Simulation and Evaluation Technique for Power System and

Related Energy Saving on Hydraulic Excavator

Takao NANJO, Dr. Etsujiro IMANISHI, Mechanical Engineering Research Laboratry, Technical Development Group,
KOBE STEEL, LTD.
Kazuhiro OOTANI, KOBELCO CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY CO., LTD.
Akira TSUTSUI, Production System Research Laboratory, Technical Development Group, KOBE STEEL, LTD.

A dynamic Simulation technique using SINDYS is

proposed for evaluating the energy efficiency of the
power system on the hydraulic excavator. An engine
evaluation system is also developed for evaluating the
engine fuel consumption and the matching between the
engine and the hydraulic system, which is valuable
system for newly developing hydraulic excavator.
ACERA Geospec excavator series has been commercially
available, through the successful development solving
the trade-off between the emission regulation and fuel
saving. This achievement was made possible through
the dynamic simulation of the power system and the
engine evaluation system.
Photo 1 ACERA Geospec
Introduction
and loading of the simulation results on the engines
Recent environmental concerns and raising oil price in real time.
have increased the need for energy saving of This article first introduces an analysis-evaluation
hydraulic excavators, with newly developed power technology for the power system of hydraulic
systems having higher efficiencies. It is difficult to excavators in practical operation and an engine
measure energy losses of an actual hydraulic excavator evaluation system, both of which were used in the
in practical operation, because a multiplicity of development of ACERA Geospec (Photo 1), which
actuators are operated simultaneously and detailed achieved energy saving of 20% and was began to be
energy evaluation on them cannot easily be done. sold by KOBELCO CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY
We developed a non-linear, dynamic analysis code, CO., LTD. in 2006. Finally, the article reports
SINDYS1), and have simulated various mechanical evaluation results from an actual machine.
systems including hydraulic systems2), 3). For energy
saving of excavators, we have applied SINDYS to the 1. Analytic theory of a hydraulic-mechanical
dynamic simulation of an excavator in practical coupling system
operation, to evaluate energies of its power system in
detail and to provide guidance for effective counter Both the mechanical system, including three
measures. dimensional movements of attachments, and the
The regulations on exhaust emissions from dynamics of the hydraulic system, actuating the
construction machinery have tightened, under attachments, have to be taken into consideration for
initiatives taken by Japan, Europe and USA, and the dynamic simulation of a hydraulic excavator
excavators, as they globalize, have to be equipped in practical operation. The analytic theory of such
with engines which meet all the regulations. Engine hydraulic-mechanical coupling system is first explained.
performance and response tend to be changed through
tightening regulations, making it important to evaluate 1.1 Dynamic equation for hydraulic-mechanical
the matching between engines and hydraulic systems. coupling systems
In response to this, an engine evaluation bench
was developed to evaluate engine fuel consumption The dynamic equation, discretized by a Finite Element
and matching with hydraulic systems under actual Method (FEM), is expressed by the following second
work loads. In addition, a Hardware In the Loop order differential equation of motion;
‥ ・
Simulation (HILS) system for engines was developed Mu n＋1＋Cun＋1＋Kun＋1＝fn＋1−fn ………………(1)
to enable simulation of work loads during practical where, un＋1, in the mechanical system, is the
operation in accordance with lever manipulations displacement vector at time tn＋1 and, in the hydraulic

KOBELCO TECHNOLOGY REVIEW NO. 27 NOV. 2007 28

 system, is a vector showing a state variable, such as external force fn and combined to the dynamic
the integral of hydraulic fluid flow rate. M, C, K are equation (1). The theory applies to large displacement
mass, damping and stiffness matrices respectively truss elements in a similar manner.
which are linearized at time tn, fn＋1 is an external
force at time tn＋1 and fn is a term for correction 1.3 Analytic theory of hydraulic system5）
external force for linearization of a non-linear
element force by a time step. A cylinder element is considered as a basic element
in a hydraulic-mechanical coupling analysis. The
1.2 Analytic theory of mechanical system4) cylinder is assumed to have a stroke of the telescopic
motion, according to flow in and out of hydraulic oil
When a body moves widely in a space, the geometrical from a port, and to change its pressure corresponding
nonlinearities of the element have to be taken into to the load applied to the element edges. The relation
account. This article takes a beam element that moves between the increment Δu’ in the integral of
in a three-dimensional space, as an example of hydraulic fluid flow rate and increment Δp’ in
such nonlinear elements. Figure 1 shows element pressure is determined in the element coordinate
coordinate systems of beam elements, wherein the system. The following equation is obtained by
coordinate systems at the ends A and B at time tn are transforming the relation into the relations between
ω A, ω B; the coordinate systems rotating with node the increments Δu in node displacement, Δup in the
displacement at time tn＋1 are ω ’A, ω ’B; in which ω ’A, integral flow rate, Δf in node force and Δp in the
ω ’B are oriented in arbitral directions; ω ”A, ω ”B are port pressure;
coordinate systems having a common third axis with ΔfA （A＋W）−
（A＋W）λAkx ΔuA
∼ ∼
each other ; and ω A(＝ω B) are coordinate systems                     
ΔfB ＝ − （A＋W） −λAkx ΔuB ……
（A＋W） （5）
having common axis. The rotational deformation Δp λAkxT −λAkxT λ2k Δup
vector due to elastic deformation is obtained from the where A＝kAc xx /Vc; W＝pA（I−xxT）/lt; k＝κ/Vc; X,
2 T

∼
transformation matrix from ω A to ω ’A. Potential the direction cosine vector; Ac, the cylinder cross
energy is obtained from the rotational deformation sectional area; Vc, hydraulic oil volume in the cylinder;
vector, taking its second order term into consideration, λ, a coefficient for indicating flow direction; and p,
and the geometric stiffness matrix kg is obtained by the cylinder internal pressure. In equation (5), the
deriving by the displacement two times. On the other integral of hydraulic fluid flow rate and the node
hand, the following incremental element stiffness displacement of the link system are coupled, making
equation is obtained, where k0 is the element stiffness coupling analysis possible. Although the above
matrix in the conventional linear theory. equation expresses the balance on the head side, the
(k0＋kg)Δu’＝Δf ’ …………………………………(2) balance on the rod side is expressed in a similar
The above equation is transformed to the total manner. Other factors, such as mass, proportional
coordination system to give the follows; damping, stroke end stoppers and friction resistance,
KTΔu＝Δf ………………………………………(3) are also taken into consideration.
where, Other hydraulic elements are defined by basic
T
KT＝T（k 0＋kg） T …………………………………(4) equations and characteristics. The elements, such as
T is a coordinate transformation matrix from the element damping coefficient, are determined from
∼
total coordination system to ω A, which enables strict relations in the incremental system as described
determination of large displacements when used above, and integrated into the dynamic equation of
with a rotation matrix. The equation (3) is transformed the total system by introducing the correction external
to the total displacement by introducing the correction force.

Y’
A
1.3.1 Piping element
X’
A
YA
ω’A
Z’A Y’
B
Y”A In a three port element having three divisions, the
ωA XA tn＋1 X”
YB X’
B ω”
A
relation between the pressure p at each node point
ZA ω’ A Y” B
tn
B Z ”A and the integral of flow rate u is given by the
YA0 XB Z’B tn＋1
X”
ωB B
ZB ∼
Y（＝
∼
Y ）
ω” B
Z ”B
equation (6), and the resulting element coefficient
XA0 YB0 A B
ωA0 matrix gives the element stiffness matrix.
ZA0 t0 Y”B Y”A
XB0
ωB0 X”
P1 κ λ12 λ1λ2 λ1λ3 u1
B
ZB0
tn＋1 ∼
X（＝
∼
XB）                 
P2 ＝ λ1λ2 λ22 λ2λ3 u2 ………………(6)
A
V0 2
X”
A P3 λ1λ3 λ2λ3 λ31 u3
Fig. 1 Element coodinate systems of beam elemet where;κ, volume elastic modulus of hydraulic oil;λ,

29 KOBELCO TECHNOLOGY REVIEW NO. 27 NOV. 2007

coordinate transformation coefficients showing in- control of actual pump operation is simulated. The
flow and out-flow at each port. volume efficiency of the hydraulic pump is modeled
The pressure loss due to piping is defined as as an equivalent variable opening, and the torque
follows, using differential pressure Δp and flow rate losses of mechanics are modeled as non-linear
q. damping elements to the rotational degree of freedom.
Δp＝c1q1.75＋c2q2 …………………………………(7)
where, the first term in the right member represents 1.4 Analytic theory of engine
the pressure loss of a straight pipe and the second term
represents pressure losses due to rapid expansion/ The engine is a diesel engine with an electronic
reduction, bend, elbow and such. The term c1 is a governor. The electronic governor computes a rack
coefficient determined by the length and diameter of position and the driving torque of the position from
the straight pipe, while c2 is a coefficient determined the signal of engine rotation control.
‥ ・
by other factors such as rapid expansion/reduction, Jeθe＝Te(θe, xr)−Tl ……………………………(10)
・
bend and elbow. where; Je, engine inertia moment; θe, engine rotation
speed; Tl, loaded torque; xr, fuel injection amount;
・
1.3.2 Valve element and the driving torque Te(θe, xr) is the engine output
torque determined from the engine bench data.
Each control valve is assumed to have a variable The fuel consumption is calculated from the engine
opening and the differential pressure at each metering rotation and fuel injection amount. Dynamic engine
valve is defined as follows. characteristics are approximated to the actual
1 ρ 2 performance by setting a delay in the control logic of
ΔP＝ 2q ……………………………(8)
2（c0εA0） the fuel injection command.
where; c0 is a coefficient for flow; A0, full opening
area; ε, valve opening; and ρ, hydraulic oil density. 2. The excavation work analysis of an excavator
The valve opening at each port is a function of the
valve stroke. Digging and 90º swing are operations, in which the
machine performance is most well evaluated among
1.3.3 Check valve, Relief valve other excavator operations. A dynamic analysis was
carried out on these operations to evaluate the fuel
Check valves for directional control and relief valves consumption during the operations
for pressure control are defined as damping
elements, wherein the relation between the differential 2.1 Analytical model of an hydraulic excavator
pressure Δp and flow rate q has piecewise-linear
characteristics. The linkage model of an excavator is shown in Figure
2. The attachment of the hydraulic excavator comprises
1.3.4 Hydraulic pump element a boom, arm and bucket, which are connected by
pins to the upper body. In addition, the upper main
The hydraulic pump controls its pumping capacity
variably with an operation lever and supplies
pressurized oil to actuators. The motive power of
engine rotation axis is converted into hydraulic Arm
power, and the relation between the motive power cylinder
torque of the engine and the discharge pressure of Boom
Swing
the hydraulic pump is expressed by equation (9).  cylinder
motor
Tr λ12 λ1λ2 θ
＝ …………………………(9)
P λ1λ2 λ22 u Beam
Bucket
Where; θ, rotation angle of hydraulic pump; u, the cylinder
integral of hydraulic fluid flow rate; Tr, output torque ：Center of gravity

of the hydraulic pump; and P is the pump discharge

pressure. The term λ is a coordinate transformation
coefficient, which enables coupling between the Load
pump rotation system and the hydraulic flow
system by assuming λ1 being the transformation
coefficient equivalent to the hydraulic pump capacity.
By making λ1 variable against time, pump capacity Fig. 2 Linkage model of hydraulic excavator

KOBELCO TECHNOLOGY REVIEW NO. 27 NOV. 2007 30

 Control valve Experiment

Cylinder stroke (cm)
Boom cylinder Analysis
Bucket
cylinder
Arm Bucket Arm cylinder
spool spool
Arm cylinder
Swing Boom
spool spool 0 5 10 15 20 25
Boom Time (s)
Swing motor cylinder Experiment
Analysis

Pump power (kW)
Tank Pump Engine

Fig. 3 Hydraulic system of hydraulic excavator

0 5 10 15 20 25
structure, along with the attachments, rotates by a Time (s)
hydraulic motor via a rotary bearing. Each portion of
attachments is modeled using a large displacement

Fuel flow (l/min)
beam element. The rotational degree of freedom at
each pin joint is defined in each coordinate system of
the member, which is treated independently from
others. The weight of each element is treated as Experiment
Analysis
weight concentrated on its center of gravity.
Figure 3 shows the hydraulic system of the 0 5 10 15 20 25
Time (s)
excavator. The hydraulic system has a hydraulic oils
source with a pump driven by the engine. The flows Fig. 4 Comparison of experiment and analysis concerning
digging operation 図■ ■
to the cylinders and motors are controlled by levers
Fig. ■ ■
which adjust the openings of hydraulic control
valves. The pump has a variable capacity and controls
its discharge amount depending on the load. 90º swing operation.
A dynamic motion analysis was carried out on The results verifies the validity of the analysis
actuators, using the input values of operation levers according to the above described approach, showing
for the four actuators including the boom, arm, the simulated movements, pump power and fuel
bucket and swing. In excavation, there are acting consumption matching well with the actual
external forces such as reactive forces acted during measurement, with errors of 2% or less for the pump
excavation of soil and weight of the soil excavated in power and fuel consumption. Thus, it is confirmed
the bucket. The reactive forces acted during excavation that individual characteristics of devices, such as
are defined as viscosity resistances proportional to hydraulic pump, control valves and piping, reflect
the bucket tip speed, while the weight of the soil is the actual operation well.
calculated based on the amount of the soil in the
bucket depending on the bucket angle and bucket 3. Approach to energy saving
position against the ground.
The above analysis provides not only macroscopic
2.2 Analytical result performance such as the fuel consumption and pump
power, but also element forces (pressure losses) and
Figure 4 shows a comparison between the values, passing flow rate for all the modeled elements. From
actually measured for a digging and 90º swing those state variables, power loss for each element is
operation, and the analytical results, verifying the calculated to determine detailed loss contributions.
accuracy of analyzed values. The upper graph shows The following describes the energy saving technology
the comparisons for the boom cylinder and arm to which the analysis is applied.
cylinder displacements as actuator movement
examples, the graph in the middle shows the 3.1 The loss contribution analysis
comparison for the pump power and the bottom
graph shows the comparison for the fuel consumption. Figure 5 shows losses classified by elements, including
All the graphs include two cycles of the digging and the hydraulic system piping, valve opening and valve

31 KOBELCO TECHNOLOGY REVIEW NO. 27 NOV. 2007

 Check valve Current system
Relief valve Improved system

Pump power (kW)
Return circuit
Valve opening
Valve inner pass
Piping
Loss power (kW)

0 5 10 15 20 25
Time (s)

Current system
Improved system

Fuel flow (l/min)
Time (s)

Fig. 5 Simulation result of loss power contribution

passage, as an example of loss contribution analysis.

0 5 10 15 20 25
The element having the largest loss contribution is Time (s)
the control valve opening, followed by valve passage
Fig. 6 Simulation result of improved energy-saving system
loss, piping loss and relief valve loss, the later three
having almost the same contribution. The target loss
reduction elements were extracted from the result. procedure. A remarkable reduction is observed in the
pump power under operations with large losses. The
3.2 Consideration on energy saving fuel efficiency is improved significantly by the
combined control of the engine and pump, both
The following procedure was taken for the energy operating at high efficiencies.
saving. The accumulated effect of consumed energy
(a) Extraction of the energy loss to be reduced from reduction was 20%. The actual machine, built later,
all the energy loss including losses required for performed as simulated, verifying the effectiveness
operation. of the approach for the development of various
(b) Setting of reduction target for each portion, machines.
considering the loss occurring at the portion.
(c) Change of specifications to achieve the energy 4. Development of the engine evaluation system
loss reduction, including control method for the
valves and pump. 4.1 Preparation of the engine evaluation test bench
(d) Verification on the quantitative effect of the above
methods by analytical evaluation. In order to satisfy both the emission regulations and
(e) Verification of trouble-free operations other than energy saving, the fuel consumption evaluation and
the operations evaluated. the matching evaluation of engine and hydraulic
(f) Calculation of cost and evaluation of cost performance system are important. Because of this, an engine
of the energy saving before implementation. evaluation test bench, which can apply a load
The procedure (c) to (f) was repeated for each equivalent to actual engines, was prepared.
portion to determine the optimum specification. The test bench has the following features.
Similar loss analysis was carried out separately on (1) Any load applied to the engine can be reproduced
apparatuses, such as the hydraulic pump and engine. repeatedly.
Frequently used conditions were determined for those (2) Responses to momentary loads on the engine can
apparatuses and the conditions were examined for be evaluated.
their efficiency for the characteristics of the apparatuses. (3) The bench can be controlled by a shovel controller.
Efficiency improvements were implemented for the The engine dynamometer was the main focus in
frequently used conditions. the development of the bench. Originally an engine
dynamometer with a small inertia was considered.
3.3 Effect of the measures for energy saving The dynamometer has recently become popular for
the HILS of automobiles and trucks, however, it was
Figure 6 shows the simulation results of energy saving found to be inapplicable because its fastest load input
on items extracted as targets according to the above duration time was in the order of several hundred

KOBELCO TECHNOLOGY REVIEW NO. 27 NOV. 2007 32

 ms, which is too slow for the evaluation of actual 4.3 Bench evaluation of the engine
hydraulic load in the order of several to several tens
ms. As a result, a load control configuration having The engine evaluation test bench allows evaluation
a hydraulic pump and variable relief valve was of energy saving effect of engine control methods
selected. The variable relief valve for pressure and loss reductions based on simulated results,
control is an electromagnetic proportional valve, without using an actual hydraulic excavator.
having a good response less than about 30 ms for 20 The load analysis is done using the measurement
ton class. data on the test bench based on the simulated load
pattern. The resultant data are fed to the engine
4.2 Development of the engine HILS system manufacturer to optimize the engine fuel consumption.
The system allows quick confirmation on performance
The test bench was evaluated in advance by applying of Electronic Control Unit (ECU) with improved fuel
loads set by simulations by SINDYS. In addition, we efficiency made by the engine manufacturer and thus
developed an engine HILS system, in which a real facilitate cooperation with the engine manufacturer
time simulation of lever input operation provides the to improve the fuel efficiency. Figure 8 shows the
engine the load corresponding to the simulation result, progress in the engine development.
the simulation being the method for reproducing For engine control, a regulation control, which has
actual lever operations. Figure 7 shows a conceptual been proven in conventional engines, was originally
diagram of the engine HILS system. The system considered. However, a decision was made to apply
comprises a control and measurement section and a an isochronous speed control (Figure 9), which can
simulation section, both of which communicate with slightly reduce revolution, to further improve the
each other in real time through PCs on the respective fuel efficiency.
sections. The isochronous control was evaluated for its
The system controls the pump and engine by energy saving effect from the power and fuel efficiency
providing commands to the shovel controller from perspectives on the engine bench to confirm its
the load pattern which is either simulated, or actually advantages and disadvantages before the decision.
measured. The system also reproduces the actual The series of simulation test indicated the
load by providing pressure signals to the variable possibility of achieving the energy saving target of
relief valve. 20%. The simulated results coincide well with the
Even in the case that there is no load pattern, a
dynamic performance evaluation of a power system,
containing each engine operation, is made possible
Bad

×：Original
by the engine HILS system. ○：Kaizen Ⅱ
In addition, the above simulation system has an △：Kaizen Ⅲ
□：Kaizen Ⅴ(Proto spec.)
Fuel consumption

animation display which allows lever operations in

accordance with the attachment movement. Improved a engine fuel
Furthermore, the evaluation can be done by a consumption
b i kr

shovel controller which allows checking of the Kobelco target of

controller programs and control parameters. improvement
zone for fuel saving
Good

Virtual operation or Fig. 8 Improvement progress of engine fuel consumption

actual machine data
3.5

2.5

1.5

Machine controller
1

0.5

Isochronous
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

speed control
Engine torque

Control signal Simulator (or SINDYS)

Speed shift
Engine & control Regulation
I/O interface

hydraulic pump speed control

Variable relief Load control

valve & sensor signal

Fig. 7 Diagram of engine bench system Engine speed

Fig. 9 Outline figure of engine speed control

33 KOBELCO TECHNOLOGY REVIEW NO. 27 NOV. 2007

actual fuel consumption data both qualitatively and Table 1 Actual machine measurement result (light and heavy
quantitatively, verifying the validity of the test bench duty)
and load pattern. Productivity (m3/

)
Light duty digging
S mode H mode
5. Evaluation result of the actual machine Actual measurement result 12.1 10.5
A
Improvement vs. current machine 26％ 9％
An experimental machine, with a modified hydraulic Actual measurement result 11.8 10.4
B
system, was built to evaluate performance and effect Improvement vs. current machine 22％ 7％
of the modification. Reduction of pressure loss, Actual measurement result 11.5 10.2
C
which has been the main focus from the beginning, Improvement vs. current machine 31％ 16％
was evaluated. The evaluation on the experimental
Productivity (m3/

)
machine achieved the substantial improvement of Heavy duty digging
S mode H mode
the workload.
Actual measurement result 6.0 6.3
In addition, adversities, such as incoherence in the A
Improvement vs. current machine 11％ 17％
control logic, were also confirmed by the experimental
Actual measurement result 7.0 6.6
machine. Fuel consumption changing the control B
Improvement vs. current machine 43％ 35％
logic was fed back to the SINDYS sequentially to
Note) ・Measured by digging with 90 degree swing
check each effect and the evaluation of energy saving
・These results are not same in the case of actual use.
was proceeded.
Operation property, a feature of our machine, was
evaluated using the experimental machine to make Conclusions
sure that the increase of attachment speed, due to the
reduction of pressure loss, will not give any adverse The non-linear dynamic analysis code SINDYS was
effect on the operation property. The result was effectively used for the evaluation of the energy
reflected on the experimental machine to fine tune efficiency in the hydraulic excavator power system.
the operation property with minimum pressure loss. The result has lead to a measure to effectively reduce
The operation property was further improved on the energy consumption.
the experimental machine before evaluation of An engine evaluation system, capable of both the
energy saving effect on an actual machine. The fuel efficiency evaluation and matching evaluation
energy saving evaluation on the actual machine was between engine and hydraulic system, was developed
based on the comparison with a current machine. and was verified of its validity. The analytical
Digging and 90º swing operations were evaluated. technology was applied to the development of ACERA
The result indicates that 20% reduction of fuel Geospec which successfully achieved energy saving
consumption is achieved in energy saving mode (S of 20% (S-mode) and improvement of work load (H-
mode) and 8% in heavy duty mode (H-mode), both mode)by 8%.
satisfy the original targets. Table 1 summarize energy We will continue to work on energy saving
saving effects of three machines (A, B and C). The technologies and contribute to the conservation of
results were summarized in the order of productivity global environment.
(per a given fuel quantity).
The results indicate that the productivity is References
improved significantly for both the S mode and H
mode compared to the current machine and the 1) T. Fujikawa et al., R&D Kobe Steel Engineering Reports, Vol.34,
original targets have been achieved sufficiently. The No.3, p.109 (1984).
2) E. Imanishi et al., Proc. Adv. Mechatro., p.365 (1989).
achievement is sufficient enough for operators to 3) E. Imanishi et al., R&D Kobe Steel Engineering Reports, Vol.48,
actually feel the energy saving effect compared to the No.2, p.14 (1998).
conventional machines. 4) H. Zui et al., Transacion of the Japan Society of Mechanical
Engineers, Vol.52, No.483, C, p.2814 (1986).
5) E. Imanishi et al., Transacion of the Japan Society of Mechanical
Engineers, Vol.53, No.492, C, p.1171 (1987).

KOBELCO TECHNOLOGY REVIEW NO. 27 NOV. 2007 34