Synchroniser control with proportional pressure reducing valves and displacement feedback

In order to improve the shift quality of automatic transmission with synchroniser, a synchroniser electrohydraulic control system equipped with the proportional pressure reducing valves is proposed. The principle of the control system is introduced in detail. The PID controller is used to realise closed-loop control of shift displacement to achieve the synchronisation. A numerical model and a test apparatus have built up to validated the control performance. The simulated and measured engagement and disengagement of the synchroniser with the proposed control system are investigated in detail. The results indicate that the shift displacement is controllable by changing the cylinder chamber pressure. The back pressure value is useful for a smooth synchroniser operation. It is determined by the sleeve motion and the throttle parameter. The back pressure affects little on the synchronisation stage during the engagement process. The proposed method can be used for the optimising design of the electrohydraulic system for the synchroniser control.

Development of Proportional–Integrative–Derivative (PID) Optimized for the MicroElectric Discharge Machine Fabrication of Nano-Bismuth Colloid

Metal nanoparticles are typically prepared by using a chemical method, and a suspension is added to control the particle size and concentration of the nanoparticles. In this study, a micro-electric discharge machine (micro-EDM) was used to melt bismuth into nanoparticles, thus yielding a colloidal solution. No chemicals were added during the manufacturing process, and pure water was used as the medium. The colloid was assessed using an electrohydraulic system, and process parameters were adjusted for optimization; additionally, the discharge pulse wave was analyzed. The proposed preparation process is simple, fast, and cost-effective; moreover, the manufacturing process allows for mass production and reduces environmental pollution. Experimental results revealed that the nano-bismuth (nano-bi) colloidal solution was successfully prepared by the micro-EDM, and absorption peaks in the UV-vis spectrum were observed at 234 and 237 nm. Moreover, to optimize the proportional–integral–derivative (PID) control parameters to be used in the micro-EDM to prepare the nano-bi colloidal solution, this study derived a mathematical model of the micro-EDM. MATLAB was used to obtain the PID parameters. The discharge success rate (74.1876%) for the nano-bi colloidal solution prepared using our method was higher than that (46.9196%) obtained for a nano-bi colloidal solution prepared using an online adaptation method.