Hydraulics Decentralization on a Mobile Crane

Abstract

A simple quasi-static simulation model was developed to allow for a fast energetic analysis of hydraulic systems. The purpose of the analysis is the identification of the major sources of losses and of the most suitable approaches to save energy on a mobile crane. A comparison between a centralized and a decentralized hydraulic circuit was performed. Various load cycles were analyzed and it emerged that energy consumption and installed power can be reduced up to 30% and almost up to 50%, respectively, strongly depending on the load cycle. However, if pump operation is possible only above a certain speed, decentralization can lead to a deterioration of the energetic performance.