Automation
5 facts about networkable hydraulics
Drive physics makes the difference in many cases. Whenever high forces and robustness are required, hydraulics come into play - a rather unfamiliar technology for many younger design engineers. Why working with modern, networkable hydraulics is easier and more economical than many people think.
Ready-to-install functions instead of components
In-depth knowledge of fluid mechanics and fluid technology, a large number of individual components - no longer an issue for design engineers today. Increasingly, they are using plug & produce modules such as servo-hydraulic axes with their own decentralized fluid circuit and a variable-speed pump drive. They only need to supply such ready-to-install modules with power and connect them to the guide communication. Why this makes sense: For forces over 400 kilonewtons, there is no more efficient, compact and robust drive technology than hydraulics.
Commissioning with familiar engineering tools
Intelligent, networkable hydraulics are commissioned using the same engineering tools as electric drives and control systems - at least at Rexroth. Functions that were previously performed hydromechanically have long since been transferred to the drive software. What's more, software wizards guide technicians logically through the commissioning process and even suggest suitable parameters. What counts are the required forces - the rest is the same.
Hydraulics is energy efficient
Until a decade ago, energy consumption played a subordinate role in mechanical and plant engineering. Hydraulic units were constantly driven and provided maximum power at all times, even when it was not needed. The preconception that hydraulics were more energy-intensive than other technologies dates back to this time. That has changed. Variable-speed pump drives generate the flow rate as required and reduce the speed accordingly at partial load. Compared to constantly driven pumps, they reduce energy consumption by up to 80 percent - to a level that corresponds to that of electric drives of the same size.
Connected hydraulics are part of the IoT
Intelligent, networkable hydraulics, Connected Hydraulics, is extremely capable of communication. It maps the various stages in a finely scaled manner: Analog valves become digitally visible very economically with IO-Link and exchange data with the controller. Intelligent valves with their own control electronics and fieldbus connection offer the same convenience as electric actuators. They are commissioned, operated and diagnosed using software. Plug & Produce modules with their own controller also come with an OPC UA client/server for communication with higher-level IT systems. This means that Connected Hydraulics is already part of the IoT in production today.
Hydraulics are easy to maintain and diagnose
What is the difference between electricity and hydraulic oil: one can only be measured, the other can be measured, felt and seen. This is an advantage when it comes to determining operating conditions and deducing wear and further service life. With a few sensor data such as pressure difference, oil temperature, visually measured contamination or pressure increase over time, software can very accurately assess the condition of the system. Rexroth supplies such evaluation logic directly with the latest generation of hydraulic power units. as
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