Precise function expression of the flow area for the sloping U-shape notch orifice versus the spool stroke was derived. The computational fluid dynamics was used to analyze the flow features of the sloping U-shape notch on the spool, such as mass flow rates, flow coefficients, effiux angles and steady state flow forces under different operating conditions. At last, the reliability of the mathematical model of the flow area for the sloping U-shape notch orifice on the spool was demonstrated by the comparison between the orifice area curve derived and the corresponding experimental data provided by the test. It is presented that the bottom arc of sloping U-shape notch （ABU） should not be omitted when it is required to accurately calculate the orifice area of ABU. Although the theoretical flow area of plain bottom sloping U-shape notch （PBU） is larger than that of ABU at the same opening, the simulated mass flow and experimental flow area of ABU are both larger than these of PBU at the same opening, while the simulated flow force of PBU is larger than that of ABU at the same opening. Therefore, it should be prior to adapt the ABU when designing the spool with proportional character.
For the position tracking control of hydraulic manipulators,a novel method of time delay control(TDC) with continuous nonsingular terminal sliding mode(CNTSM) was proposed in this work.Complex dynamics of the hydraulic manipulator is approximately canceled by time delay estimation(TDE),which means the proposed method is model-free and no prior knowledge of the dynamics is required.Moreover,the CNTSM term with a fast-TSM-type reaching law ensures fast convergence and high-precision tracking control performance under heavy lumped uncertainties.Despite its considerable robustness against lumped uncertainties,the proposed control scheme is continuous and chattering-free and no pressure sensors are required in practical applications.Theoretical analysis and experimental results show that faster and higher-precision position tracking performance is achieved compared with the traditional CNTSM-based TDC method using boundary layers.
