Fundamentals of Fluid Power
Description
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About this course: Fluid power has the highest power density of all conventional power-transmission technologies. Learn the benefits and limitations of fluid power, how to analyze fluid power components and circuits, and how to design and simulate fluid power circuits for applications. In this course, you will be introduced to the fundamental principles and analytical modeling of fluid power components, circuits, and systems. You will learn the benefits and limitations of fluid power compared with other power transmission technologies; the operation, use, and symbols of common hydraulic components; how to formulate and analyze models of hydraulic components and circuits; and how to desi…
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When you enroll for courses through Coursera you get to choose for a paid plan or for a free plan .
- Free plan: No certicification and/or audit only. You will have access to all course materials except graded items.
- Paid plan: Commit to earning a Certificate—it's a trusted, shareable way to showcase your new skills.
About this course: Fluid power has the highest power density of all conventional power-transmission technologies. Learn the benefits and limitations of fluid power, how to analyze fluid power components and circuits, and how to design and simulate fluid power circuits for applications. In this course, you will be introduced to the fundamental principles and analytical modeling of fluid power components, circuits, and systems. You will learn the benefits and limitations of fluid power compared with other power transmission technologies; the operation, use, and symbols of common hydraulic components; how to formulate and analyze models of hydraulic components and circuits; and how to design and predict the performance of fluid power circuits. This course is supported by the National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power, and is endorsed by the National Fluid Power Association, the leading industry trade group in fluid power.
Who is this class for: Our target audience for this course includes the following: 1. New engineering hires to a company that uses (or wants to use) fluid power. 2. Engineering graduate students engaged in a research project that uses fluid power. 3. Engineering undergraduate students who wish to be exposed to fluid power. 4. Anyone with a curiosity who wishes to gain a deeper understanding for how fluid power systems work.
Created by: University of Minnesota-
Taught by: James D. Van De Ven, PhD, Assistant Professor
Mechanical Engineering -
Taught by: Will Durfee, PhD, Morse Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor
Mechanical Engineering
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University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota is among the largest public research universities in the country, offering undergraduate, graduate, and professional students a multitude of opportunities for study and research. Located at the heart of one of the nation’s most vibrant, diverse metropolitan communities, students on the campuses in Minneapolis and St. Paul benefit from extensive partnerships with world-renowned health centers, international corporations, government agencies, and arts, nonprofit, and public service organizations.Syllabus
WEEK 1
Week 1: Fundamentals of Fluid Power
This week: An overview of the course, introduction to hydraulics and pneumatics, and introduction to fundamental concepts of fluid power through the cylinder.
9 videos, 10 readings expand
- Video: Promotional video
- Reading: Start Here!
- Reading: Syllabus
- Video: Course Overview
- Reading: Simscape Fluids (formerly SimHydraulics) Information
- Reading: Learning objectives
- Video: What is fluid power?
- Video: Hydraulics and Pneumatics
- Video: Fluid Power compared to Electric Motors
- Reading: Video Slides
- Reading: Background Material
- Reading: Objectives
- Video: Introducing the Cylinder
- Video: Fluid power variables and units
- Video: Theory: Two fundamental laws, important to fluid power
- Video: Efficiency
- Reading: Video Slides
- Reading: Background Material
- Reading: Homework problems
- Discussion Prompt: Main Forum (Week 1)
- Discussion Prompt: Experience with Fluid Power
- Discussion Prompt: Fluid Power Actuators
Graded: Week 1 Quiz
WEEK 2
Week 2: Components and Concepts: Part 1
This week: circuit diagrams, the written language of fluid power, and how fluid flows through conduits. We hope that you find the hydraulic circuits on the mowing machine as interesting as we did.
5 videos, 7 readings expand
- Reading: Objectives
- Video: Schematic Diagrams
- Reading: Video Slides
- Reading: Background Material
- Reading: Objectives
- Video: Introducing Conduits
- Video: Fluid Viscosity
- Video: Pressure Drop in Pipes
- Video: Pressure Drop in Fittings
- Reading: Video Slides
- Reading: Background Material
- Reading: Homework problems
- Discussion Prompt: Main Forum (Week 2)
- Discussion Prompt: Moody Diagram
- Discussion Prompt: Analyze the Moody diagram
- Discussion Prompt: Plumbing efficient fluid power systems
Graded: Week 2
WEEK 3
Week 3: Components and Concepts: Part 2
This will be a busy week diving into valves and pumps. We will discuss how basic valves function, how to use them in hydraulic circuits, and how to calculate pressure drop for a given flow rate, or vice versa. The videos will directly address the discussion on the forum about seeing hydraulic components working in real world circuits. In our discussion of pumps we will look at many different positive displacement pumps, exploring flow ripple and pump efficiency, look at the supporting components that form a hydraulic power supply, and see how we can make a transmission with a hydraulic pump and a motor. We are now into the heart of this course; we hope you enjoy seeing the components come together into useful circuits.
9 videos, 10 readings expand
- Reading: Objectives
- Video: Valve Introduction
- Video: Theory: Orifice flow
- Video: Check Valves
- Reading: Video Slides
- Reading: Background Material
- Reading: Objectives
- Video: Introducing Pumps
- Video: Library of Pumps
- Video: Pump Flow Ripple
- Reading: Video Slides
- Reading: Background Material
- Reading: Objectives
- Video: Pumping Efficiency
- Video: Basic Hydraulic Power Supply
- Video: Pump Application: Hydrostatic transmission
- Reading: Video Slides
- Reading: Background Material
- Reading: Homework Problems
- Discussion Prompt: Main Forum (Week 3)
- Discussion Prompt: Pumping Efficiency
- Discussion Prompt: Pilot-operated Pressure Relief Valve
Graded: Week 3
WEEK 4
Week 4: Predicting Performance Through Simulation
This week is entirely devoted to you learning how to use Simscape Fluids (formerly SimHydraulics), the fluid power simulation application that we use in the course. The lecture provides an introduction to computer-based, object-oriented simulation, and goes through a demo of using Simscape Fluids. The homework assignment contains the real work because this is where you will learn to use Simscape Fluids. The homework ends with an open-ended problem that encourages you to branch out on your own and create and run simulations based on examples listed in the course Simscape Fluids resource page or on any other fluid power system that interests you. We will be monitoring the discussion boards to help you with any technical problems with Simscape Fluids. *NOTE: The lecture videos were created using an earlier version of SimHydraulics; some small difference exist with the most recent version of Simscape Fluids, but the general approach is the same. *THERE IS NO QUIZ THIS WEEK as we recognize that a few of you may not be able to get Simscape Fluids running on your computer. Happy simulating!
1 video, 6 readings expand
- Reading: Objectives
- Video: Simulation
- Reading: Download and install Simscape Fluids
- Reading: Video Slides
- Reading: Background Material
- Reading: Homework problems
- Discussion Prompt: Main Forum (Week 4)
- Discussion Prompt: Share your projects
- Reading: Week 4 Quiz: *THERE IS NO QUIZ FOR THIS WEEK.
WEEK 5
Week 5: Fluid Properties
This week we will take a dive into hydraulic fluids (no pun intended) and how their properties and behavior influence the circuit operation. In the lectures, you will see the water hammer effect and explore the assumption of fluid incompressibility. We encourage you to use your new knowledge of fluid behavior and simulation to create virtual experiments that explore how fluid properties influence the behavior of a circuit. Share your observations on the discussion forum.
3 videos, 4 readings expand
- Reading: Objectives
- Video: Hydraulic Fluids
- Video: Fluid Compressibility
- Video: Fluid Inertia
- Reading: Video Slides
- Reading: Background Material
- Reading: Homework problems
- Discussion Prompt: Main Forum (Week 5)
- Discussion Prompt: Water-hammer phenomenon
- Discussion Prompt: Water as a hydraulic fluid
Graded: Week 5
WEEK 6
Week 6: Advanced Components and Systems and Course Summary
This week you will learn about two new components, the accumulator, which stores hydraulic energy, and the servo valve, which provides fast and precise flow control. We will then be pulling together topics from throughout the course to look at servo hydraulic systems and hydraulic hybrid vehicles. You will get a chance to use simulation to explore how these advanced systems function and how the behavior of individual components influences the system operation.
8 videos, 11 readings expand
- Reading: Objectives
- Video: Accumulators
- Reading: Video Slides
- Reading: Background Material
- Reading: Objectives
- Video: Introduction to Servohydraulics
- Video: Servovalve Operation
- Video: Servohydraulic Circuit
- Reading: Video Slides
- Reading: Background Material
- Reading: Objectives
- Video: Introduction to Hydraulic Hybrid Vehicles
- Video: Hydraulic Hybrid Architectures
- Video: Hydraulic Hybrid Vehicles: Component Sizing & System Simulation
- Reading: Video Slides
- Reading: Background Material
- Video: Course Summary
- Reading: Video Slides
- Reading: Homework Problems
- Discussion Prompt: Main Forum (Week 6)
- Discussion Prompt: Homework problem 10
- Discussion Prompt: Homework problem 11
Graded: Week 6 Quiz
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