Fluid flow and heat transfer simulation of an electro hydraulic actuator

Abstract

Every technological system has to be improved and developed with time to stay competitive in the market. These means anticipate and solvent every possible problem that can appear in a mechanical system and propose new features and characteristics. Since the appearance of mechanised rail transport systems appeared in England in the 1820s, train transport system has been continuously developing. The introduction of high-speed rail passenger service between metropolitan areas has stimulated considerable interest in the effects of vibration on passenger comfort. Vibrations are caused by track irregularities, and reduction of these vibrations at high speeds is a particularly difficult task. The high and increasing demand of requisite for this transport have encouraged research in many different areas that affect rail transport. One of these areas is the dampening system, especially in passenger trains. Due to internal heat generation and the influence of external temperatures, inside the actuator can be established temperatures that can affect the efficiency of the different elements from the actuator. So an imperative is to have a total control of the development of temperatures inside. The knowledge of the thermal behaviour of the actuator is performed through a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation, in this case with STAR-CCM+ software. Through this a detailed thermal analysis of the entire system is possible. The main objectives with this simulation are the study of heat transfer in different load simulations and varying model conditions to study how this effect the general solution. After implementing this changes, analysis from heat distribution, maximum temperatures and detection of hot spots