Experimental Study on Structure Optimization and Dynamic Characteristics of Articulated Steering for Hydrogen Fuel Cell Engineering Vehicles

Abstract

The prominent problem of articulated steering structure of engineering vehicle is that there is pressure oscillation in the hydraulic system during steering, which seriously affects the performance of steering system. To solve this problem, the maximum stroke difference of left and right cylinders and the minimum maximum cylinder pressure are the optimization objectives, and the position of cylinder hinge point is the design variable. The multi-objective optimization design of articulated steering system is carried out by using the particle swarm optimization algorithm. After optimization, the maximum pressure of the steering system is reduced by 13.5%, and the oscillation amplitude is reduced by 16%, so the optimization effect is obvious. The dynamic characteristics of the hydraulic steering system under different loads, such as pressure and flow rate, are obtained through field steering tests of wheel loaders. The results show that the load has an important effect on the pressure response of the system, and the causes and influencing factors of pressure and flow fluctuation are determined. The relationship between mileage and hydrogen consumption is obtained, which provides data support for vehicle control strategy. The high-pressure overflow power consumption accounts for 60% of the total work, and the work lost on the steering gear reaches 36 kJ. The test results verify the rationality and correctness of the optimization method of steering mechanism and provide data support for the improvement in steering hydraulic system.

Keywords

• articulated vehicles
• hydraulic steering system
• pressure vibration pendulum
• multi-objective optimization
• dynamic characteristic