SimHydraulics 1.7

Modeling Hydraulic and Hydromechanical Networks

With SimHydraulics you build a model of a system just as you would assemble a physical system. The symbols used in your model are based on the ISO 1219 fluid power standard. SimHydraulics employs a physical network approach to model building: components (blocks) corresponding to physical elements such as pumps, motors, and valves, are joined by lines corresponding to the physical connections that transmit power. This approach lets you describe the physical structure of a system rather than the underlying mathematics.

From your model, which closely resembles a hydraulic schematic, SimHydraulics automatically constructs equations that characterize the behavior of the system. These equations are integrated with the rest of the Simulink model.

SimHydraulics libraries provide more than 45 models of hydraulic and mechanical components, including models for pumps, cylinders, accumulators, and hydraulic flow lines. You can easily represent most commercially available hydraulic components.

You can use the sensor blocks in Simscape to measure values for any hydromechanical variable, such as pressure, flow, position, velocity and force, and then pass these signals into standard Simulink blocks. Source blocks enable Simulink signals to assign values to any hydromechanical variable. Sensor and source blocks let you develop an entire control algorithm in Simulink and connect it with a SimHydraulics network.