gap between the armature and the inlet port (outside the
solenoid) increases, while the air gap on the back side of the armature (inside
the solenoid) decreases. In the on-position, the inside air gap has reached its
minimum, lon , while the air gap outside the solenoid is maximum. Taking
into consideration the air gap outside the solenoid, the effective air gap can
be considered almost constant. The magnetic field is hard to measure, and
the magnetic field lines are therefore hard to have an understanding of. Using
a nearly constant air gap has therefore been seen as a reasonable solution,
and a model more similar to the real system was obtained.
5.1.2 Discharge Coefficient, Cd

John C. Kayser and Robert L. Shambaugh [11] defined the discharge coef-
ficient as the ratio of the actual mass flow rate to the isentropic, adiabatic
mass flow rate which hypothetically would occur given identical upstream
temperature, upstream pressure, and pressure drop.
RR
ṁactual A2
ρ (~v~n) dA
Cd = = (5.1)
ṁisen,adiabat ṁisen,adiabat
where ṁisen,adiabat is the isentropic, adiabatic mass flow rate [kg/s], A is the
cross-sectional area of a converging nozzle, A2 is the minimum cross-sectional
area of a converging nozzle [m2 ], v is the velocity [m/s], ṁactual is the actual
mass flow rate [kg/s], and ~n is the normal vector.
As seen from (5.1) the discharge coefficient is a convenient scaling of the

mass flow surface integral, i.e. that it depends on the shape of the ori-
fice. J.C.Kayser and R.L.Shambaugh [11] presented in 1991 a study of the
compressible-flow behavior of light gases through small orifices and conver-
gent nozzles with diameters ranging from 0.9 to 1.9 mm. Different shapes of
orifices were studied; knife-edge, straight-bore, rounded-entry and elliptical-
entry orifices. Concluded was that most shapes have a discharge coefficient
56
near unity for Reynolds number between 20000 and 100000. However, other
values of the discharge coefficients could be real for lower Reynolds numbers
or for orifice geometries where the length-to-diameter ratios are greater than
unity. For these cases, the discharge coefficient was identified to be between
0.6 and 1. The former results have been used as a reference in finding the
discharge coefficient for the valves used in this Master’s Thesis.
Figure 5.1 shows how the pressure in the dead volume changes when a step
is first applied to the fill valve, then to both valves simultaneously, using dif-
ferent discharge coefficients for the fill valve. Here the discharge coefficient
for the ventilation valve is set to a constant value 0.97. One can see that a
Cd closer to one makes the fill valve fill faster.
10 10
8 8
pressure [bar]
pressure [bar]
6 6
4 4
Cd,sup=0.60 Cd,sup=0.60
2 2
0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8

time [s] time [s]
Figure 5.1: Pressure Change in the Dead Volume as Different Cd’s are used
for the Fill Valve when Fill Valve is first activated, then both valves si-
multaneously (Left). Zoomed plot of the Filling Characteristics (Right).
Cd,vent=0.97.
The discharge coefficient is varied until the measure data and the simulated
data for the pressure corresponds to each other. A discharge coefficient close
to unity as seen in the figure is used to get the same fast response in the
model as have been observed in the true system.
5.1.3 Force Balance

As mentioned earlier, the spring is preloaded a certain length to keep the
valve from opening when the valves are affected by higher pressure than the
atmospheric, and to always keep the spring in a stiff mode. Static friction
has been discussed to be present due to contact with the walls, and would
57
in this case also prevent the valves from opening. When the system model
first was derived, data for preload force, valve orifice diameter, spring coef-
ficient, air gap, and damping coefficient provided by the manufacturer, were
used in simulations. Experiments have shown that the output in pressure
and current for the model does not match the outputs from the real system;
the modeled valves start to open and keep open for duty cycles even lower
than the limits identified in experiments. Either the preload force or the
static friction have been assumed too weak, or the inlet orifice too big. In
order to let the modeled valves open for the same DC limits as identified,
the parameters have been considered necessary to tune.
Increasing the preload force or the static friction and keeping the other pa-
rameters constant makes the valves open closer to the DC limits. Tuning it
so that the lower limit is correct makes the upper limit, i.e. the DC where
the valve keeps open, too high. To still keep the lower limit correct, Fsf or
Fpld could be decreased while the orifice, corresponding to a pressure force,
is adjusted. In this way, correct values for both the lower and the upper
limit can be obtained. The orifice only affects the valve as long as there is a
pressure difference between the upper and downer side of the valve. In other
words, changing the orifice will not affect the upper limit, since Pu − Pd = 0,
and thereby Fprs = 0, when the valves stay fully open. In order to tune the
model so that the limits are correct, it has been a matter of adjusting the
preload force, the friction and the orifice.
5.1.4 Valve inlet orifice

The valve inlet orifice diameter is the size of the inlet port and is given by
the valve manufacturer as 1.9 mm. The orifice determines how much air can
pass through the valve and into the dead volume. The bigger this orifice is,
the more air can pass through.
Recalling (3.13), one can see that another effect of having a big orifice is
that less magnetic force has to be applied to the solenoid to open the valve,
since the pressure force affects a bigger area helping the armature to open.
Seen from experiments is that the fill valve and the ventilation valve starts
to open for 28.5 % duty cycle respective 25.5 % duty cycle when they are
exposed to a pressure of Psup , presuming that there is atmospheric pressure
on the outlet port of the valves. As seen in the previous section, in order
to let the valves keep open at 82 % / 80 % duty cycle, the preload force
was increased. As depicted earlier, having a correct upper limit causing an
error in the lower limit, so the orifice area was increased. This was done with
58
the motivation that the geometry of the valve is pretty complex and hard
to have an opinion of. It is believed and presumed from valve descriptions
and sketches that a bigger area affects the mechanics in the valve, with the
same principle as a bigger orifice affected the mechanics in Prototype 2 with
an orifice of 1.0 mm in Section 4.3.3. Remember that the orifice also affects
the flow in the pneumatic part. Increasing or decreasing the area that affects
the armature to move in the mechanical part, does not mean that air flows
through a smaller or bigger orifice. This area should therefore always be kept
constant so that the flow model is kept correct.
5.2 Time Delay

Results from the model validation in Chapter 4 shows that it takes a certain
time for the valve to respond from the control signal is sent to the valve.
It was stated that this was partly due to a valve response time, which is
the time it takes for the coil to energize, but also because of a delay in the
ECU, due to the limited ECU sampling frequency, fECU . To compensate
for this delay, a time delay block in Simulink has been inserted. An effect
of the time delay is that it takes longer time to close or open the valves
than expected. In the controller design this has to be considered, since the
valves will continue filling or venting as long as no control signal has been
”noticed” by the valves. A possible solution could be to deactivate the valves
a bit before we actually want the valves to be deactivated. Experiments have
shown that the time delay depends on the duty cycles used as input signals to
the valves. In Figure 5.2 time delay is illustrated using DC=75 % and DC=40
% respectively. In the model, a constant time delay was used to model time
delays, but a model depending on the input signal could be considered in
future work to get a more correct model.
5.3 Temperature Dependent Resistance

It appears from experiments that the current through the conductor decreases
when the valves are activated for a longer period of time. This is due to
the fact that the temperature in the valves increases as voltage is applied,
resulting in a change in the coil resistivity. According to [9], the resistance
is proportional to the resistivity. In this way, the resistance can directly
be expressed in terms of the temperature. Taking into consideration the
temperature dependent resistance, a more correct model can be obtained
for the On/Off Retarder system. However, this is not necessarily the best
59
Duty Cycle [%]
200 Measured Current [mA]
150
Time Delay
100
50
0
4.74 4.742 4.744 4.746 4.748 4.75 4.752 4.754 4.756 4.758
time [s]
120 Duty Cycle [%]

Measured Current [mA]
100
80
60 Time Delay
40
20
0
3.9 3.902 3.904 3.906 3.908 3.91 3.912 3.914 3.916 3.918 3.92
time [s]
Figure 5.2: Current in the coil for DC = 75 % (top) and DC = 40 % (bottom)
solution, since as simple dynamics as possible is desirable when a controller

is to be designed. How the current varies with the time when one of the
valves is activated can be seen from Figure 5.3.
The first law of thermodynamics states that the internal energy Eint stored
in a thermodynamic system is conserved. According to [9] the change in
internal energy ∆Eint is equal to the energy transfer to the system by heat
Q and the work W done on the system.
∆Eint = Q + W (5.2)
The internal energy for an ideal gas is according to [7] given by
nRgas ∆T Cp
∆Eint = k−1
where k = Cv
≈ 1.4 (5.3)
The temperature in the surroundings, Tsurround , either cools or heats the

system. A voltage applied to the valves, can be considered as a work done
on the system, and results in further increase of the temperature in the coil.
The heat and work is given by
Q = −C(T − Tsurround ) (5.4)

W = Ri2 (5.5)
60
295
current [mA]
PWM dutycycle [%]
290
285
current [mA]
280
275
270
10 20 30 40 50 60
time [s]
Figure 5.3: Current in the conductor at room teperature, Tsurround = 273 K,

when a PWM signal of frequency, fP W M , and 100 % duty cycle have been
used as input.
Combining (5.3), (5.4), and (5.5) an expression for the change in the tem-
perature can be derived.
k−1
Ṫ = (Ri2 − C(T − Tsurround )) (5.6)
nRgas
where n is the number of moles, T is the temperature in the coil, C is a heat

transfer coefficient, and Tsurround is the temperature in the surroundings.
The resistance in the coil is given by
R = R0 (1 + α (T − T0 )) (5.7)
| {z }
∆T =Ṫ
where T0 is the initial temperature at rest. From these relations, the re-
sistance can be modeled. As simple dynamics is desired, the effect of the
resistance has been neglected with the motivation that its dynamics is very
slow compared to the total period of time the valves are activated. This can
also be seen in Figure 5.3. The current decreases from about 292 mA to
273 mA in 60 seconds, which is slow compared to the time the valves are
activated. It can be concluded that this effect is not only due to a long valve
activation time, but is also present if the truck is used in extreme surrounding
temperatures.
61
5.4 System Identification
As seen from the validation part for the current, the model error is large
for low duty cycles. As stated in Section 4.2 this is due to dynamics in the
real process, more specific in the ECU, which has not been considered in the
model. An alternative is to model all the electrical drives included in the
ECU, which could be a very complex approach. Using system identification
to model the current could be an alternative approach to the mathematical
equations used for the electrical model for the valves. This can be done using
System Identification Toolbox in Matlab. Using the circular flow principle
presented in Figure 5.4, an ARX1 model of the electrical part of the valves
is created. As seen in the figure, the first part of the identification process is
to gather data.
Construct
experiment and
gather data
Data
Does data need to Polish and study

be filtered? data
Data
Model
Choose model Accommodate
structure model to data
Evaluate model
Data Model structure
Not OK Not OK
No Can model be
accepted?
Yes
Figure 5.4: System identification’s circular flow. The rectangles are the com-
puter’s main responsibilities, and the ovals are user’s main responsibilities. [3]
The input and the output are then defined in separate vectors, and as long
as filtering is not required a linear model describing the relationship between
the input and output is generated. Eventually the model is validated. For
best results, an altering input signal consisting of both high and low duty
cycles, should be used. If this is not done, i.e. the input signal is based on
1
ARX model is a type of linear parametic model, which is described by:
A(q)y(t) = B(q)u(t) + e(t) (5.8)
62
one specific duty cycle, the identification may give a poor result. Because of
the limitations on time for the project, the method has only been tested for
a constant input, and due to non-satisfying results system identification has
not been implemented in the model. However, better results are thought to
be obtained using a wider range of inputs.
63
Chapter 6
Control Design
A natural part of driving is to accelerate and to decelerate. Deceleration

requires a braking torque slowing down the truck’s speed, which depends on
how much the driver wants to slow down. As mentioned in the introduction,
the retarder plays an important role in the braking process, and is the only
component in the braking system that is considered in this Master’s Thesis.
One of the main objectives in the thesis is to make a model correspond-

ing to the real system, so that a controller based on the model parameters
can be made to control the opening and closing of the valves, determining
the desired braking torque. The only available output is thought to be the
pressure in the dead volume so that a pressure feed back principle can be
used. As will be seen, two main approaches are developed and evaluated,
denoted Scheme 1 and Scheme 2. Scheme 2 is left to the parallel work [13]
performed by Maisam Jeddi Tehrani. This Master’s Thesis will focus on
Scheme 1, but will briefly introduce Scheme 2 and compare the two methods
in the last part of the control section.
6.1 Background
A common approach in control design is to start with a simple control design.
Based on experience from employees at Scania and results from former Mas-
ter’s Thesis on On/Off control of exhaust gas recirculation [12], PID control
using a pressure feedback principle has been used as the base in the control
design. Additional to the PID controller, intuitive rules, a boosting action
using non-linear control and prediction is introduced for improvements, and
has been examined closer in upcoming sections. Giving the modeling part a
meaning, a model based controller is of interest to examine. Due to model
65
errors and time restriction on the thesis, a real-time tuned PID controller
has been developed and evaluated instead. The differences between a model
based and a tuned controller will be discussed in the next section.
6.2 PID Control

Proportional-Integral-Derivative Control, thereby PID control, is widely used
in the industry today and has gained a high popularity due to its simplicity
and often good performance for many applications. Previous researchers
have used PID control to control solenoid valves for pneumatic actuators [12,
15], with successful results. Van Varseveld and Bone [15] implemented and
examined the use of a PID controller combined with four PWM valve pulsing
schemes to control the valve position in a electro-pneumatic actuator system,
and Håkansson and Johnson [12] developed a PID controller and a Fuzzy
controller for a similar electro-pneumatic actuator system, where the PID
seemed to have as good performance as the Fuzzy controller.
6.2.1 Control Structure

There are mainly two control structures for a PID-controller; error feedback
and output feedback [10]. If Gp is the process we want to control, and Gc is
the controller, the error feedback structure looks like the one in Figure 6.1,
where r is the reference, u is the control signal, y is the output signal, and e
is the error.
r + e u y
Gc Gp
-
Figure 6.1: Error Feedback Structure
The output feedback structure is shown in Figure 6.2, and is equipped with
a feed forward block, Gf f . With the output feedback structure more design
freedom can be achieved, due to the feed forward part that can be used
for pole cancellation and separate derivative action on the reference signal.
In this Master’s Thesis only the error feedback is considered, hence output
feedback is not described further.
66
r + u y
Gff Gp
-
Gc
Figure 6.2: Output Feedback Structure
Error Feedback
A control law for the PID-controller using the error feedback principle is
according to [10] in continuos time given by
Zt
de (t)
u (t) = P e (t) + D + I e (t) dt
dt
t0
 
Zt
de (t) 1
= K e (t) + Td + e (t) dt (6.1)
dt Ti
t0
where K is the gain, Td is the derivative action time constant, and T1i is the
integral action time constant. The error, which is the difference between the
reference pressure and the actual pressure, is manipulated by a proportional,
derivative and integral action, and used as the new input to the process,
which is called the control signal u.
The control signal

The control signal is a PWM signal that shall activate the valves. As a
PWM signal runs with a certain duty cycle for a specific frequency, these are
the parameters of interest when creating the control signal. In the control
design, the case when a fixed frequency, fP W M , and a varying duty cycle has
been used, has been investigated. According to the valve manufacturer, the
frequency could also be varied to get an improved control performance. A
possible solution is then to keep the off-time of the valves and the duty cycle
constant, so that when the frequency is changed, the on time varies, and
corresponds to different mass flow through the valves. The approach would
be very interesting to further investigate, but the lack of time did not allow
it.
67
Proportional action
When there still is an error between the reference and the actual output value,
the error should as fast as possible be compensated for so that the reference
can be reached. The proportional part, also called the gain, K, is used to
amplify the error to get a faster action on the control signal. Choosing a too
high gain can result in oscillations in the output, or even instability in the
system.
Derivative action
The derivative part differentiate the error and uses the result as a subsidy in
the control signal to compensate for error in the output signal. Its intention
is to decrease the oscillations on the output caused by a high gain. The
derivative action is highest when the change in the error is high, and is least
significant when the change in the error is low.
Integral action
The integral part has as intention to remove stationary error on the output.
When the error is positive, the control signal increases due to integral action,
and when the error is negative, the control signal decreases. The integral
action is slower than the derivative and proportional action.
6.2.2 Model Based Control

A model based controller calculates a set of control parameters, K, Td and
Ti based on a linear model of the system. There are several approaches to
this. Among the alternatives is a method solving the Diophantine equation,
which is used thoroughly through examples in the course literature [10]. The
model based approach requires that the system is linear. The system in this
Master’s Thesis is non-linear, so the model has to be linearized in order to
use this approach. The linearized model can be found in the appendix, but
because of lack of time, there has not been invested more time in developing
a model based controller.
6.2.3 Tuned Controller

A very common approach in the industry today, is to directly apply a tunable
controller to a system, i.e. that a controller with adjustable parameters can
be applied to a system without any knowledge about the system. The same
kind of controller will be developed and used in this work. In many cases, this
68
approach cannot be used because of security reasons or because the system
does not exist.
An indication on how the parameters should be chosen can be obtained
through simulations where the parameters can be adjusted. A reference signal
is generated and applied to the discrete hard-ware implemented controller.
With a real-time software, data such as the reference, the output and the
control signal can be acquired in real-time. Adjusting the control parameters
while comparing the real time data, a desired set of parameters have been
found when the desired control behavior is achieved. Both Ziegler-Nichols
method and Åströms rules have been used as reference for the choice of
PID-parameters [17].
6.2.4 Implementation
For simulations in computer programs such as Simulink, a continuos time
controller is sufficient. This is not true if the controller is to be implemented
in a real system, which mostly is the case. Then a discrete time controller
has to be implemented and is given by
Ã n
!
en − en−1 Ts X
un = K en + Td + ek (6.2)
Ts Ti k=0
where Ts is the sample time and en is the sampled error at sample n.
6.3 Approaches
The PID-controller generates a control signal based on the error. A positive
error means that the pressure in the dead volume is too low compared to the
reference pressure. Opposite, if the error is negative, the pressure is too high.
Basically, seen from (6.1), the generated control signal is positive for positive
error and negative for negative error. Since there are two valves and just one
control signal, the controller has to distribute the signal to the two valves.
A controller including a distributor can look like the setup in Figure 6.3.
There are several ways for the distributor to handle how the valves should
work for different control signals, e.g. if both valves should act simultaneously
or separately, if the whole control signal range should be used or not etc.
Based on earlier research mentioned in the introduction, two different ways
of doing this have been investigated, where one of the approaches will be
investigated in this Master’s Thesis and the other is left for the parallel
work [13].
69
ufill
1 error u u fcn Gp 1
r uvent y
Controller Plant
y Distributor
Figure 6.3: A setup with the controller and a distributor distributing the
control signal to either of the two valves
6.3.1 Scheme 1 - Fill valve and Empty valve activated

separately for filling and venting
The distributor uses a PWM pulsing scheme where the control signal is re-
solved into two individual pulsing of the two valves, fill and ventilation valve.
If the control signal is positive the fill valve is activated, and if negative, the
ventilation valve is activated. Pulsing Scheme 1 is based on a traditional
linear approach as seen in Figure 6.4 (left) where the control signal is lin-
early resolved into the two pulsing. Notice that the valves can only react for
positive duty cycle values, therefore the absolute value of the signal is sent
to the valves. This can be summarized in the following equations.
¾
uf ill = u
for u > 0 (6.3)
uvent = 0
¾
uf ill = 0
for u < 0 (6.4)
uvent = |u|
¾
uf ill = 0
for u = 0 (6.5)
uvent = 0
One of the drawbacks with this approach is that for control signals in the
interval [−DCmin,vent , DCmin,f ill ], the valves will not react, meaning that the
control signal contains a dead band. From the validation in Chapter 4 it
was seen that a duty cycle of DCmax was sufficient to fully open the valves.
Using a higher duty cycle as in the traditional linear approach, the valves
will be over magnetized, causing the coil to discharge even slower, resulting
in a longer time to close the valves when needed. To prevent these two phe-
nomenas, Pulsing Scheme 1 has been developed, where the output from the
distributor can be seen in Figure 6.4 (right).
Now the duty cycle range [0, 100] is resolved and linearized into the active
range [DCmin , DCmax ] instead, so that the dead band is nearly eliminated.
70
Traditional Linear Scheme PWM Pulsing Scheme 1
Empty Valve Empty Valve

100 100
Fill Valve Fill Valve
80 80
Valve Duty Cycel [%]
Valve Duty Cycel [%]

60 60
40 40
20 20
0 0
−100 −50 0 50 100 −100 −50 0 50 100

Control Signal − u [%] Control Signal − u [%]
Figure 6.4: Traditional Pulsing Scheme (left) and Pulsing Scheme 1 (right)
The reason why this only holds almost, is connected to the fact that Puls-
ing Scheme 1 does have a drawback letting both valves be DCmin when the
control signal is zero. Setting one of the valves to DCmin when the valve
is desired to be deactivated would give a faster response when the valve is
to be activated again. What is not so good is that when the valve should
deactivate, it would take much longer time to discharge the coil, and thereby
closing the valve. This will result in a delay that may give a poor control
performance. Therefore Pulsing Scheme 1 has been extended by including
an error tolerance. When the error is within the predetermined tolerance,
both valves should be deactivated. The tolerance has been chosen to be the
required control tolerance on ± Ptol as required in the specifications.
Letting the valves operate separately, i.e. using Scheme 1, a minimum use of
the valves could be possible, since one of the valves is always at rest. This is
an advantage considering the life time of the valves.
6.3.2 Scheme 2 - Both valves activated simultaneously

for filling and venting
The pulsing scheme is based on results from former research [15] where a so
called novel pulsing scheme was designed to remove non-linear response in the
output. The method is based on a distributor that resolves the control signal
into the two valves, with a possibility to activate both valves simultaneously.
In this way there is more freedom in combining the two valves to get the
desired air pressure.
71
6.4 Results - Scheme 1
The controller is first implemented and simulated in Simulink. Doing this,
the regulator is tuned until a desired set of control parameters have been
obtained. The parameters identified from the simulations are then used as
reference when tuning the controller in the real system.
6.4.1 Simulations
Using a valve orifice of 1.3 mm and a volume of 75 cm3 , the simulation results
of a PID-controller can be seen in Figure 6.5.
Pressure in Dead Volume
Pch
Relative Pressure [bar]
6 Pref
0
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Time [s]
Control Signal
100
DC fill
80 DC vent
Duty Cycle [%]
60
40
20
0
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Time [s]
Figure 6.5: Resulting PID-controller in simulations, using an orifice of

1.3 mm and a volume of 75cm3
The control signal is better seen in Figure 6.6 where the controller’s behavior
clearly shows that close to the reference, the control signal decreases, meaning
that less action is needed. The reason that the output never exactly reach
the reference for any reference pressures is that the tolerance of ± Ptol has
been applied to the controller, i.e. when the error is less than this tolerance,
the valves will be deactivated. This has been done with respect to the real
system, where oscillations would be a result of not having the tolerance. It
is thereby not said that oscillations cannot arise, but the tolerance is rather
used to decrease eventual oscillations. Looking at Figure 6.5 again, one can
see from the control signal that only one valve acts at the moment, which
is the idea with scheme one. An example showing the integral part acting,
can be drawn by looking at the time period from t ≈ 4 s to t ≈ 5 s. The
72
fill valve is first activated, but has a too strong effect such that the pressure
rises over the reference and even outside the tolerance. The controller has
to ventilate the dead volume until the error is within the tolerance. The
control signal is in this area seen to be integrating until the valve reacts and
empty the dead volume. When the desired pressure is reached, the valve is
deactivated. The controller works fairly well, but with some overshoots. It
acts in these situations very slow, so a boosting action could be considered
to be included. The main reason that the controller is slow close to reference
pressures is that the minimum duty cycle value used in the distributor is
for all conditions set to 25.5 %. In fact this is not optimal because when
the pressure difference between the inlet port and outlet port of the valve
is very small, less pressure force helps the valve to open. Actually a duty
cycle between 25.5 % and 54.5 % is needed to lift the filling armature, where
the latter is needed when no pressure force is present. For pressures close to
reference pressure, a very low duty cycle is required. If the gain is too low,
the integrator will in the worst case need to integrate the control signal to be
54.5 % before the valve even will react and give a response. The integrator
speed is limited by Ti , and will in such cases cause a time delay in the output
response close to references.
Pressure in Dead Volume
Pch
Relative Pressure [bar]
7
Pref
4
15.6 15.65 15.7 15.75 15.8 15.85 15.9
Time [s]
Control Signal
100
DC fill
80 DC vent
Duty Cycle [%]
60
40
20
0
15.6 15.65 15.7 15.75 15.8 15.85 15.9
Time [s]
Figure 6.6: Control signal behavior for one specific reference
6.4.2 Tests on Prototypes

Often simulation results do not correspond to real tests. Therefore it is
important to verify the controller’s performance on the real retarder system
and is investigated in this section.
73
Prototype 1
The controller is discretized according to (6.2) and by using the toolbox
”Real-Time Workshop” in Matlab, C-code for the controller is generated for
use in hardware. Using the same pressure reference input as was used in the
model validation and simulations, a controller can be applied to Prototype 1.
The controller is implemented as a regular PID-controller with no prediction
or boosting action. Since the prototype did not fulfill the requirements on
filling and ventilation time, there is of little relevance to implement a con-
troller on this prototype. The validation of the controller has therefore been
left for Prototype 2 which is closer to the real system and can be used for
real tests in truck.
Prototype 2
To fulfill the time constraints on filling and ventilation, the size of the inlet
diameter was identified to be at least 1.9 mm, while the dimension of the
dead volume should be less than 75 cm3 . Using an orifice of 1.9 mm and a
dead volume of 75 cm3 for the control, which is the only prototype available
that is close to fulfill the requirements, would best indicate how the controller
would perform on the real system. However, the controller has only been ap-
plied to a physical model having an orifice of 1.3 mm and a volume of 75 cm3
because of lack of time to physically change the orifice in the prototype. It
is believed that this will not differ much from the optimal dimensions since
similar results have been obtained for a controller applied to Prototype 1,
where the orifice is actually bigger. For an orifice of 1.3 mm and volume
75 cm3 the resulting PID-controller is shown in Figure 6.7.
Seen from the figure is that the performance cannot be compared to the simu-
lation results, due to large deviations from the reference pressure. In the real
system, leakage in the dead volume has been observed, which can be seen as
a clearly visible pressure drop close to pressure references. This has not been
considered in the model, but is believed to be much less present in a future
implementation. The PID-controller should anyhow be able to compensate
for leakage if present. The reason that the leakage is not compensated for in
Figure 6.7, is due to the problem using 25.5 % duty cycle as the lower limit.
For higher pressures this duty cycle is not enough to open the fill valve, so it
takes some time for the integrator and the boosting action to reach a control
signal that affects the valve to fill.
Mentioned in the model verification chapter, was that a volume less than
75 cm3 and a valve orifice of 1.9 mm was an requisite for the controller to
74
9
Pch
Pref
8
6
Relative Pressure [Bar]
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Time [s]
Figure 6.7: Resulting PID-controller on prototype two with orifice of 1.3 mm

orifice, including boosting and prediction
compete with the filling and ventilation times. This is not exactly true, since
the retarder has a operating pressure range between 0.18Psup and 0.71Psup .
This implies that a pressure change of Psup never has to be performed, so
that filling and ventilation of the dead volume will always be done in less
time than presented in the results.
6.5 Control Improvements

Because of the valve response time and the ECU delay discussed earlier,
the valves will not close when desired. This can cause oscillations around
the reference. To prevent this, the proportional gain and integral part in
the PID-controller have to be sufficient small, but can on the other hand
cause the filling and venting to be too slow. If a faster controller is desired,
other approaches have to be considered. Just for speeding up the controller, a
boosting action can be an alternative. When higher proportional gain and in-
tegral part are used, prediction is hoped to eliminate the present oscillations.
Both methods have been investigated in order to improve the controller’s
performance, and will now be presented.
75
6.5.1 Anti-Windup
In practical applications there are often physical limitations that prevent the
system to act further. An example of a system with such limitations is the
retarder valve system in this thesis, where the valve cannot open more than
it is restricted to due to walls preventing it from opening. In a case where
a controller using an integrator is used to control the valves, a phenomena
called windup effect can occur, and is best explained by the following exam-
ple.
If the valves have been set to be fully open, but the reference has still not
been reached, the integrator in the controller will try to compensate for the
error by continuing integrate the control signal, with the thought to open the
valves even more, which is not possible because of the physical restrictions.
The integration part will continue forever if not a change in the reference
is done, and is called the windup effect. When a change in the reference
is first done, the integration part has become so large that it will be very
hard to compensate for, and oscillations and instability may be effects of the
phenomena. To prevent the integrator from integrating when physical limi-
tations have been reached, an anti-windup function is included in the control
design.
6.5.2 Improved control using prediction

The time it takes from the controller gives a signal to the valves until the
valves respond, can in worst case result in oscillations on the output pressure
when the system is driven by a controller. This is seen in experiments on
test bench where it has been observed that there will be a pressure change in
the dead volume according to the previous control signal as long as no new
control signal has performed any action on the valves. Because of the delayed
valve reaction, when the output pressure is very close to the reference, an
overshoot could be a result of having a too aggressive PID-controller since
the valves cannot react immediately.
By predicting the future pressure in the dead volume, the valves can be
switched off a certain time in advance, in order to eliminate the overshoot.
From the predicted pressure, the future error can be calculated, i.e. the dif-
ference between the reference pressure and the predicted pressure. As long
as the predicted error is not within a predefined error tolerance, the valves
should be activated according to the control signal generated by the con-
troller. As soon as the predicted error is less than the error tolerance, the
valves should turn off, i.e. the control signal should be set to zero. A simu-
76
lation result of introducing the prediction approach, where the error in the
next sample has been predicted, is shown in Figure 6.8.
0.1
0 tolerance
−0.1
Error [Bar]
−0.2
−0.3
−0.4
Error
−0.5 Predicted Error
2.19 2.2 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24

Time [s]
−20
Duty Cycle [%]
−40
−60
−80
−100 Control Signal, u
2.19 2.2 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24

Time [s]
Figure 6.8: The actual error and the predicted error in the next sample (top).
Control Signal when prediction is introduced (bottom).
From the figure it can be seen that when the predicted error is within the
predefined tolerance range, the control signal is set to zero as mentioned ear-
lier. The actual error is observed to continue decreasing because of the time
delay for the valve to react and to perform the desired action, in this case
switching off the valve. A worst case time delay of 0.04Treq for the valve to
react has been observed in experiments. Since one sample corresponds to
0.02Treq , a prediction of the error in the two next samples has been consid-
ered reasonable.
There are many ways to perform prediction, e.g. Model Predictive Control
(MPC), Generalized Predictive Control (GPC) or even the Dynamic Matrix
Method (DMM) [18], which all are based on information about the system.
In this Master’s Thesis, a transfer function describing the non-linear system
has not been derived. A prediction approach based on feed-back and where
the actual pressure, past pressure and reference pressure are used to calcu-
late the future pressure has therefore been investigated and derived. The
prediction can be included in the control design as illustrated in Figure 6.9.
A very simple differential approximation for a signal u is given by Euler
77
Switch:
Turnoff valves
if |ek+1|<tolerance
0
Controller u
u*
Reference + ek Error ek+1

Pressure Prediction
-
Measured
Pressure
ek 1 ek-1 + ek+1
z +
Figure 6.9: The prediction included in the control design.
Backward [17] as
1
u̇(t) ≈ ∆u(t) = (u(t) − u(t − T )) (6.6)
T
where t is time and T is sample time.
In discrete time, this approximation can be expressed as

1
∆un = (un − un−1 ) = un − un−1 (6.7)
n − (n − 1)
where n is sample.
In discrete time, using Figure 6.10 as reference, the predicted error in the
next sample, en+1 , can be calculated as
en+1 = en + ∆en
= en + (en − en−1 )
| {z }
BackwardEuler
= 2en − en−1 (6.8)
(6.9)
and is based on the differential approximation Backward Euler for calcula-
tions of ∆en , i.e. the change in the error, in the actual sample, n. n ∈ [0, N ]
78
where N is the total number of samples. The same principle is used to predict
the error in the two next samples, en+2 , and is given by
en+2 = en+1 + ∆en+1
= en+1 + en+1 − en
| {z }
BackwardEuler
= 2en+1 − en
= 3en − 2en−1 (6.10)
e
en+2
en+1
en ∆ en+1
en-1 ∆ en
n
n-1 n n+1 n+2
Figure 6.10: Error in previous, actual and next sample, based on the predic-
tion calculation.
A drawback with the prediction part is that it is just an approximation of the

error in the future. If this assumption is wrong, the valves may deactivate
at wrong moments, e.g. too early. Then the controller has to re-regulate the
error so that the reference is reached, and can in some occasions result in a
further time delay. The advantage is that the oscillations on the output can
be prevented.
6.5.3 Improved control using non-linear control

An additional non-linear control approach has been investigated in order to
boost up the control signal in cases where the valve response is too weak, e.g
if the prediction has resulted in a too early inactivation of the valves. The
boost is done by including an extra integrator which is activated only when
the there is no response in the output pressure and as long as the error is
larger than the accepted error tolerance. The method is used in simulations
and experiments in this thesis due to good results, but is investigated more
in detail in the parallel work [13].
79
6.6 Comparison Between Scheme 1 and Scheme
2
Because of lack of time, there has been a limited improvement of the two
control approaches. However, looking at results from the parallel work where
Scheme 2 was investigated, Scheme 1 seems to be preferrable. The results
shown in Figure 6.11 clearly shows drawbacks with Scheme 2.
Control Results − Scheme 2
9
Pch
8 Pref
7
Relative Pressure [Bar]
0
0 5 10 15 20 25
Time [s]
Figure 6.11: Reulting PID-controller using Scheme 2
Since any control signal distributes an action to both the filling valve and
the ventilation valve, it is in certain occasions hard to obtain the reference
pressure. When the output is close to the reference, it is seen that oscillations
are very often present and is one of the main disadvantages observed with
Scheme 2. Using Scheme 2 requires a very good distribution of the control
signal to avoid such phenomenas. One of the main reasons for bad results
which is more visible in Scheme 2, is very much because of the use of a
constant lower duty cycle limit of 25.5 %. For pressures in the dead volume
close to Psup , the pressure force is very strong on the ventilation valve, while
it is much weaker on the fill valve. For pressures close to the atmospheric,
the opposite is true, where the pressure force affects the fill valve more than
the ventilation valve. Taking a reference pressure of 7 bar and dead volume
pressure of 6.8 bar as an example, the fill valve might requires a duty cycle
of 45 % to open, while the ventilation valve only needs 30 %. Still the error
is positive, meaning that more air is needed. The controller might fill with
40 % duty cycle and ventilate with 32 %. This should in the theory imply a
positive flow into the dead volume, but since the ventilation valve reacts for
lower duty cycles at higher pressures in the dead volume, there will actually
be a ventilation. Another drawback with Scheme 2 is believed to be the
practical disadvantage that both valves are used simultaneously, resulting in
80
a more frequently use of the valves, causing more wear of the valves. This
is believed to be better for Scheme 1 and is important to consider when
robustness of the proportional valve used in current retarder system and the
system using on/off valves is to be compared. Using Scheme 2, is however
believed to allow for larger valve orifices, making it possible to have a faster
filling and ventilation response, which is not possible having a smaller orifice.
This is explained by the fact that while one of the valves are acting, the other
valve can at the same time be activated preventing the response to be too
fast when the error is so small that a slower response is needed to reach the
reference.
81
Chapter 7
Conclusions and Future work
7.1 Conclusions
The Master’s Thesis aimed to investigate if today’s system that uses a pro-
portional valve to control the air pressure in the Retarder, could be replaced
by two on/off solenoid valves and a pressure chamber with a pressure sensor,
in order to reduce costs and improve the system robustness. The idea was to
let one filling valve and one ventilation valve together with a pressure supply,
build a pressure in the chamber, determining an oil pressure in the Retarder
and eventually the braking torque in the truck.
A model of the system was obtained, but validation of the model shows
that the quality of the model is not optimal. The model contains some
weaknesses that in future work could further be investigated and improved
by including the probably missing dynamics in the electronic control unit
and the magnetic properties. The modelled current and pressure correspond
well to the real current and pressure for high duty cycles as input signals.
For low duty cycles, the modelled current differs from the real current in the
amplitude and causes the valves to be closed for longer time than in reality,
and thereby a longer time to fill or ventilate air from the chamber.
To control the valves, two different controllers were investigated. A con-
trol approach using a pulse width modulated pulsing scheme where the fill
valve acts for positive errors and the ventilation valve acts for negative errors
(Scheme 1) seemed to give best results, and was designed in this Master’s
Thesis. Simulations prove the excellence of using a regular PID controller
on the system. Results from tests on the real system have shown a strong
potential in having two on/off valves controlling the retarder, with addi-
tional integral boosting action and a method for reducing overshoots using
error prediction. With further research, the method using Scheme 1 can be
83
considered to be a promising approach.
Another approach, Scheme 2, which was investigated in the parallel work [13]
let the filling valve and the ventilation valve act simultaneously. This was
thought to be a faster and more controlled way to control the air pressure,
with the intention that a bigger valve orifice could be used to get a faster
response and even have the opportunity to reduce the action of one valve by
letting the other valve counteract at the same time. A poor control perfor-
mance was achieved using Scheme 2 and showed at the same time a worse
robustness taking life-span into consideration.
Experiments have been done on physical models of the system with different
dimensions in order to determine proper parameters for volume of the cham-
ber and orifice of the valve. Results show that a proper total dead volume
(total volume in the system including volume in the valve housing, chamber
and regulating valve), in order to fulfill actual time constraints and control
performance, should be a bit less than 75 cm3 using an orifice of 1.9 mm.
7.2 Future Work

The Master’s Thesis has highlighted several aspects with on/off control on
the Retarder, and has investigated how certain parts can be improved putting
more research and time into modeling and control of Retarder using on/off
valves. Improvements has not been performed in this work because of lack
of time. However, recommendations based on investigation and experience
can be given to future developers.
In order to make a better system model, more complexity from the elec-
trical drives in the ECU could be included, so that the modelled current
behaves more like the real current. The magnetic valve properties could be
investigated in more detail, where the magnetic field in the iron core in the
valves could be included. An improved model can be used to make a model
based controller. A model based controller have the advantage that the sys-
tem properties may be included in the design, resulting in more freedom
choosing control strategies and may improve the control performance.
It has been observed that depending on the pressure in the dead volume,
different duty cycles are needed to start opening the valves. Which has been
seen, a common problem causing time delays in Scheme 1 and oscillations
in Scheme 2, is the constant lower duty cycle limit of 25.5 % used in the
distributor. In future work, this lower duty cycle limit should be implemented
as a function of the actual pressure in the dead volume where the lower duty
84
cycle limit varies between 25.5 % and 51.5 %. In this way eventual time
delays in the integral part and oscillations in the output pressure can be
reduced.
85
Bibliography
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Modeling of an Pneumatic Hydraulic Valve for an Automotive Engine”,
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[6] G.Petersson. ”Teoretisk Elektroteknik - Elektromagnetsism”. Maj 2002.
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ing”. 1999.
[8] K-E.Rydberg. ”Basic theory for Pneumatic System Design”. Linkö ping
University. IKP, Fluid and Mechanical Engineering Systems. 1997.
[9] R.A.Serway, J.W.Jewett. ”Physics for Scientists and Engineers with

Modern Physics”. 6th Edition. 2004.
[10] B.Eriksson, J. Wikander. Lecture notes in MF2007. Dynamics and Mo-

tion Control. 2007.
[11] John C. Kayser, Robert L. Shambaugh. ”Discharge Coefficients for Com-

pressible Flow Through Small-Diameter Orifices and Convergent Noz-
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[12] K.Håkansson, M.Johnson. ”Modeling and Control of an Electro Pneu-

matic Actuator System Using On/Off Valves”. Department of Electrical
Engineering. Linköping University, 2007.
86
[13] M.J.Tehrani. Pressure Control of a Pneumatic Actuator Using On/Off
Solenoid Valves. The School of Electrical Engineering. The Royal Insti-
tute of Technology. 2008.
[14] T. Noritsugu. ”Development of PWM Mode Electro-Pneumatic Ser-

vomechanism, Part II: Position Control of a Pneumatic Cylinder”. J.
of Fluid Control, 67:7-28, 1987.
[15] R.B.Van Varseveld, G.M.Bone. ”Accurate Position Control of a Pneu-

matic Actuator Using On/Off Solenoid Valves”. Proc. of the IEEE Int.
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[16] L.Krause, J.Larsson. ”Konceptstudie: Tryckstyrning Av Hydrody-

namisk Broms”. Master’s Thesis. Linköping University. Linköping, 2004.
[17] L.Ljung, T.Glad. ”Reglerteknik: Grundlaggande teori”. Preliminary

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Edition, 2003.
87
Appendix A
Appendix
A.1 Linearization
According to [10] a nonlinear system ẋ = f (x, u) can be linearized around
some operating point {x0 , u0 } by considering a neighborhood around the
operating point and approximating the nonlinear model with a truncated
Taylor series. This is done by setting x = x0 + ∆x, u = u0 + ∆u and
y = y 0 + ∆y, then
¯ ¯
ẋ = f (x, u) + ∂f ¯ 0 ∆x + ∂f ¯x=x0 ∆u
∂x x=x ∂u
u=u0 u=u0
¯
∂g ¯
¯
∂g ¯ (A.1)
y = g (x, u) + ∂x x=x0
0 ∆x + ∂u x=x0
0 ∆u
u=u u=u
The system has been thought to be in equilibrium either when both valves
are deactivated, when only one of the valves is fully open, or when both
valves are fully open. The equilibrium when both valves are fully activated
has been considered. In this case the PWM signal is set to 100 % DC on
both valves, and the pressure will reach a constant pressure unless there are
any disturbances disturbing the valves. The steady position will correspond
to the current when the coil is fully charged, and will probably be outside
the physical position limitation in the valve, i.e. outside the walls. In this
equilibrium, the velocity will be zero.
89
A.1.1 Fill valve and Ventilation valve are both acti-
vated
Equilibrium points:
x01 x02 x03 x04
x05 x06 x07
Linearized Model:
˙ = A∆x + B∆u
∆x
˙ = C∆x + D∆u
∆y
   
ẋ1 x1
 ẋ2   x2 
   
 ẋ3   x3 
   
∆x = 
˙
 ẋ4  and ∆x = 
  x4 
 (A.2)
 ẋ5   x5 
   
 ẋ6   x6 
ẋ7 x7
¯
∂f ¯
¯
∂f ¯
A= ∂x x=x0
0 B= ∂u x=x0
0
u=u u=u
¯ ¯ (A.3)
∂f ¯ ∂f ¯
C= ∂x x=x0
0 D= ∂x x=x0
0
u=u u=u
90
 ¯ ¯ 
∂f1 ¯ ∂f1 ¯
∂x1 ¯ ∂x2 ¯
0 0 0 0 0
 x=x0 x=x0 
 1 0 0 0 0 
 ¯0 ¯0 ¡ ¢2 
 ∂f3 ¯ ∂f3 ¯ 
 ∂x1 ¯ ∂x2 ¯
− mbp − mπp d20 0 0 0 
 x=x0 ¯x=x0 ¯ ¯ 
 ∂f4 ¯ ∂f4 ¯ ∂f4 ¯ 
A =  0 ∂x2 ¯
0 ∂x4 ¯
0 ∂x6 ¯
0 
 0
x=x 0 x=x ¯ ¯x=x0 
 ∂f5 ¯ ∂f5 ¯ 
 0 0 0 0 ∂x5 ¯ ∂x6 ¯
0 
 x=x0 x=x0 
 0 0 0 0 0 1 
 ¡ d ¢2 ¯ ¯0 
0 ∂f7 ¯ ∂f7 ¯
0 0 0 − mπp 2 ∂x5 ¯ ∂x6 ¯
− mbp
x=x 0 x=x 0
 µ 1
¶

Lof f −Lon
0
x02 x −x
−Lof f
 on of f 
91
 
 0 0 
 
 0 0 
 
B =  0 0 
 µ 1 ¶

 0 Lof f −Lon 
 x06 xon −xof f
−Lof f 
 
 0 0 
0 0
£ ¤
C = 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
where
¯
∂f1 ¯¯ R
¯ = − ³ ´
∂x1 x=x0 Lof f −Lon
x02 xon −xof f
− Lof f
³ ´
¯ 0 0 Lof f −Lon
∂f1 ¯¯ − (u1 − Rx1 ) xon −xof f
= ³ ³ ´ ´2
∂x2 ¯x=x0 L f −Lon
x02 xofon −xof f
− L of f
¯
∂f3 ¯¯ µ0 Ap N 2 x01
= 2
∂x1 ¯x=x0 mp (xof f − x02 )
¯ 2
∂f3 ¯¯ µ0 Ap N 2 (x01 ) ks
¯ = 0 3 −
92
∂x2 x=x0 mp (xof f − x2 ) mp
s
¯ p µ k+1
¶ k−1
∂f4 ¯¯ Rgas Tair 2
= d0 πCd,sup Psup k
∂x2 ¯x=x0 Vch k+1
 Ã Ã ! ! 
q 2 ³
k k+1 ´
v 2k Patm
+ k+1 Patm k
¯ p u Ãµ ¶ 2 µ ¶ k+1 ! k−1
− k2 2+k k x04 
u 0 k 
∂f4 ¯¯ Rgas Tair 0 t 2k Patm k Patm k (x4 ) 0
¯ = − d0 πCd,vent x6  0
− 0
+ r x 4 
∂x4 x=x0 Vch  k−1 x4 x4 ³ ´2 ³ ´ k+1
k 
Patm k Patm
2 x0
− x0
4 4
v ÃÃ ! Ã !!
¯ p u 2 k+1
Rgas Tair u 2k P k P k
∂f4 ¯¯ atm atm
= − d0 πCd,vent x04 t −
∂x6 ¯x=x0 Vch k−1 x04 x04
¯
∂f5 ¯¯ R
¯ = − ³ ´
∂x5 x=x0 L f −Lon
x06 xofon −xof f
− Lof f
³ ´
¯ 0 0 Lof f −Lon
∂f5 ¯¯ − (u 1 − Rx 5 ) xon −xof f
¯ = ³ ³ ´ ´2
∂x6 x=x0 Lof f −Lon
x06 xon −xof f
− L of f
¯
∂f7 ¯¯ µ0 Ap N 2 x05
= 2
∂x5 ¯x=x0 mp (xof f − x06 )
¯ 2
∂f7 ¯¯ µ0 Ap N 2 (x05 ) ks
= 3 −
∂x6 ¯ 0
x=x m (x − x0 )
p of f 6
mp
93

Modeling and Control of Retarder Using On/Off Solenoid Valves

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Modeling and Control of Retarder Using On/Off Solenoid Valves

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Modeling and Control of Retarder using

On/Off Solenoid Valves

Masters’ Degree Project

The Retarder is one of the main components in Scania’s trucks’ braking

7 Conclusions and Future work 83

1.1 Functional description - schematic figure of the valve housing . 11

2.1 Valve Interior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

3.1 System Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

5.1 Pressure Change in the Dead Volume as Different Cd’s are

6.1 Error Feedback Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

This Master’s Thesis was conducted at Scania CV AB in Södertälje, Swe-

1.2 Thesis Objectives

1.3 Functional Description

Figure 1.1: Functional description - schematic figure of the valve housing

1.4 Actuation Requirements

• Filling and ventilation should not affect each other

• A pressure supply, Psup , should be used as input to the fill

Included in the general requirement list are requirements of endurance, mark-

• The regulating valve has a maximum actuating volume of Vr,max for

• Filling from atmospheric pressure, Patm , to 0.26Psup , should be per-

• Ventilation from 0.88Psup to 0.71Psup should be performed in less than

2.1 Scania’s Retarder

2.1.1 Retarder System Today

2.1.2 Retarder System Using On/Off Solenoid Valves

2.2 Dead Volume

2.3 Solenoid Valves

Air out Air in Air out

Figure 2.1: Valve Interior

As mentioned earlier, a valve can be normally open or normally closed. In

2.4 Equipment in Experiments

Figure 2.4: Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) Scheme

2.4.4 Pressure Sensor

A system can be seen as an object or a collection of objects which properties

Briefly said, a model of a system is a tool used to answer questions of the

3.1 System Description

Chamber Regulating Valve

Figure 3.1: System Description

Figure 3.2: Modeling of the System

3.2 ECU Model

Figure 3.4: Sub models for a solenoid valve

3.3.1 Electrical Model

Inserting (3.3) into (3.2), the electrical circuit expression becomes

lg (xa ) = lg,of f − xa (3.9)

3.3.3 Mechanical Model

mx¨a = FM + Fprs − Fpld − Fk − Fsf − Fb (3.11)

where p is the pressure and A is the affected body area.

where v is the armature’s velocity and b is the viscous friction coefficient.

where xa is the armature’s position.

3.3.4 Pneumatic Model

Rgas Tair mch Rgas mch Rgas Tair

where Ao is smallest outlet area, Cd the so called discharge coefficient, and

which is the cross-sectional area of the inlet orifice.

Figure 3.7: The outlet orifice A0

ṁ = ṁf ill − ṁvent (3.23)

Inserting (3.23) into (3.18) the pressure change is given by

3.4 Regulating Valve

Figure 3.8: The regulation valve at its maximum stroke

mplunge ẍplunge = Fprs,ch − Fprs,oil − Fk − Ff riction − Fpld

• Are there any time delays in the system?

• For which duty cycles does the armature start to move/oscillate?

• For which duty cycles does the armature stay open?

• Does the ventilation valve differ from the filling valve?

• Does the temperature in the system’s environment have any effects on