Analysis of decay characteristics of an accumulator in an open-circuit hydrostatic system with pump loading

The effects of the decay characteristics of a hydraulic accumulator on the responses of the hydrostatic drive system used in mining vehicles are studied in this article. The system considered for the analysis basically consists of a hydraulic pump, hydro-motor, accumulator and a loading circuit. The studies have been carried out with respect to two different sizes of accumulators. The system model has been made in MATLAB/Simulink ® environment. The simulation test results are obtained with respect to the hydro-motor speeds and the system pressure at different resistive loads and capacities of the accumulator and they are verified with the experimental test data. Using the validated model, the parametric studies are also made on the speed responses of the hydrostatic drive for different precharge pressures of the accumulator and inertial load on the motor shaft. The studies made in this article may be useful for the selection of proper capacity of accumulators incorporated in the hydrostatic drive system in mining vehicles.