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 2010 International Conference on Computer Application and System Modeling (ICCASM 2010)
Simulation on Outrigger Hydraulic System of Aerial Work Platform Based on
SIMULINK
Tianhong Luo
College of Mechantronics & Automobile Engineering,
Chongqing Jiaotong University, 400074, Chongqing,
P.R.China
E-mail:tianhong.luo@163.com
AbstractOutrigger system is one of the most important parts
in all of aerial work platforms. In this article, the mathematical
model of the outrigger system has been established, and the
stability has been analyzed by using MATLAB. According to
the operating principle of outrigger hydraulic system of aerial
work platform, the simulation model of outrigger hydraulic
system of aerial work platform has been established by using
SIMULINK. The main parameters of the model were set and
then, the simulation results were analyzed, which show that the
system is stable and the dynamic performance of system will be
improved, when PID controller were equipped. Besides, the
performance of system will be also improved with the decrease
of internal leakage coefficient and amplifier gain coefficient.
Key words-Aerial Work Platform; outrigger system;
SimulinkPID
I. INTRODUCTION
Aerial work platforms arose in the late-1970s of the 20th
century in China, which has a history of 40 years. In recent
years, with the development of the machining industry in
China, Aerial work platforms have formed an integrated
system about product research and manufacturing system,
but there still exist a large gap in technology and quality
compared with some foreign countries [1-2]. In the high-
altitude aerial vehicles, the stability of vehicle lifting
mechanism is a necessary condition to achieve safety
operation. The hydraulic system is one of the most important
parts in all parts of the aerial work platform, and the
outrigger hydraulic cylinder and the variance range hydraulic
cylinder, which play an important role on the operation
safety of machinery, are the main stress components in actual
practice of ascending and lifting. The structure and working
parameters of the outrigger hydraulic system will have a
direct impact on the stability of the aerial work platform.
Therefore, the analysis to the outrigger hydraulic system of
the aerial work platform is of great significance to the
development of our aerial work [3].
SIMULINK is one of the most important components in
MATLAB, which is used in systems modeling, simulation
and analysis for dynamic systems. We can apply the standard
model library or model library building by self to describe,
assess and refine the system behavior. By using the software,
we can greatly reduce the development costs, shorten the
research cycle and then improve the process of description
and making. Therefore, the MATLAB software of the
978-1-4244-7237-6/$26.00 C 2010 IEEE V9-270
Huixian Gao
College of Mechantronics & Automobile Engineering,
Chongqing Jiaotong University, 400074, Chongqing
P.R.China
E-mail:huixiangao@163.com
Mathwork corporation of America is adopted for the model
building and the simulation of the system in the paper [4-9].
This paper is organized as follows: Section 2 presents the
structure and working principle of the outrigger hydraulic
system of aerial work platform. Section 3 presents the
mathematical model of the system, which is useful to learn
how structural factors influence the dynamic performance of
the system. At the same time, the stability of the system is
also analyzed in this section 4 by using MATLAB. Through
simulation, we can sure that the system is stable. Section 5
presents a simulation mode by using SIMULINK based on
an actual system. Section 6 presents the simulation results of
the system. Through simulation, the dynamic performance of
the system is analyzed, at the same time, the dynamic
performance of the system, which is improved is also
analyzed. Section 7 contains a summary of the work.
II. STRUCTURE AND WORKING PRINCIPLE OF
OUTRIGGER HYDRAULIC SYSTEM
Outrigger hydraulic system is one of the important
systems in the hydraulic systems of aerial work platform,
whose structure and working parameters will have a direct
impact on the stability of the aerial work platform and its
hydraulic system is shown in Fig.1. The system is mainly
composed of a pump, directional control valves, four
hydraulic locks and four hydraulic cylinders. In the system, a
driving force is provided by the prime motor and the
mechanical energy is changed into hydraulic power by the
pump, which is provided sufficient pressure oil to drive
outrigger cylinders of aerial work platform to operate
ascending and downing of the outrigger system.
Figure 1. Hydraulic system of outrigger system
 2010 International Conference on Computer Application and System Modeling (ICCASM 2010)

1-pump; 2-filter; 3- two position three way directional control valve; Where, A1 is the effective area of hydraulic cylinders
4,11-Pressure relief valve; 5,6- three position three way directional control
valve; 7,9-hydraulic lock; 8,10-hydraulic cylinder. piston at the non-rod chamber; A2 is the effective area of
As the restriction of the tires supporting ability of the hydraulic cylinders piston at the rod chamber; x p is the
aerial work platform, the outriggers must be put down during
work, where the tires of the aerial work platform have a displacement of hydraulic cylinders piston; Ci p is the
distance to the ground. At this moment, it forms a fixed internal leakage coefficient of hydraulic cylinder; C e p is the
working platform.
The hydraulic pump, which was driven by the prime external leakage coefficient of hydraulic cylinder; e is the
motor, output pressure oil and the working pressure system bulk modulus of hydraulic fluid; V01 is the initial volume of
can be adjusted by pressure relief valve of the pump. The
pressure oil will cause hydraulic cylinders working by the the hydraulic cylinders chamber which the oil flow into;
control of hydraulic valve. The pressure oil flows from the V02 is the initial volume of the hydraulic cylinders chamber
pump to the left position of two position three way which the oil flow out; Vt is the total volume of compression;
directional control valve 3 and then pass the left position of
three position three way directional control valves 5 and 6 p1 is the pressure of the non-rod chamber; p2 is the
and at last arrives the cavity of the hydraulic cylinders 8 and pressure of the rod chamber; pL is the pressure ,it can be
10 to achieve the movement of the outrigger system. In other described by
words, outriggers were put out to support the total mass of
the aerial work platform. When the piston-rods moved the pL = p1 p2 (4)
right place, the position of three position three way Ctp is the total leakage coefficient of hydraulic cylinder,
directional control valves changed to the middle position,
and then, the hydraulic cylinders can be locked in place. At it can be described by
the same time, the hydraulic lock legs 7 and 9 can be Cep
guaranteed the reliable lock to prevent the occurrence of Ctp = Cip + (5)
2
phenomenon which should not exist at work, or is that the According to the equation 3, the Laplace transform
piston-rods of the outrigger cylinders fell over naturally. expressions of the flow rate equation of hydraulic cylinder
When the working at heights is completed, we need to draw can be described by
back the legs of the aerial work platform. At this time we A + A2 1
must change the position of control valves 5 and 6 to the QL = 1 sX P + Ctp PL + (V01sPL + V02 sPL ) (6)
right position. The oil flow back the tank. 2 4 e
The dynamic characteristics of hydraulic power units are
III. BUILDING OF MATHEMATICAL MODELS affected by the load. Load force generally included inertial
The hydraulic system of outrigger system is constituted force, viscous damping force, elastic force and any external
by a pump, valves and four hydraulic cylinders. Because of load force.
the same of the hydraulic cylinders and the valves, we can The balance equation of the hydraulic cylinder can be
consider that there is only one cylinder in this system, where defined as follows
we can also ignore some non-essential components. In other d 2 xp dx p
words, the system is simplified to a valve-controlled cylinder A1 p1 A2 p2 = mt 2
+ Bp (7)
system. In order to determine how structural factors dt dt
influence the dynamic performance of the system, the Where, mt is the total mass of the aerial work platform;
mathematical model of the system is required.
The flow rate equation of the valve can be defined as
B p is the stiffness nonlinear coefficient.
follows: According to the equation 5, the Laplace transform
qL = K q xV K C ( p1 p2 ) 1 expressions of the balance equation of hydraulic cylinder can
be described by
Where, K q is the flow coefficient of the valve; xV is the ( A1 A2 ) PL = mt s 2 X P + B p sX P (8)
displacement of main valve core; K C is the pressure
coefficient of the flow; IV. ANALYSIS OF STABILITY OF SYSTEM
According to the equation 1, the Laplace transform In the system, the valve-controlled cylinder system is the
expressions of the flow rate equation can be described by key component whose opening mode determines the stability
QL = K q X V K C PL (2) of the outrigger hydraulic system.
According to Equations 2, 6 and 8, the flow rate equation
The flow rate equation of the hydraulic cylinder can be can be written as
defined as follows
A1 + A2 dxp 1 dp dp
qL = +Ct p pL + V01 L +V02 L (3)
2 dt 4e dt dt

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 2010 International Conference on Computer Application and System Modeling (ICCASM 2010)

Kq module of MATLAB software is applied to perform a

XV simulation analysis.
A1A2 (9) (1) At first, open the MATLABs Simulink module of
XP =
(V01+V02)mt 3 Kcemt (V01+V02)BP 2 KceBP (A1+ A2)/2 the software; second, build a new Simulink Model; third,
s +( + )s +( + )s according to the work principle of outrigger system Fig 1
4e(A1A2)2 (A1A2)2 4e(A1A2)2 (A1A2)2 A1A2 and the Laplace transfer function 11, we can select modules
Where, K ce is the total flow pressure coefficient, it can in the Simulink Library Browser, and then, wan can make
be described by use of the modules to build the simulation model.
(2) When we construct the Simulation model, the
K ce = K c + Ctp (10)
important one is that the models parameters are initialized.
According to Equations 9, it is easy to write the Laplace The hydraulic parameters of the simulation models are
transfer function of the displacement of valve to the shown in table 1.
displacement of cylinder can be written as (3) In the running mode, the simulation can be run after
Kq to set up the start time and the end time.

XP(s) A1A2
= (11)
XV(s) (V01+V02)mt 3 Kcemt (V01+V02)BP 2 KceBP (A1+A2)/2
s +( + )s +( + )s
4e(A1A2)2 (A1A2)2 4e(A1A2)2 (A1A2)2 A1A2
The system parameters are listed in table 1. By using
MATLAB, it is easy to get the bode diagram, which is
shown in Fig.2.
Table1. Parameters of system
Parameter Value Unit
Kq 0.124 m3/(sA) -1
Kc 1.010-11 m5/(Ns) -1 Figure 3. Simulation model of system
-3
A1 3.1210 m2
-4
A2 6.1610 m2
e 1.2109 Pa VI. RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
Cip 6.310-11 m3/(s.Pa) In the running operation, the time of simulation is 1s, we
-13
Cep 1.010 m3/(s.Pa) can get some results.
3
Bp 1.210 N.m-1.s-1 (1) To consider the gain coefficient of the amplifier of
mt 1500 kg the system
In general, if the phase margin over 40, the amplitude When the gain coefficient of the amplifier of the system
margin over 8dB, the system will be stable. Fig 2 shows that is 5 (K = 5), the displacement of the hydraulic cylinder, the
phase margin of the system is 40.1 and the amplitude velocity of the hydraulic cylinder and the acceleration of the
margin is 26.7dB. Therefore the system is stable. hydraulic cylinder are shown in Fig 4.
Bode Diagram
Gm = 26.7 dB (at 232 rad/sec) , Pm = 40.1 deg (at 43.5 rad/sec)
50

0
M agnitude (dB)

-50

-100
(a) Displacement of hydraulic cylinder (b) Velocity of hydraulic cylinder
-150

-200
-90

-135
Phas e (deg)

-180

-225 (c) Acceleration of hydraulic cylinder

-270
Figure 4. Characteristic curves of hydraulic cylinder
0 1 2 3 4 5
10 10 10 10 10 10
Frequency (rad/sec)
From the Fig 4, we can look see the oscillation at the
Figure 2. Bode diagram of hydraulic system beginning. When t=0.25s, the stability of the system was
improved, but there is still slightly oscillation. Until after
t=0.33s, the system was completely stabilized. To improve
V. BUILDING OF SIMULATION MODEL PREPARE the stabilization of the system, we can change the size of the
As a result of the convenient at multi-domain areas by gain coefficient of the amplifier of the system. When K = 2,
the MATLAB software, so, in this paper, the Simulinks the results of the system are shown in Fig 5. We can clearly

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 2010 International Conference on Computer Application and System Modeling (ICCASM 2010)
see that when the value of K is smaller, the stability of the
displacement, velocity and acceleration of the system is
changing better. And the stabilization of the system has been
significantly improved.
(a) Displacement of hydraulic cylinder (b)Velocity of hydraulic cylinder
(c) Acceleration of hydraulic cylinder
Figure 5. Characteristic curves of hydraulic cylinder ( K = 2 )
When K=0.75, the dynamic simulation results are shown
in Fig 6. About t = 0.21s, the system has reached its steady
state. Compare with the former, the step response of the
system becomes faster and the stability of the system was
greatly enhanced.
(a) Displacement of hydraulic cylinder (b) Velocity of hydraulic cylinder
c Acceleration of hydraulic cylinder
Figure 6. Characteristic curves of hydraulic cylinder ( K = 0.75 )
When the value of K was changed, the system can be
improved the dynamic stability of the system of hydraulic
cylinder. The bigger the feedback signal gain coefficient, the
worse the stability of the system, the smaller the feedback
signal gain coefficient, the better the stability of the system.
Therefore, when we selected the value of the
appropriation of gain coefficient, the stability of the system
is good.
(2) To consider the internal leakage coefficient of the
hydraulic cylinder.
By using the dynamic simulation of the hydraulic system
from Simulink, it can also examine the effects on the system
caused by parameters of the system for optimizing the
dynamic characteristics of hydraulic systems and providing
the basis to the design for the hydraulic system.
On the basis of the corresponding parameters of Fig 6,
when the internal leakage coefficient is changed into 3.0
10-11m3 / (s. Pa) and 1.0 10-11m3 / (s. Pa), The results of
the obtained dynamic simulation are shown in Fig 7 and Fig
8.
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(a) Displacement of hydraulic cylinder (b)Velocity of hydraulic cylinder
(c) Acceleration of hydraulic cylinder
Figure 7. Characteristic curves of hydraulic cylinder
( C = 3.0 10 11 m 3 /(s.Pa) )
ip
The simulation shows the internal leakage coefficient has
a great influence on the dynamic stability of the hydraulic
system. When the internal leakage coefficient is reduced to
3.0 10-11m3/ (s. Pa), we can get the corresponding curve
in Fig 7, comparing with the Fig 6 that did not change, the
step response time of the system becomes shorter, and the
amplitude of oscillations becomes smaller. When the internal
leakage coefficient is reduced to 1.010-11m3 / (s. Pa), the
dynamic simulation results are shown in Fig 8. Compared
with Fig 7, the step response time of the system becomes
shorter, and there is almost no oscillation in this system.
Therefore the step response of the system is stable at this
time.
(a) Displacement of hydraulic cylinder (b) Velocity of hydraulic cylinder
(c) Acceleration of hydraulic cylinder
Figure 8. Characteristic curves of hydraulic cylinder
( C = 1.0 10 11 m 3 /(s.Pa) )
ip
(3) To consider PID controller on the system
performance.
As we know, PID controller is the most widely used in
modern industry due to its simplicity and clear functionality.
At present, the main methods to obtain PID parameters are
critical proportion method, reaction curve method and Z-N
method. In the paper, reaction curve method is adopted.
The simulation model with the PID is shown in Figure 9.
 2010 International Conference on Computer Application and System Modeling (ICCASM 2010)

(4) Leak coefficient has great influence on the dynamic

stability of the system that the smaller the internal leakage
coefficient is, the more stability the system is.
(5) By using the PID controller, the system dynamic
performance can be greatly improved.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This research work was Supported by Chongqing
Science and Technique project (Grant No. 2009AC6077).
Figure 9. The simulation model with PID
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This paper introduces the principle, structure, and
working process of outrigger system of aerial work platform.
By using SIMULINK software, we established a simulation
model and performed a performance simulation. An
important advantage of this modeling process is its simplicity
method to be used for wider variation of system parameters
and then, can make a contribution to the follow-up design of
the outrigger system of aerial work platform.
Following conclusions can be drawn:
(1) You can build a complex model system adroitly and
the modeling accuracy is more exact than traditional
methods according to the Simlink of the MATLAB.
Through the design parameters changed to replace physical
prototype design parameters changed, we can greatly
reduce the development costs, shorten the research cycle
and then improve design and manufacture process.
(2) By using MATLAB, it is easy to get the bode diagram
of system, and then, the system is stable.
(3) The gain coefficient of the amplifier of the system has
an impact on the stability of the system, so we must choose
the suitable gain coefficient of the amplifier to make the
system at best.

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