Design of a Dual Piezoelectric Controlled Electrohydraulic Actuator

This research is concerned with the design, modeling, and testing of a dual piezoelectric controlled electro-hydraulic actuator for use in camless engine applications. The design utilizes two piezoelectric actuated spool valves located on either side of a piston to effectively control the volume and timing of pressurized oil entering and exiting the piston chamber. A system model relating spool displacement to piston displacement was created and tested within Matlab/Simulink. To demonstrate the design, a bench top prototype was created and programmed using Matlab/Simulink, dSpace, and ControlDesk. Testing was conducted using both time domain and frequency analysis. All test results indicate a close correlation between the prototype and the final system model.