Engineering Research Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power

ERC的愿景是创造紧凑高效的新流体动力技术。这将导致流体动力的根本性变革，显著降低能源消耗，催生全新的产业。将开发新的控制方法和系统配置，以取代当前低效的阀门节流方法。其中包括高性能泵控制、再生、开关阀脉宽调制控制和仿生分布式泵送与控制。通过主动控制摩擦学表面，将开发效率更高的新一代泵电机和执行器。以生物为灵感的涂层将减少阻力。相变储能将产生更紧凑的储能和储能。化学流体驱动和自由活塞式发动机压缩机将为自供电和移动设备提供数量级更好的能量和功率密度，从而实现一系列新应用。使用复合材料和功能梯度材料，并将部件集成到统一的系统中，将最大限度地减少流体动力系统的重量和体积。将解决噪音、振动、泄漏、污染和界面笨拙等问题，从而实现更广泛、更高效和更令人满意的流体动力使用。其结果将是将流体动力的使用从目前仅限于重型设备扩大到便携式和自我供电的设备，如大功率可穿戴工具和救援机器人。紧凑而高效的流体动力将被用于水下勘探、救援行动、远程操纵核材料、炸弹处理、医疗和康复应用以及家用和工业可穿戴或紧凑型工具。改进的紧凑性将使流体动力能够执行目前不可能完成的任务。提高效率将显著减少石油消耗和污染。交通运输的总体燃料消耗每提高1%，每年就可以节省24亿美元的原油。流体动力的超高功率密度使其成为再生制动的理想选择，现场测试表明，卡车节省了25%至35%的燃料。ERC将开发新的高密度蓄电池，使再生方法适用于乘用车，从而节省更多能源。在建筑、采矿、农业和工业部门也可以实现显著的能源节约。ERC的教育和外展创新包括：(1)开发基准流体动力实验室，并增加带回家的实验室；(2)与明尼苏达州科学博物馆合作，开发永久性和巡回展品，流体动力教育材料，以及面向中学和高中的课外流体动力计划；(3)与Project合作，率先将流体动力纳入高中技术课程；(4)为本科生和研究生创建工业实习和合作项目，以及(5)通过实践短期课程和远程教育，加强工业流体动力方面的继续教育。

The vision of the ERC is to create new fluid power technology that is compact and efficient. This will cause a radical transformation of fluid power, signigicantly reducing energy consumption and soawning whole new industries. New control approaches and system configurations will be developed to replace current, inefficient valve throttling approaches. These include high performance pump control, regeneration, on-off valve PWM control and biomimetic distributed pumping and control. A new generation of pump motors and actuators with improved efficiency, enabled by actively controlled tribological surfaces, will be developed. Biologically inspired coatings will reduce drag. Phase-change energy storage will create more compact energy storage and soures. Chemofluidie actuation and free-piston engine compressors will provide order-of-magnitude better energy and power density for self-powered and mobile devices, enabling a host of new applications. Use of composite and functionally graded materials and integrating components into unfied systems will minimize the weight and volume of fluid power systems. Problems with noise, vibration, leakage, contamination and awkward interfaces will be addressed, leading to wider, more efficient and more satisfactory use of fluid power. The result will be an expansion of fluid power use, currently limited to heavy equipment, to portable and self-powered devices such as high-power wearable tools and rescue robots. Whole new industries will be created where compact and efficient fluid power can be used for underwater exploration, for rescue operations, for remotely manipulating nuclear materials, for bomb disposal, for medical and rehabilitation applications and for wearable or compact tools for home and industrial use. Improved compactness will enable fluid power to perform tasks that are not presently possible. Improved efficiently will significantly reduce petroleum consumption and pollution. For each one percent improvement in overall fuel comsumption for transportation, $2.4 billion of crude oil is saved each year. The superior power density of fluid power makes it ideal for regenerative braking with field tests showing fuel savings of 25 to 35% for trucks. The ERC will develop new, high density accumulators making the regeneration approach feasible for passenger vehicles, resulting in much larger energy savings. Significant energy savings can also be achieved in the construction, mining, agricultural and industrial sectors. Education and outreach innovations of the ERC include (1) the development of benchmark fluid power labs augmented with take-home laboratory ,odules (2) collaboration with the Science Museum of Minnesota to develop permanent and traveling exhibits, educational materials on fluid power and an extracurricular fluid power program for middle schools and high schools, (3) collaboration with Project Lead the Way to include fluid power in a high school technology curriculum, (4) the creation of industrial internship and co-op programs for both undergraduate and graduate students, and (5) the enhancement of continuing education in fluid power for industry through hands-on short courses and distance education.