Novel resonance stability criterion for the 2D magnetically levitated servo-proportional valve

The leakage of the pilot stage of the 2D valve mainly depends on the size of its initial opening. According to the Routh criterion, the pilot stage of the two-dimensional magnetically levitated servo-proportional valve (2D-MSP valve) needs to be designed to have certain positive values to increase the damping ratio to improve valve stability, which leads to the leakage flow representing a non-negligible power loss. In order to reduce leakage flow and achieve goal of energy saving, this paper presents a novel resonance stability criterion by considering nonlinear characteristics of the fluid dynamic system. First, the 2D-MSP valve is regarded as a three-way valve-controlled differential cylinder system. Based on the frequency response of the resonance state, the energy conservation method is used to solve the flow “backfilling” area, the motion equation of the cylinder piston (valve spool displacement) and the pressure waveform of the sensing chamber under different opening and pressure amplitude ratio. Then, the analytical expression of the resonance peak amplitude is obtained and the resonance stability criterion is deduced. The result is compared with the Routh stability criterion, which illustrates that the positive openings of the pilot stage can be reduced to one-third of the original value. The prototype valve is then designed and manufactured based on the resonance stability criterion. The dynamic and static characteristics under different system pressures are measured. Experimental results show that the prototype valve is an over-damped system without any overshoot, which has excellent working stability, and its static and dynamic performance can meet the demands of the industry servo-proportional control system. The research work validates the effectiveness of the proposed resonance stability criterion.

Modelling and Stability Analysis for a Magnetically Levitated Slice Motor (MLSM) with Gyroscopic Effect and Non-Collocated Structure Based on the Extended Inverse Nyquist Stability Criterion

Stability of the rotor motion is the precondition for the reliable operation of magnetically levitated slice motors (MLSMs). However, with gyroscopic effect and non-collocated structure existing simultaneously, its stability analysis faces a tremendous challenge, because the torsional motions couple with the radial translational ones, making MLSM a multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) system with high order. Therefore, in this paper, we first establish a novel MIMO rotor dynamics closed-loop model and further convert it into an equivalent single-input and single-out (SISO) feedback control system by constructing complex variables, meanwhile reducing the system order by half. Beneficial from the equivalence between the MIMO and SISO systems, the sufficient and necessary conditions of the absolute stability of MLSM are derived by the extended inverse Nyquist stability criterion in the complex domain. Additionally, the effectiveness of the proposed modelling and stability analysis method is evaluated by simulation and experimental results. Thus, apart from PID parameters, this paper demonstrates that the stability of MLSM is also affected by the coupling of gyroscopic effect and non-collocated structure, which should serve as an essential guideline for system regulation of MLSM.

The Effect of Blood Viscosity on Shear-Induced Hemolysis using a Magnetically Levitated Shearing Device

Introduction: Blood contacting medical devices, including rotary blood pumps, can cause shear-induced blood damage that may lead to adverse effects in patients. Due in part to an inadequate understanding of how cell-scale fluid mechanics impact red blood cell membrane deformation and damage, there is currently not a uniformly accepted engineering model for predicting blood damage caused by complex flow fields within ventricular assist devices (VADs). Methods: We empirically investigated hemolysis in an axial Couette flow device typical of a rotary VAD to expand our current understanding of shear-induced blood damage in two ways. First, we used a magnetically levitated device to accurately control the shear rate and exposure time experienced by blood and to minimize the effects of other uncharacterized stresses. Second, we explored the effects of both hematocrit and plasma viscosity on shear-induced hemolysis to characterize blood damage based on the viscosity-independent shear rate, rather than on shear stress. Results: Over a shear rate range of 20,000-80,000 1/s, the Index of Hemolysis was found to be largely independent of hematocrit, bulk viscosity, or the suspension media viscosity. Conclusion: It is recommended that future investigations of shear-induced blood damage report findings with respect to the viscosity-neutral term of shear rate, in addition to the bulk whole blood viscosity measured at an appropriate shear rate relevant to the flow conditions of the device.