Modelling and Simulation of Mobile Hydraulic Crane with Telescopic Arm

For loader crane applications resolved motion control is assumed to be one of the areas for development in the future. To develop and evaluate different control strategies for a resolved motion control system, information about the dynamic behaviour of these cranes is necessary. In the current paper a model of a loader crane with a flexible telescopic arm is presented, which may be used for evaluating control strategies. The telescopic arm is operated by four actuators connected hydraulically by a parallel circuit. The operating sequences of the individual actuators is therefore not controllable, but depends on the flow from the common control valve, flow resistances between the actuators and friction. The presented model incorporates structural flexibility of the telescopic arm and is capable of describing the dynamic behaviour of both the hydraulic and the mechanical system, including the relative movement of the individual mechanical bodies in the telescopic arm. The model is verified through comparisons between simulated and measured results for various operating conditions.