Hydraulic Brake Systems and Components For Off-Highway Vehicles and Equipment
Hydraulic Brake Systems and Components For Off-Highway Vehicles and Equipment
David E. Keyser
Applications Coordinator
Keith Hogan
OEM Sales
MICO, Incorporated
1911 Lee Boulevard
No. Mankato MN U.S.A. 56003-2507
Fax: 507.625.3212
Phone: 507.625.6426
ABSTRACT Service Brake Capacity
This paper will identify some prerequisites for brake The service brake capacity is expressed as the
actuation circuit design, describe three basic types of torque at a given brake line pressure and is generally
brake actuation circuitry, and will point out some com- a linear function. This information is acquired from the
mon problems to be avoided in brake actuation circuit brake and or axle manufacturer.
design for off-highway vehicles and equipment. It will
deal only with the actuation of service brakes (as To avoid the pitfalls of either underbraking or over-
opposed to parking brake). Service brake selection, braking it is important to calculate the actual required
pneumatic, and vacuum powered brake systems are torque for the application. Do not assume that the
beyond the scope of this paper. manufacturer's specified maximum brake line pres-
sure is the same as the required brake line pressure.
PREREQUISITES
This can be demonstrated in the following examples
Although we are assuming fully functional and opera- in which the brake torque requirement is above then
tional brakes, this paper outlines six key prerequisites below the torque capability of the service brake.
that need to be known in order to design the brake
actuation circuit. These are: (1) stopping parameters, Consider a vehicle that requires 680 Nm of brake
(2) required brake torque, (3) capacity of the service torque. The torque capability of the service brakes is
brakes, (4) brake line pressure, (5) volumetric require- 450 Nm at a maximum pressure of 70 bar. Supply-
ments, and (6) required operator input effort. Because ing the maximum 70 bar does not stop the vehicle as
there are many brake actuation circuits possible for a required, the vehicle is underbraked.
given application, this information must be under-
stood in order for the designer to choose the optimal Conversely, consider the torque requirement is now
circuit. 110 Nm and the brake is still rated at 450 Nm and 70
bar. Supplying the 70 bar will stop the vehicle imme-
In selecting the components for a brake actuation diately (too severely). The torque requirement is
circuit the designer needs to start at the foundation satisfied with 25% of the available pressure resulting
(service) brakes and “work backward” to the method in aggressive, over sensitive brakes.
of actuation. By working backward the designer
avoids the pitfall described below under the heading These scenarios will change in magnitude depending
“Service Brake Capacity”. on the style of actuation that you select. Through
proper brake actuation and circuit design one can
Stopping Parameters match the circuit to the service brakes and avoid poor
performance characteristics such as these.
The stopping parameters include deceleration rate,
stopping distance, percentage of grade for operation, Brake Line Pressure
and vehicle speed. The desired stopping parameters,
are used to determine the required brake torque. The brake line pressure is determined by the brake
They can be sourced from one of several publica- torque requirement and the service brake capacity.
tions, such as the Society of Automotive Engineers By establishing how much torque is developed at a
(SAE), the International Standards Organization given pressure, brake torque can be expressed as
(ISO), Federal, State, Provincial Government brake line pressure.
agencies or specified by the vehicle designer.
Required Volume
Brake Torque Requirement
The volume requirement is critical in determinining
The torque required to stop the vehicle within the the type of system to be used. The designer needs to
desired parameters can be calculated with the assis- know the minimum, nominal, and maximum volume of
tance of DESIGNING THE BRAKE SYSTEM STEP fluid required. Different types of actuation operate in
BY STEP, a 1976 SAE publication, 760637, by Fred different ranges of volumetric displacements.
W. Cords and John B. Dale, and MECHANICS OF
VEHICLES, a 1957 Penton Publishing Co. publication
by Jaroslav J. Taborek.
1
Input Pedal Force cylinder bore closing off the compensating port, see
figure 1 (E). This completely seals the hydraulic
Input pedal force is generally expressed as a maxi- system.
mum force allowed to generate the desired maximum E
brake line pressure. Again, there are governing
C
agencies that make recommendations to assist in
identifying this value.
With the brake completely released (no input force on Some consideration must be given to the fact that
brake pedal), the cylinder is at reservoir or atmos- these circuits are limited in fluid displacement and
pheric pressure. As force is applied to the brake operating pressure. Therefore, these systems should
pedal, the push rod, through pedal linkage, is forced generally be considered for low volume requirement,
forward in the cylinder bore. The primary cup seal, and system pressures. However, if the volumetric
which is ahead of the piston, is forced down the requirement is too small this style of actuator can
2
suffer short component life due to cup cutting. If the As shown in figure 3, the main components of the
brakes have a low volumetric requirement they will fill power cylinder are the high volume bore and piston
quickly and thus come to pressure quickly, often (A), high pressure bore and piston (B), relief valve
before the primary cup has passed the compensating (C), reservoir (D), and push rod (E). With the cylinder
port. This action causes the primary cup to be forced at rest, the relief valve is closed and both bores are
into the compensating port causing cup cutting as open to reservoir or atmospheric pressure. As force is
continued piston travel occurs. applied to the push rod, the high volume cup passes
the compensating port (F) sealing the brake system
In addition, because the operator actuates these from the reservoir. Continued pedal movement begins
cylinders through the mechanical advantage of a to pressurize both cylinder bores as fluid is forced out
pedal and linkage arrangement, and in the absence of to the brakes. Displacement from the high volume
relief protection, the increased pedal effort can cause bore continues until the load induced pressure is
an over pressure condition during panic stop condi- greater than the relief valve pressure setting. At this
tions.
2 3
A B
Figure 2 Simple Non-Boosted Brake System
Figure 3 Power Cylinder
Power Cylinders time the relief valve opens allowing the fluid in the
high volume bore to flow directly to reservoir. This
Through the years, larger brakes began to demand pressure drop in the high volume bore isolates the
combinations of larger volumes and higher pressures high pressure bore and further cylinder displacement
than were capable from straight bore master cylin- continues from the high pressure bore only. As the
ders. The power cylinder was designed to meet these relief valve opens, it is common for the operator to
demands without the use of an external power feel the transfer from the low pressure to the high
source. pressure bore through the brake pedal. Releasing the
force on the brake pedal closes the relief valve and
The power cylinder incorporates two pistons concen- allows fluid to flow back to the cylinder bore. The
tric within one housing. The large piston provides the compensating port then provides the fluid necessary
fluid volume necessary to fill the brakes while the to compensate for lining wear.
small bore produces the pressure for operation.
The power cylinder provides the advantage of higher
Transfer from the volume piston to the pressure pis- pressure in systems without the added cost of a
ton is accomplished by means of an internal metered boosted system. They are available in both D.O.T.
pressure relief valve. brake fluid and mineral base hydraulic oil models.
3
Considerations
4
with an existing mineral base hydraulic oil circuit the reactive pedal force, gives the operator pedal
while maintaining the use of D.O.T. brake fluid in the “feel”.
rest of the brake system. To better understand the
two fluid brake actuator the two main sections,
booster and master cylinder, will be discussed.
Considerations
6
When considering a two fluid power brake actuator, it
is important to remember that the brake system
depends on the limited volume supplied by the
master cylinder section.
6
The single accumulator charging valve is used in the
open center hydraulic system in conjunction with an
accumulator and a modulating brake valve. The
charging valve controls the charging rate of the accu-
mulator and the pressure of the fluid in the accumula-
tor. The valve automatically halts charging when the
accumulator pressure reaches its high limit.
7
For these systems there are also governing agencies accumulator charging valve cannot unload. This
that regulate the system recovery rate, the number of causes the pump to get hot and usually results in
power-off stops, and operator warning devices. premature pump failure. It is recommended that
pump efficiency be strongly considered when used
The full power hydraulic brake system is dependant in this type of system.
on accumulated volume and pressure so power-off
stopping ability of the system must be considered to While selection of pumps based on high efficiency
assure the operator can stop safely in the event that could lean toward axial or radial piston models, it is
the engine or pump fails. The number of power-off not recommended that variable displacement pres-
stops is determined with the pump off. To do this sure compensated models be selected for use in
lower the accumulator fluid pressure to the low limit of dedicated brake systems without the use of an
the accumulator charging valve. Apply the brakes fully accumulator charge valve. In dedicated brake sys-
and release repeatedly until the point where the accu- tems the pump supplies only the demands of the
mulator fluid pressure is no longer sufficient to supply brake system. Typically long periods of time can
adequate pressure to attain the maximum brake line elapse between brake applications. If a pressure
pressure. The number of brake applications between compensated pump is used in a closed center circuit
the low limit and maximum brake line pressure is con- without the charge valve, it would then be required
sidered the power-off stopping capacity of the system to operate destroked at full compensator pressure
and is regulated by governing agencies. for extended periods. This condition has been
known to cause heat related pump failure. By using
As an example, the SAE J1473-DEC84 recommenda- the pressure compensated pump with the accumula-
tion states that rubber-tired earthmoving machines tor charge valve in an open center circuit the charge
shall have five full power brake applications with the valve will unload the pump allowing the pump to
energy source (pump) disconnected. The capacity of displace fluid at low pressure differential.
the accumulator(s) shall be sufficient to supply a sixth
application of not less than that pressure required to In the non-dedicated closed center brake system
meet the secondary stopping requirements. In addi- where the pressure compensated pump supplies
tion, the service brake system recovery capacity shall fluid to both the brake circuit and some secondary
be such that at full engine RPM the service braking requirement, this concern is not so great. The secon-
system shall have the capability to deliver at least dary requirement will usually allow the pump to work.
70% of the pressure measured during the first brake
application after the service brakes have been applied The load sensing circuit
twenty times at a rate of six times per minute. This
applies to loaders, graders, tractors, and backhoe Load sensing circuits are very similar to the open
loaders. center circuits with respect to the required compo-
nents. In both the open center and load sense brake
The number of power-off stops can be varied by circuits the accumulator acts as the primary source
changing the accumulator size, dry nitrogen pre- for brake fluid as well as the power-off braking
charge, the fluid pressure in the accumulator, or by source of energy. The difference comes in the form
increasing the pressure differential between the low of the pump and the charge valve that is used. This
accumulator charge limit and the maximum brake line type of system will operate as a flow and pressure
pressure required. on demand system. The control section of the load
sense accumulator charge valve sends a pilot signal
Proper consideration must be given when selecting a to the pump when fluid is required. Since load sense
pump. Most pumps can deliver constant flow and hydraulic pumps are generally high efficiency piston
pressure capable of sustaining a full power brake sys- equipment, the concern over low speed operation is
tem while rotating at a constant high speed. Problems not as great. Again, these circuits can be either
occur when the speeds drop, such as in variable RPM single or split, see figure 13.
engine driven mobile equipment, to an idle condition.
As the speed drops so does the volume of oil dis-
placed and the efficiency of the pump. At low RPM
the pump may be unable to deliver flow at a pressure
and an efficiency level capable of reaching the
accumulator charging valve high limit. Thus, the
8
SUMMARY
(
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