Mechatronics 16 (2006) 365378

Development of electro-pneumatic fast switching valve and

investigation of its characteristics
_
Elif Erzan Topcu, Ibrahim
Yuksel *, Zeliha Kams
University of Uludag, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 16059 Bursa, Turkey
Received 15 March 2005; accepted 18 January 2006

Abstract
The paper describes the development of an electrically operated pneumatic fast-switching valve for pneumatic position control systems. The valve was designed and fabricated as an ono valve with 2/2-way function and its characteristics were investigated. The
detailed theoretical analysis and preliminary tests were carried out on the manufactured valve and showed that the switching time of
the single stage valve is about 4.5 ms and provides a 460 l/min of ow rate at standard air conditions. Production and assembling of
the valve is rather simple and does not need a manufacturing operation with tight tolerance and therefore, it is envisaged as a low cost
valve. The four of 2/2-way function valves are applicable for the realization of pneumatic actuators driving with a well-known established
technique of the pulse width modulation (PWM).
 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Electro-pneumatic; Fast switching solenoid valve; PWM; Mechatronic

1. Introduction
Electro-pneumatic control valves are used as interfaces
to electronic controls to allow the innitely variable electrical remote adjustment of uid ow of the valve output
driving a pneumatic actuator. There are two types of
electro-pneumatic valves used in the realizing control of
uid ow of the pneumatic actuator. These are servovalves
and ono valves.
The servovalves are used to achieve high linear control
accuracy in pneumatic actuators, but they have complex
structures and they are very costly. On the other hand,
owing to low cost, high ow rate gain, small size and simple
structure, the fast-switching ono valves that are used to
control the pneumatic actuators have received considerable
attention [1,2]. They are also known [3,4] as digital valves.
The ono switching valves are inherently nonlinear discrete electro-pneumatic converters. To obtain similar linear
*

Corresponding author.
_ Yuksel).
E-mail address: ibrahim@uludag.edu.tr (I.

0957-4158/$ - see front matter  2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.mechatronics.2006.01.005

characteristics of the servovalves with simple ono switching valves, pulse width modulation technique is used. To
reach a large modulated linear area, the valve switching
times must be very rapid during the short cycle time. The
limits of the modulation depend on the valve switching
times and the modulation frequency.
The conventional single stage solenoid operated ono
valves are very bulky and their dynamic performances are
low. With these valves, ne motion control is dicult to
achieve because of the limitation of the valve response
time. Therefore, it needs a fast switching valve to get a
good performance. As a result, a considerable amount of
research has been devoted to develop various position control systems using fast response ono solenoid valves
[57].
A very early application of pulse width modulation
schemes in uid power systems started with the adaptation
of conventional electro-hydraulic servo valves for using as
switching valves [8]. However, the rst application of pulsemodulated control in pneumatic systems emerged towards
the end of 1960. Goldstein and Ricardson [9] investigated

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E.E. Topcu et al. / Mechatronics 16 (2006) 365378

Nomenclature
useful air gap ux density, f(x, i) (Wb/m2)
applied input voltage (V)
modulation frequency (Hz)
external force (N)
magnetic force (N)
pressure force aected on the disc (N)
magnetic intensity (A-turns/m)
current in the coil (A)
air mass into the chambers (kg)
magnetomotive force (A-turns)
absolute downstream stagnation pressure of the
valve (N/m2)
Pup
absolute upstream stagnation pressure of the
valve (N/m2)
Qn
nominal ow rate (m3/s)
Td, Tt disc delay and traveling time (s)
Tso, Tsc opening and closing switching time of the valve
(s)
tp
the valve switching pulse time (s)
V
volume of cylinder (m3)
x
motion of the disc (m)
y
piston position (m)
dm/dt mass ow rate (kg/s)
DP
net pressure (N/m2)
/
eective ux of the magnetic circuit (Wb)
Q
mean value of this ow oscillation (m3/s)
MR
modulation ratio
Ae
eective area of the magnetic circuit
(256 106 m2)
Bg
e
fpwm
Fd
Fm
Fprs
H
I
M
NI
Pdown

the principles of pulse-modulated control using free oating-apper disc switching valves. A study was carried out
by Taft and Harned [10] on the development of a fourway electro-pneumatic valve utilized permanent and ferromagnetic valve switching elements. Yuksel [11] developed
two types of novel electro-hydraulic oating disc type of
fast switching valves where a disc type of magnetic circuit
was used to operate the valves electrically. Later the investigation on the development of the disc valve has been carried out by several researchers [1215].
PWM technique in the application of fast switching solenoid valves that are used to drive linear hydraulic actuators
were investigated by several authors. Muto et al. [16] and
also Suematsu et al. [17] have used dierential PWM
method to control a hydraulic actuator with three-way
high-speed on/o solenoid valves. Keles and Ercan [18]
has shown that no stick-slip phenomenon is observed in
hydraulic systems with slowly moving loads if they are
driven by pulse-modulated inputs.
In pneumatic systems, Morito et al. [19] and Noritsugu
[20] implemented the PWM technique in pneumatic manipulators to control pressure and contact force. Ye et al. [21]
investigated a model for determining the maximum operat-

c
l

piston eective area (A1: 1256 106, A2:

1056 106 m2)
eective cross-sectional area of uid ow path
(12.5 106 m2)
damping coecient (varies N/(m/s))
discharge coecient (0.65)
diameter of nozzle (8.6 103 m)
spring coecient of the valve (20 000 N/m)
piston stroke (0.4 m)
total mass of moving elements (28 103 kg)
number of turns (120)
critical pressure ratio (0.528)
atmosphere pressure (1 105 N/m2)
supply pressure (5 105 N/m2)
coil resistance (2.7 X)
ideal gas constant (287 J/kg K)
radius of nozzle (4.3 103 m)
upstream stagnation temperature (293 K)
volume of tank (1.8 103 m3)
land width of nozzle (1 103 m)
disc travel distance (0.46 103 m)
total air gap that includes holding gap and
traveling gap (0.6 103 m)
ratio of specic heat (=cp/cv) (1.4)
permeability of the air gap (4p107 H/m)

Index
i

cylinder chamber index (1, 2)

Ai
Av
b
Cd
d
k
L
md
N
Pcr
Patm
Ps
Rc
R
r
T
Vtank
w
xh
xt

ing modulation ratio for pneumatic PWM solenoid valves.

A novel PWM technique that was used to drive fast switching solenoid valves was introduced by Varseveld and Bone
[1] for accurate control of a pneumatic actuator. They
described the minimum and the maximum duty cycle for
PWM signals depending on the dead times of the valve
switching. Shih and Ma [5,6] used a combination of the sliding mode and modied dierential PWM method to control
the position of a pneumatic rodless cylinder with high speed
solenoid valves. The proposed controller was designed and
implemented in microcomputer experimentally.
The object of this study is to develop an inexpensive
single stage solenoid valve to provide a fast switching time
with a considerably large amount of ow rates.
2. Description and design of the valve
The valve was designed as a solenoid operated ono,
2/2, spring return with a disc element. A disc type of magnetic circuit is used for fast switching of the valve.
Fig. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of one of the fabricated four prototype valves. The valve consists of two major
plates. The upper plate houses an electromagnetic core with

E.E. Topcu et al. / Mechatronics 16 (2006) 365378

367

Fig. 1. Cutaway view of prototype valve.

a coil and provides a drain connection. The lower plate

forms a disc chamber and provides a pressure connection.
The disc forms a seating type of valve and also constitutes a moving part of magnetic circuit. It moves between
a nozzle and a preloaded spring under resultant force of
magnetic, spring and ow forces. The diameter of the disc
chamber is slightly less than the diameter of the magnetic
core to prevent the magnet being pulled into the chamber
by magnetic force. A nozzle made of bronze is pressed into
the centre of the lower plate. The upper and lower plates
are made of hard aluminum, and spring is made of alloyed
steel to reduce magnetic ux and remanence. The valve
assembly is bolted together with four cap-headed screws.
The valve plates and magnetic core are sealed with O-rings
as it is shown in Fig. 1.
The core around the coil and disc are made of SAE1008
magnetic material. The diameter of core and disc are
35.5 mm and 34 mm, respectively. The disc is 4 mm wide
and has four stops core side and four 3 mm of drill holes.
A 12 mm diameter and 1.5 mm thick nonmagnetic elastomer material is pressed in to the nozzle side of the disc to
provide a good seal. The coil consists of 120 turns of
0.44 mm of isolated diameter copper wire on a polyimide
spool. It is sealed in the magnetic iron core with epoxy.
The epoxy seals two external wires to the coil and also provides a smooth face on the disc chamber end of the coil.
Operation of the valve is shown in Fig. 2. The valve is
arranged to be normally closed by the preloaded spring acting on the disc keeping the nozzle closed against the pressurized ow path. When the coil is energized, magnetic
attraction force pulls the disc against spring force and the

valve opens and the uid ows through the ow path of

the valve as it is illustrated in Fig. 2. In fact, as the valve
begins to open, the ow force helps the magnetic force to
keep the valve open.
A position control of a pneumatic actuator with the four
2/2 valves conguration shown in Fig. 1 can be realized as
schematically shown in Fig. 3. When four of the valves are
closed, the piston is kept at the required position. When
valve 1 and valve 3 are open, the piston moves forward.
Similarly, when valve 2 and valve 4 are open, the piston
moves backward. The electromagnet can be actuated using
pulse width modulation (PWM) technique with control
implemented via analog circuits, digital logic circuits or a
microprocessor-based system.
The dimensions of the valve were chosen in order to supply the required amount of air (460 l/min at standard pressure and temperature) for a cylinder diameter of 40 mm
and for a pneumatic actuator of 400 mm of long. As it is
illustrated schematically in Fig. 2, the disc-nozzle system
was used in ow control of the valve. The necessary ow
control area is estimated as 12.5 mm2 for 460 l/min of nominal ow rate at 7 105 N/m2 of absolute supply pressure
and 1 105 N/m2 of pressure drop. This is the circumferential area between the disc and the nozzle, and it is equivalent to a nozzle diameter of 8.6 mm and a disc travel
distance of 0.46 mm. Here, the travel distance of the disc
is kept as small as possible in order to benet from high
magnetic attraction force.
The close position of the spring kept valve is determined
by the maximum ow force acting on the disc type of seating element. The maximum uid force equals to the force

368

E.E. Topcu et al. / Mechatronics 16 (2006) 365378

Fig. 2. Operation principle of the valve.

Displacement Sensor

y(t)
B

A
P 1, V 1, T 1

F out

P2 , V2 , T 2
.
Mb

.
Ma

1 Ps

2 P atm

3 Patm

4 Ps

Power
Amplifier

ADC
Input
command

PWM
Circuit

DAC

PC

Fig. 3. Electro-pneumatic position control system with four prototype valves.

exerted by the static pressure, which, in turn, can be estimated from the pressure on the valve in close position
and the area acted on by this pressure.
The proposed valves are intended for use as PWM controlled solenoid valves, which are generally composed of a
PWM circuit, a power amplier, and solenoid valves. The

PWM circuit can be realized with an analog circuit driven

by microprocessor based software or a hybrid analogdigital circuit. A simplest analog PWM generator can
be realized using a comparator to modulate a sawtooth
wave generator. Generally, PWM signal and modulated
wave are periodic with the same period. The ratio of the

+24 V

+12 V

R8
Valve
R7
R1
PWM
Signal
Buffer

Optocoupler

R2

R3

R7

R4
R5
C1
BJT1
(BC237B)

R6
(47)

(100 3W)

C2
(100 nf 250 VAC )

DSEI12
IGBT
(IXGH24NCD1)

BJT2
(BC237B)

Fig. 4. Power output stage with gate driver.

Sensing
Resistance
(0.1)

E.E. Topcu et al. / Mechatronics 16 (2006) 365378

time the on state to PWM period is dened as the duty

ratio or pulse width ratio. Regardless type of PWM signal
generator, a change of the signal applied to the input of the
PWM generator produce a change of pulse width ratio of
the output of PWM generator output.
In this project, digitally generated PWM signals
obtained using MATLAB/Real Time Workshop environment with an Adventech PCL-818H data acquisition board
are used to drive the valves through power ampliers. The
IGBT type of power ampliers shown in Fig. 4 were manufactured and used to drive the valves. IGBT types of transistors are preferred due to their isolation against high
voltage and current and it is appropriateness for driving
with PWM signals. In fact, IGBTs are very high frequency
switching elements in comparison with the switching frequency of the valve. For the experimental test works, in
addition to use of digital PWM signals, an analog PWM
signal generator is designed and constructed with mainly
well known 555 Timer elements.
The main component of power output stage is BJT,
MOSFET or IGBT type of transistors. MOSFET or IGBT
types of transistors work at high current and they can be
also driven by pulsed width modulated signals. In this study
IGBT type of transistors are preferred due to their isolation
against high voltage and current. Fig. 4 shows an IGBT
type of the power output stage with the gate driver.

equation for the electromechanical sub-system can be

written by applying Kirchhos law:
dN /t
dt

et Rc it

The magneto-motive force is given by the number of

ampere turns NI, which must provide the ux required
for given force and displacement. Therefore, the following
equation may be written [22]:
2Bg xt X
NI

H i li
2
l
where

2Bg xt
l

represents the magneto-motive force necessary

to establish the ux (in the air

P gap at a density of Bg across
an air gap of length xt) and H i li represents the magnetomotive force necessary to establish the ux in the iron parts
of circuit and Bg = f(x, i) is the useful air gap ux density
(Wb/m2), xt is the total air gap that includes holding gap
and traveling gap (m).
The magnetic attraction force generated as a result of
magnetic ux, /(t) can be expressed as
Fm

B2g Ae
/2

Ae l
l

Furthermore, the magnetic ux /(t) is a function of current i, disc movement x (/ = /(i(t), x(t))). Then, it can be
shown that the magnetic force equation can be written as:

3. Mathematical model of the valve

The valve was designed as a command element for providing fast air ows through chambers of pneumatic actuator. The characteristic of the valve is governed by a couple
of electromechanical and ow equations. The relationships
of equations are strongly coupled with each other. The
valve can also be considered as an electro-uid converter.
The block diagram given in Fig. 5 shows the signal ow
of the electro-uid conversation.
The main characteristic equations of the electropneumatic valve system can be derived as follows.

369

Fm

lAe NI2
4xt  x

where Ae is eective cross-sectional area of the magnetic

core.
3.2. Mechanic subsystem
Referring to Fig. 6 and applying Newtons second law of
dynamic to the moving elements, the equation of motion
for the valve disc can be written as
d2 xt
dxt
kxt F d t F prs
b
2
dt
dt

3.1. Electromagnetic sub-system

F m t m

This sub-system consists of an electrical and magnetic

circuit. The electrical circuit is the actual coil which is
represented with an ideal inductance L in series with a
resistance Rc of the actual coil. Thus the inputoutput

where m is the mass of the disc (kg), b is the damping

coecient (N/(m/s)), k is the spring coecient of the valve
(N/m), Fd is the external force (N) and Fprs(N) is the pressure force aected on the disc (N).

Electrical
Circuit
e(t)
Electrical
Signal

Magnetic
Circuit
i(t)

Coil
L,R

Magnetic
Circuit
(t)

Electromechanical Subsystem

Fm(t)

Mechanical
Circuit

Fluid
Circuit
x(t)

Disc
m,b,k

M (t)

Fluid

dx/dt
Mechanic-Fluid Subsystem

Fig. 5. Block diagram of mathematical model of the valve.

Fluid
Signal

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E.E. Topcu et al. / Mechatronics 16 (2006) 365378

Fig. 6. Free body diagram of the moving element of the valve.

3.3. Fluid subsystem

4. Mathematical model of the cylinder chamber

The electro-mechanical part of the valve is used to control the uid ow through the valve orice. As the uid in
the valve and in the pneumatic system is compressible,
when the upstream to downstream pressure is larger than
the critical value Pcr, the mass ow depends nonlinearly
on both pressures. Whereas, when the pressure ratio is
smaller than Pcr, the ow attains sonic velocity (choked
ow) and depends linearly on the upstream pressure.
The standard equation for mass ow rate through an
orice of area Av is [23,25]

The governing equation of the pressure dynamics of the

cylinder chambers can be derived by analyzing the thermodynamics of the system through energy conservation and
continuity equations.
Referring to Fig. 3 and considering the control volume
V, with density q, mass m, pressure P, and temperature
T, the ideal gas law can be written as

8
P
>
0:0405C d Av pupT for sonic flow
>
>
>
>
P down
>
>
> where P up 6 0:528
<
dm


2 
c1 1=2

P down c
P down c
2c
P u
dt >
>
p
A

for subsonic flow
C
> d v T Rc1
P up
P up
>
>
>
>
>
: where P down > 0:528
P up

where Av is the eective cross-sectional area of uid ow

path (m2), Cd is the discharge coecient, Pup is the absolute
upstream stagnation pressure of the valve (Pa), Pdown is the
absolute downstream stagnation pressure of the valve (Pa)
and nally T is the upstream stagnation temperature (K).
The variable control area of the valve orice is given by
the disc position relative to the nozzle and circumference of
the nozzle as it is shown in Fig. 6. The circumferential area
of the nozzle-disc system can be expressed as
Av pdxh

where d is the diameter of nozzle (m), xh is the disc travel

distance (m).
The static uid force acting on the disc is critical for
determining of the maximum system pressure and spring
constant. This force is equal to maximum uid force and
it can be estimated as
2

pr DP 6 F 6 pr w DP

For a very small disc displacement (motion), the ow

force can be obtained from the Navier Stokes equations as
F

pr w2  r2
DP
2 ln1 w=r

where w is the land width of nozzle (m) and r is the radius

of nozzle (m).

P i V i mi RT i

10

where i = 1, 2 is the cylinder chamber index and Pi, Vi, mi

and Ti are respectively the pressure, the control volume,
the mass and the temperature on the either side of the piston.
Dierentiating and then rearranging the above equation
with energy equation and the heat transfer terms yields [26]
dP i
RT dmi
P i dV i
c
c
11
V i dt
dt
V i dt
Choosing the origin of the piston displacement at the
middle of the stroke, the volume of each chamber can be
expressed as shown in Eq. (12)


1
V i V 0i Ai L  y
12
2
where V0i is the dead volume at the end of stroke and connecting ports (m3), Ai is the piston eective area (m2), L is
the piston stroke (m), and y is the piston position (m).
By substituting Eq. (12) and its time derivative into Eq.
(11), the time derivative for the pressure in the pneumatic
cylinders becomes
dP i
c
dt

RT
dmi
P i Ai
dy




c
L
L
dt
dt
y
y
V 0i Ai
V 0i Ai
2
2
13

where dmi/dt is the mass ow rate into the chamber taken

from the valve ports. The leakage between the chambers
was neglected in Eq. (13) by assuming rubber seals are used
for regular pneumatic cylinder. But the leakage can be
signicant for low friction cylinders that have graphite or
Teon seals. In the case of a low friction cylinder, the term
of minmout must be replaced with mi in Eq. (13). Here mout
is the leakage between the chambers.
The general form of the pressure dynamic (i.e. Eq. (13))
can be adopted for the charging and discharging processes

E.E. Topcu et al. / Mechatronics 16 (2006) 365378

of the cylinder chambers or any other control volumes.

When Vi is the constant at the case of a constant volume
tank, then the pressure rate equation can be shown as
dP i
RT dmi
c
V i dt
dt

14

5. Switching characteristics of the valve

In order to determine static and dynamic characteristics
of the valve, the equations of the mathematical model
were solved numerically with MATLAB and Simulink
environment.
Fig. 7 shows the static characteristics of the magnetic circuit of the valve. The results were obtained by the solution of
Eqs. (2)(4) with a series ux and permeability relationships
[22]. The valve spring characteristics were added to the
results in order to determine the current required to switch
the valve and nd an optimum working distance of the disc
element. A 0.6 mm of total gap with 0.14 mm of holding
gap and 0.46 mm of travel distance has been chosen as an
optimum working gap. With this working gap, an applied
current of 6 A or higher provides a sucient magnetic force
to overcome the spring force at the beginning of switching of
the valve. At the end of switching, about 1.75 A of applied
current is just enough to hold the disc against to the spring
force with 0.14 mm of holding gap. Henceforth the current
can be reduced to a holding level after the end of switching
so that the consumed energy is reduced. This equally
improves the switching time of the valve closing.

371

Fig. 8 shows the ow characteristics of the valve

obtained from solution of Eq. (6).
The switching time of the valve is governed by the electromechanical part of the valve. The dynamic characteristics of the valve based on the nonlinear equations (1)(5)
are obtained from a simulation program developed on
the Simulink environment. The program is based on permanence formulae and leakage coecient of dimensioned
magnetic circuit and simulation starts to estimate the ux
distributions with the data taken from BH curve of the
material used in the manufacturing of the valve magnet.
Typical switching time characteristics of the valve are
shown in Fig. 9. The current in the coil approximately
exponentially increases until the magnetic attraction force
exceeds the spring force. The disc will start to move and
equally the valve starts to switch at this moment which is
denoted as the disc time delay, Td. The time delay is governed by the force balance of the spring force, pressure
force and magnetic force. In fact, the pressure force helps
the magnetic force to open the valve. As the disc starts to
move, the inductance of the coil starts to increase due to
the decreasing gap between the disc and the magnet. As
the gap decreases, the eective time constant increases,
thereby causing the current to decrease to its local minimum when the disc reaches its nal position. The time period between the delay time and the time when the disc
reaches its nal position is denoted as the disc travel time,
Tt. The total opening time of the valve, Tso, therefore consists of the disc delay time, Td, and the disc travel time, Tt.
The simulation results show that the total opening time of

300
275

1. i=0.5 A
2. i=1.25 A
3. i=1.75 A
4. i=3.0 A
5. i=4.0 A
6. i=5.0 A
7. i=6.0 A
8. i=7.0 A

8
250

225

Magnetic Force (N)

200
175

5
150

3
125

4
Spring characteristics

100

75
50
25
0

1
0

0.1

Holding Gap

0.2

0.3

0.4

Travelling Gap
Total Gap

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

Displacement (mm)

Fig. 7. Static characteristics of the magnetic circuit of the valve.

372

E.E. Topcu et al. / Mechatronics 16 (2006) 365378

-3

x 10

Pup:7*105 Pa
8

Pup:6*105 Pa

Mass flow rate (kg/s)

Pup:5*105 Pa

Pup:4*105 Pa
4

Pup:3*105 Pa
3

Pup:2*105 Pa

Pup:1*105 Pa

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

Pdown /Pup
Fig. 8. Flow characteristics of the valve.

the valve is approximately 4.65 ms, and the disc delay time
is 3.2 ms, which is 69% of the total switching time.
The closing time of the valve is as critical as the opening
time of the valve in selection of the cycle time of PWM signal. The valve starts to close when the coil is de-energized.
The total closing time of the valve is similar to the opening

time of the valve and is dened as the sum of the closing

delay time, Tdc and the disc travel time of the valve closing,
Ttc. Figs. 9 and 10 show the denition of the switching
times for a total switching pulse or a switching cycle. The
closing delay time is governed by the force balance between
the spring force, the uid force and the magnetic holding

x 10
1

10
9

-3

0.9

0.8

0.7

Tsc

T dc

Input

0.6

Ttc

0.5

tp

0.4

Displacement

0.3

Tso

0.2

0.1

Td

Tt

0
0

0.005

0.01

0.015

0.02

0.025

Time (s)

Fig. 9. Switching time characteristics of the valve.

0
0.03

Displacement (m)

Current (A), Input (V)

Current

E.E. Topcu et al. / Mechatronics 16 (2006) 365378

373

-4

Current
5
Switching
input

Displacement

Displacement (m)

Current (A), Input Signal (V)

x 10

Holding input
1

0.005

0.01

0.015

0.02

0.025

0.03

0.035

0.04

Time (s)

Fig. 10. Eects of holding current on switching time.

force. The current and holding force decay in the deenergized magnet are not instantaneous but they follow a
transient state. This retards the beginning of the motion
of the disc depending on the level of holding current. The
simulation and experimental results show that the closing
time delay can be reduced as much as about a half of the
maximum time delay. Thereby the holding current can be
reduced to a level of 25% of the maximum applied current,
which is just enough to hold the disc against the spring
force. The disc travel time is almost the same with the
travel time of the valve opening.

The rated ow of the ideal valve is valid for the actual

valve under following conditions: The change of ow has
to be identical for each on and o switching operation
i.e. Tso = Tsc. In this case, the area integral of the ow
curve has the same amount as that of the ideal valve. All
variables of the valve must reach their steady state between
consecutive valve opening and closing. The valve switching
time, Ts can be dened as the time when all variables have
reached their steady state. From this condition, the relationship between the valve switching time, Ts switching
pulse, tp and modulation frequency, fpwm or modulation
period, Tpwm can be expressed as

6. PWM characteristics of the valve

T s 6 tp 6 T pwm  T s or

PWM control method is used in uid power systems

to obtain a linear relationship between the uid ow and
an input signal with on/o switching solenoid valves. To
achieve a full linear relationship with an on/o valve, the
switching action of the ideal valve must be instantaneous.
Under ideal switching conditions, the volume of uid
passing through an ideal valve is a function of nominal
ow rate, Qn and the valve switching pulse time tp
Z tp
Vp
Qn dt Qn tp
15

Furthermore, the opening switching time Tso and closing switching time Tsc of the solenoid-operated spring
return valve are not identical which reduces linearity more
severely. In this case, the following switching condition
must be satised in order to ensure the on/o switching
operation of the valve can be executed completely

As the valve is opened periodically for a certain time

interval tp, a series of volume increment, Vp is obtained.
It can be shown [24] that the mean value of this ow oscillation Q is a relation between rated ow, time of valve
opening and the switching frequency, fpwm
Q V p fpwm Qn tp fpwm

16

T so 6 tp 6 T pwm  T sc

T pwm P 2T s

or T pwm P T so T sc

17

18

As the modulation ratio, MR relating to the switching

pulse, tp to the modulation period, Tpwm is MR = tp/Tpwm
then from Eqs. (17) and (18), the minimum and maximum
operating modulation ratio of a PWM modulated valve
can be shown [1] respectively as
MRmin

T so
T pwm

MRmax 1 

T sc
T pwm

19
20

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E.E. Topcu et al. / Mechatronics 16 (2006) 365378

The minimum and the maximum modulation ratios

ensure where the valve still response at the switching pulse
time for respectively opening and closing of the valve. The
minimum modulation ratio indicates the dead zone on the
relationship between the modulation ratio and the ow
characteristics of the valve output. On the other hand,
the maximum modulation ratio indicates the end of the
proportional range between the modulation ratio of input
and ow output of the valve.
The proportional band of the modulation ratios where
the valve operates as quasi-linear can be expressed as
M pb 1 

2T s
T pwm

M pb 1 

or

T so T sc
T pwm

delay in the switching time of the valve. When a high

amplitude pulse driving high current is applied to the coil
of the valve, the electrical delay and hence the total opening
time of the valve is reduced. Furthermore, after the opening of the valve is completed the current can be reduced
to a holding level that is just enough to hold the disc which
opens the orice. When the valve is switched o, the holding current drops more rapidly and hence the magnetic
retarding force. Therefore, the delay in the valve closing
time reduces. With this adjustment, even the switching on
and switching o the valve can be made identical.
7. Experimental tests

21

Experimental tests were carried out to investigate static

and dynamic characteristics of the valves. The switching
conditions of the valves were investigated through series
of the tests. The data of dynamic tests were controlled
and recorded with an Adventech PCL-818H data acquisition board. An opto-couple type of position sensor was tted the valve to detect the position of the disc movement
with no load conditions. The movement of the disc is transferred to the opto-couple with a rod connected to the disc.
The changes in the current of the coils in the valves were
measured through the sensing resistance on the power unit
(see Fig. 4).
The experimental results of the current history for four
dierent valves are shown in Fig. 11. For comparison,
the simulation results are added to Fig. 11. As it can be
seen in these results, the switching times of the valves are
very close to each other. In addition, the simulation results
show a good agreement with the experimental results.

Eqs. (19)(21), indicate that the smaller the valve opening and closing times the greater is the PWM frequency,
fpwm(=1/Tpwm) with the greater proportional band, Mpb.
This can be achieved with a fast switching valve.
The discrepancy between the ideal and the real conditions of the valve introduces a dead zone on the relationship
of the duty ratio of the valve input and ow characteristics
of the valve output as it is shown in Figs. 9 and 10. To overcome the dead zone and improve the linearity several dierent PWM methods such as D-PWM; M-D-PWM have been
oered several authors [5,9,17,20].
In this study, an overdriving pulse technique is intended
to use with newly developed PWM methods [1,2] which are
dierent to existing methods in order to improve the linearity and to reduce the dead zone. The simulation and the
experimental results have shown that the electrical time
delay, Te(=L(x)/R) constitutes the main portion of the
9

5
8

Current (A)

1,2,3,4: experimental
5
: simulation

0
0.6

0.602

0.604

0.606

0.608

0.61

Time (s)

Fig. 11. Experimental current histories of valves.

0.612

0.614

E.E. Topcu et al. / Mechatronics 16 (2006) 365378

375
x 10-4

Input

Displacement

0
0

0.01

0.02

0.03

0.04

0.05

0.06

0.07

0.08

0.09

Displacement (m)

Current (A), Input Signal (V)

Current
7

0
0.1

Time (s)

Fig. 12. Switching characteristics of valve under no load condition.

Fig. 12 shows typical characteristics of current history

and the history of the disc motion of one of the valves when
a high voltage pulse is applied to the coil of the valve under
no load conditions. From the characteristics curves, the
switching time of the valve is determined using the local
minimum in the current curve together with the curve of
the disc motion. The minimum indicates the end of the disc
motion when it is evaluated with the curve of the disc
motion. The dead time of the valve switching is measured
as the time between the beginning of the valve switching
and starting of disc motion. Various switching conditions
of the valves were tested under dierent electrical control
of the valve.
The dynamic switching characteristics of the valves
under pressure were determined with a test setup shown

Power
Amplifier

PWM
Circuit

in Fig. 13. The outlet pressure history of the valves is measured by the transducer 1 for determining the switching
time of the valves under pressure. The pressure transducer
1 is tted to downstream side of the valve as close as possible in order to avoid a ow transition lag. The total
switching time of the valve is determined from the current
history curves and pressure history curves and the dead
time is determined from the pressure curves. Fig. 14 shows
typical switching characteristics of the valve under pressure. The opening time of the valve under pressure is about
3 ms which is much less than comparing with 4.5 ms of the
opening time of the valve with no load. This is expected as
the pressure force helps to open the valve. On the other
hand the closing time of the valve under pressure increases
comparing with the closing time of the valve with no load.

DAC

Prototype
valve

PC

Input
command

ADC

Pressure
Sensor 2

Psupply

Pressure
Sensor 1

Patm

Fig. 13. Experimental setup for switching of valves under pressure.

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E.E. Topcu et al. / Mechatronics 16 (2006) 365378

7
5

Input pressure of valve (10 Pa)

Current (A), Pressure (Pa), Input signal (V)

Current (A)
4

Output pressure of valve (10 Pa)

Input signal (V)

1

0
0

0.01

0.02

0.03

0.04

0.05

0.06

0.07

0.08

0.09

0.1

Time (s)

Fig. 14. Switching characteristics of valves under pressure.

Nevertheless the total switching period (opening time plus

closing time) of the valve remains almost same which is
about 9.5 ms.
One extreme switching condition of the valves is to
apply a very high voltage pulse which drives a maximum
current through the coil of the valve and keeps the current
as long as the valve is open. This condition provides a minimum switching time of the valve opening. But, on the
other hand, it increases the switching time of the valve closing due to high holding current. As the current decreases
exponentially it cannot drops instantaneously. Hence, it
retards the closing of the valve.
One other extreme switching condition is to apply a low
voltage input pulse just enough to switching and hold to
open position the valve. This increase the switching time
of the valve opening but it reduces the time delay in the
valve closing. Table 1 shows the switching times for various
switching conditions.

Table 1
Switching times for various working conditions
Working
condition

Opening
time tso (ms)

Closing
time tsc (ms)

Various applied current values

9.6 A (24 V)
8.0 A (20 V)
5.76 A (16 V)
4.5 A (12 V)

4.5
5.5
8.0
16.5

8.5

Without the reduced

holding current (no load)

4.5
(Theoretical:
4.65)

12.3
(Theoretical:
4.7)

With the reduced

holding current (no load)

4.5
(Theoretical:
4.65)

5.0
(Theoretical:
2.1)

With the reduced holding current

(under 7 105 N/m2 pressure)

3.0

6.0

Pressure
Sensor
Pressure
Sensor

TANK

Prototype
valve

Patm

Power
Amplifier

ADC

Psupply

PWM
Circuit

DAC

PC

Input
command

Fig. 15. Experimental setup for determination steady PWM characteristics of valves.

E.E. Topcu et al. / Mechatronics 16 (2006) 365378

PWM controlled ow characteristics of the valves are

tested on a closed volume tank as it is shown in Fig. 15.
In the test setup, while one of two valves is accommodated
to pressurize the tank and the other one is accommodated
to ventilate the tank to atmosphere. The smallest pulse
duration of the PWM signal is chosen at least equals to
the switching time of the valve opening. While a PWM signal with certain pulse duration is applied to the valve in the
pressurized side of the tank, the inverse of the PWM signal
is applied to the ventilation side of the tank. The PWM frequencies driving the valves are various between 10 Hz and

377

50 Hz. The steady state values of the pressure in the tank

were measured for various pulse durations and the results
are shown in Fig. 16 for dimensionless pressure change versus pulse duration ratios.
During the tests, the opening time of the valves were
measured as 4 ms and the closing time of the valves were
measured 6 ms. Then the maximum and minimum operating modulation ratios (Eqs. (19) and (20)) were chosen
according the above results. As it can be seen from
Fig. 16, quite good linearity between the valve input and
the valve output are obtained up to 33 Hz of PWM

0.9

0.8

0.7

0.6

P/Pup

0.5

0.4

0.3

--x--:fc=10 Hz
--+--:fc=20 Hz
-- --:fc=33 Hz
--o--:fc=50 Hz

0.2

0.1

0
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Md=td/Tc

Fig. 16. PWM characteristics of the valves.

0.3

Displacement (m)

0.25

0.2

0.15

0.1

0.05

0
0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

Time (s)

Fig. 17. Step response of position control system.

0.5

0.6

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E.E. Topcu et al. / Mechatronics 16 (2006) 365378

frequency. When the PWM frequency is increased up to

50 Hz the linearity deteriorates due to the valve dynamics
cannot follow the input changes.
To evaluate the feasibility of the valves driven with
PWM on a pneumatic position control system, step
response tests were carried out on the system given in
Fig. 3. The PWM frequency applied to the valves was
35 Hz and a pneumatic cylinder of 400 mm of long was
moved up to mid-position. Fig. 17 shows the results
obtained with a simple PI control tuning of the system.
As it can be seen from the gure very good position accuracy is obtained.
8. Conclusions
A simple fast switching valve controlled with PWM for
applications of pneumatic position control has been investigated. Four prototype valves have been built and the
basic mode of operation conrmed. In addition, also electronic circuits for driving the valves and for PWM control
of the valves have been designed and constructed as a complete mechatronic system.
The switching and PWM characteristics of the valves
both theoretically and experimentally have been investigated. The theoretical and experimental results have shown
that the opening time of the valves were as fast as 3 ms and
the closing time of the valves was 6 ms under 7 105 N/m2
of supply pressure. PWM controlled valves provide a good
linearity up to 33 Hz.
It has been demonstrated that the switching speed of the
valves can be enhanced by the application of overdriving
current to the coils during the switching action and then
by reducing the applied current to a holding current level
after the switching is completed. With this way, the electrical power required to hold the close after switching is completed can be reduced about 6% of the peak power and the
closing time of the valves can be reduced about 50% of the
highest closing time.
Simulated results of the valves dynamics were in agreement with the experimental results, and thus the validity
of the proposed mathematical model was conrmed. As
the valves developed in this study have a simple construction and provide higher ow rates (460 l/min) as single stage
valves than conventional servovalves and fast switching
valves, they should be economical to use in pneumatic position control systems. The work in this area is continuing.
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