IFAS - Institute for Fluid Power Drives and Controls 

Location Aachen, Germany
Contact Person Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hubertus Murrenhoff
Staff 45 (without students)
Operational idea Research and education in fluid power
Main research areas Bio fluids, Piezo-Technology, Condition Monitoring, Coating- and sealing technology
Laboratory facilities About 1250 m², 60 test rigs
Address Steinbachstr. 53 B
52074 Aachen, Germany
Telephone number +49 241 80 27514
Fax number +49 241 80 22194
Email post@ifas.rwth-aachen.de
Internet Site http://www.rwth-aachen.de/ifas/

From Editor

International Journal of Fluid Power would like to introduce the fluid power research and education centres with their expertise and particular interests in this column. Jumping from continent to continent we like to offer every research centre the opportunity to present itself.


FLUID POWER RESEARCH CENTRES WORLD-WIDE

General Information

The Institute of Fluid Power Transmission and Control (IFAS) at RWTH in Aachen is one of the largest institutions of its kind to be involved in theory and research into all aspects of fluid technology. Apart from mechanical engineering, this also includes other subjects, such as information technology, servo-control engineering, electrical engineering, tribology and chemistry.
Changes in the underlying social-political conditions characterize the requirements and developments of fluid technology for the new millennium. Greater environmental awareness, as well as such new technologies as mechatronics, surface coating techniques or electronic bus systems lead to solutions that open up new perspectives and fields of application for fluid-power systems.
A motivated team of up-and-coming young scientists takes on the challenges presented by this multifarious area of study. The intensive national and international contacts established between the institute and manufacturers / users of fluid power components and systems, as well as other research facilities, ensure that its activities are always oriented towards the needs of actual requirements.


Aims

Aim of IFAS is to initiate continuous advances in the specialised field of fluid technology by means of innovative research and development. The foundation for this is achieved by the integration of motivated students and trainees and the qualification of young engineers, who are given the opportunity to obtain their doctorates. This means that communication of practical tuition and further training not only contributes towards expounding and further developing fluid technology, but also towards the success of a professionally satisfying career.


Structure


Fig. 1: Structure of IFAS



Research fields

The research areas at IFAS are divided into five groups presented in the following chapters:

1. The "Tribology and Fluid Analysis" group is conducting research into the changes that take place in components, fluids and hydraulic systems under the load to which they are subjected as a result of the transmission of power and contamination. A high priority rating is given to the development of testing methods that provide fast results that are relevant to practical application within the framework of the work performed by this group.
Apart from the fundamental analysis and optimization of fluids and tribological systems, research is also focussed on special media, such as electro-rheological (ER) fluids or oils that are both multifunctional and environmentally compatible. Online oil condition monitoring in hydraulic machines is another currently relevant subject for this group.


Fig. 2: Viscosity measurements constitute an important factor within the framework of multi-sensor data acquisition for online oil condition monitoring in hydraulic machine


Current research areas:

2. The "Pump and Motor Technology" group is involved in the research and development of hydrostatic displacement units. Its work is primarily focussed on developing new components and improving the environmental compatibility of component characteristics.
One important prerequisite for this is achieved by developing design tools for displacement units. Development objectives are essentially oriented towards improving the tribological systems and using new materials and surface coatings, as well as recording and calculating the noise generated by displacement units and developing constructive measures to reduce noise on the basis of the results.


Fig. 3: Test rig for the investigation of tribological contacts in displacement units


Current research areas:

3. The research work performed by the "Valve Technology and Mechatronics" group is focussed on the development and optimisation of fluidic valves, actuators and sensors.
Increasingly stringent requirements and innovative drives have led to sophisticated mechatronic systems, comprising proportional valves and servo valves with integrated mechanical components, actuators and sensors.
Further developments aim to systematically improve these components and to integrate them into fluid power systems. They also take aspects that are relevant to environmental compatibility into consideration, such as decreasing the drive power for valves, reducing noise and leakage.

Fig. 4: High dynamic actuated piezo valve


Current research areas:

4. The "System Engineering and Control technology" group conducts research into the dynamic system performance and energy consumption of fluid power drives. IFAS has gathered extensive experience in the mathematical modelling of fluidic components which provides the foundation for these developments. The development of modern open and closed-loop control concepts and rugged adaptation strategies constitute a significant focal point of the development work, simplifying the integration of hydraulic systems for the user to an increasing extent.
Based on the results of previous research projects, this group is now concentrating its efforts on working out automatic commissioning strategies and achieving a reduction in the energy input of fluid power drives.


Fig. 5: The implementation of Condition Monitoring Functions in the peripheral control architecture closes an observation-loop for the fluid power drive via control room and maintenance personnel


Current research areas:

5. The work performed by the "Pneumatics" group involves the investigation and development of pneumatic components and systems. The continuing trend towards reducing the size of pneumatic components is being supported by projects in the fields of miniaturization and minimization of the power required for pilot control of valves. As conventional manufacturing technology has reached its limits in this respect, special attention is being concentrated on investigating the use of micro-mechanical components.
The applicability of servo-pneumatics is being extended within the scope of handling and automation technology. Highly flexible grippers and artificial ro-botic hands are being developed by miniaturizing drives and using on-off valves.


Fig. 6: The high flexibility of the Aachen IFAS/Hand demonstrates the potential for miniaturization in pneumatics


Current research areas:

The IFAS concerns itself with numerous group-independent aspects that are also referred to as inter-group topics. These include acoustics, automotive, handling technology, microsystems, production engineering, simulation and environmental technology.
For an example the topic simulation is described in greater detail below:
Simulation is used as an instrument for development and enhancement throughout the entire field of fluid power technology. It is applied to the design and dimensioning of components and systems to the same extent as the computation of static and dynamic performance. There are diverse programs that have been developed and tested under practical conditions within the framework of various projects and have then been brought up to market maturity standard. An example for this is the simulation tool DSHplus which achieves a high distribution in the branch of fluid power technology. Today it’s marketed, distributed and updated by FLUIDON GmbH, a Spin Off of IFAS in 1995 (www.fluidon.com). A number of commercial programs are also used in parallel with these, to simulate flow behaviour, for instance or for FEM analyses. For these programs as well, modules considering the special demands of fluid power technology are being developed.


Conference: IFK

Aiming to achieve an intensive exchange of information, the biannual International Fluid Power Conference (IFK) addresses users, manufacturers and scientists in the field of hydraulic and pneumatic engineering. The IFK is one of the largest conferences of its kind and is being organized by the IFAS in cooperation with the Fluid Power Section of the German Engineering Federation, (VDMA) and the Society of Advancement for Fluid Power Technology (Fördervereinigung, Fluidtechnik e.V.). At the last conference in spring 2002 about 550 international guest were welcomed at IFAS. 4th IFK will be conducted in Dresden/Germany in March 2004.


 

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