ARTICLE IN PRESS

Control Engineering Practice 12 (2004) 13691379

Control and performance evaluation of a clutch servo system with

hydraulic actuation
M. Montanari, F. Ronchi, C. Rossi*, A. Tilli, A. Tonielli
CASYCenter for Research on Complex Automated Systems, G. Evangelisti DEISUniversity of Bologna, Viale Risorgimento 2,
40136 Bologna, Italy
Received 3 April 2003; accepted 11 September 2003

Abstract
A hydraulic actuated clutch control system for commercial cars is analyzed. The design of closed-loop controller is presented,
based on a simplied system model. A physical full-order model is also described and used to assess through computer simulations
the dependence of the closed-loop system performances on some plant and controller key parameters. Selected performance indexes
are gear shift timing and position tracking error and it results that they are mostly affected by two key parameters: oil pipeline length
and controller sampling time. The resulting dependencies can be used to set performances and cost specications for both plant
conguration and electronic control unit. Experimental tests performed with different plant and controller congurations are
reported. They closely match the simulation results, showing the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
r 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Performance analysis; Systems design; Modelling; Automotive control; Hydraulic actuators

1. Introduction
In recent years, servo actuation in traditional gear
shift systems on commercial cars has gained increasing
attention, especially on the European market.
The system consists in a manual gear-shift device with
added actuators, controlled via an Electronic Control
Unit (ECU), for clutch and gear control. When
compared with automatic gear shift systems, the servo
actuated mechanical solution offers some advantages
in terms of overall system costs (simpler system) and
fuel saving (higher mechanical efciency). Signicant
fuel savings of 45% on standard driving cycle are
reported, in agreement with demands from market and
regulations.
Servo actuated gear-shift systems can be operated
basically into two different modes:
*

semi-automatic: gear shift is requested by the driver

through a proper interface, and the system executes
the shifting, provided it is compatible with engine and
vehicle operating conditions;

*Corresponding author. Tel.: +39-051-2093020; fax: +39-0512093073.

E-mail address: crossi@deis.unibo.it (C. Rossi).
0967-0661/$ - see front matter r 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.conengprac.2003.09.004

fully automatic: gear shift is decided by the control

system itself, based on operating point (torque
requested by the driver, engine speed, current gear).

One drawback associated with this system is the

interruption of traction torque occurring during the
shifting process, when the clutch has to be disengaged to
exit the current gear and entering the new one. To
achieve an acceptable comfort, this lack of traction
should last as short as possible, typically below 300 ms:
The gear-shift operation is managed by a controller,
which generates the torque request for the engine and
controls both the servoactuated gear-box and the clutch,
achieving the proper synchronization. Since the torque
transmitted to the driveline during clutch opening and
closing heavily depends on the clutch position, the latter
must be accurately controlled to prevent unpleasant
oscillation due to driveline elasticity. Hence, this paper
focuses on the clutch subsystem control and achievable
performances.
Several papers in the literature address the gear-shift
control problem for both the complete driveline system
(Fredriksson & Egardt, 2000; Garofalo, Glielmo,
Iannelli, & Vasca, 2002; Pettersson & Nielsen, 2000)
and the clutch subsystem (Horn, Bamberger, Michau, &

ARTICLE IN PRESS
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M. Montanari et al. / Control Engineering Practice 12 (2004) 13691379

Pindl, 2002). These papers focus on the control

algorithm design for a given plant. Nevertheless,
physical and cost constraints on both plant and
controller strongly affect the achievable performances
for such a complex system. Hence, a system level
analysis is needed to dene the optimal trade-off
between plant and controller specications.
Electrohydraulic servo systems as the one used in this
paper are widely spread in many industrial applications.
The standard control approach for such systems relies
on local linearization of the dynamics around an
operating point, followed by linear control design
(Merritt, 1967). Other signicant approaches are: nonlinear modelling (Zavarehi, Lawrence, & Sassani, 1999),
feedback linearization (Vossoughi & Donath, 1995),
Lyapunov like control (Sohl & Bobrow, 1999), variable
structure control (Bonchis, Corke, Rye, & Ha, 2001)
and HN control (Tunay, Rodin, & Beck, 2001). In the
considered case, however, these standard approaches
need to be revised, because a tracking problem
in presence of strong nonlinearities is considered
and its effects on achievable performances need to be
enlightened.
According to the above considerations, the main goal
of this paper is twofold:
*

The denition of a proper control architecture for the

clutch position tracking problem.
The analysis of the dependencies of the overall system
performance on both plant and controller congurations, which is fundamental to meet given system
level specications at minimum cost.

Although the latter could be formulated as an optimization problem, its solution is far too complex to be
addressed analytically and it needs to be approached
through simulations.
An accurate system modelling is fundamental for both
issues. A physical full-order model of the clutch system
is derived and validated, and it is then used in all the
simulations through the paper. Due to its complexity,
the full-order model is not suitable for the controller
design. A reduced-order model is derived for the design
of the position controller and it ensures its real-time
implementation. To achieve fast dynamic performances
the controller is based on feedforward terms obtained by
reduced-order model inversion. The closed-loop regulator ensures robustness with respect to uncertainty on
system parameters and to neglected dynamics. A
pressure control loop is introduced to reduce the effects
of non-idealities in the hydraulic circuit.
Once the controller has been dened, an analysis can
be performed of the dependence of selected performance
indexes, namely clutch opening/closing time and tracking error, on plant and controller parameters. In
particular, trade-off curves are derived and it is shown
how they can be used to set performances and cost

specications for both plant conguration and electronic control unit.

The paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, the
clutch control system is described and a full-order
physical model is presented. In Section 3, the clutch
model is validated and the physical parameters of the
considered setup are reported. In Section 4, a simplied
model for control purposes is obtained, in particular
for the hydraulic servovalve and the oil pipeline. In
Section 5, the controller structure and design are
presented. In Section 6, the simulation analysis and
experimental validation are reported, showing the
validity of the proposed approach.

2. System description and model derivation

A simplied schematic of the clutch control system is
shown in Fig. 1. The clutch is composed by two disks
connected to the engine shaft and to the gear-box shaft
in the driveline. By means of the hydraulic actuator, it is
possible to control the clutch position. In this way, the
torque transmitted from the engine to the wheels is
modulated and the gear change is made possible during
the disengagement phase.
The actuator is mainly composed by a hydraulic
piston connected to a Belville spring (Almen & Laszlo,
1936) and other preload springs, which keep the clutch
closed when no force is applied by the piston. The
hydraulic circuit is controlled by a servovalve (a threeway spool ow control valve) which determines the oil
ow and pressure in the actuator through a pipeline.
The valve is connected to a power supply at highpressure ps ; which is lled with oil by means of a pump,
and to a reservoir with oil at atmospheric pressure p0 : In
order to disengage the clutch, the servovalve connects
the mechanical actuator chamber (see Fig. 1) with the
high-pressure source ps : For the clutch engagement, the
servovalve connects the chamber with the low pressure
p0 and the chamber empties by the action of the spring
forces. The spool valve displacement is controlled
applying voltage to the windings of the servovalve,
which represents the control input of the system. To
keep the clutch at a given position, an offset current is
needed to keep the spool in its neutral point, that
corresponds to no oil owing in the circuit. For currents
greater than this offset value, the actuator is connected
to the high pressure power supply, while for currents
smaller than the offset value, the actuator is connected
to the low-pressure circuit. Due to geometrical layout
constraints, the pipeline connecting the servovalve to the
hydraulic actuator can be of different lengths and
stiffness. It will be shown that the pipeline puts
constraints on system performance and controller
design. Therefore, different types of pipeline are
considered in this work.

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1371

Fig. 1. Clutch system scheme.

For modelling purpose, the overall clutch system is

decomposed in three interconnected main parts: servovalve, mechanical actuator and pipeline. The oil
pressures ps and p0 of the power supply and of the
reservoir are assumed constant, hence the model of
accumulator and pump are not taken into account.
Relative pressures with respect to the atmospheric one
are considered: in particular, it is assumed that p0 0:
2.1. Servovalve model
The servovalve considered is a three-way spool ow
control valve (Merritt, 1967). Its active element consists
of a plunger moved by an electromagnetic actuator. The
plunger displacement denes the supply and return
orice areas. It is moved by spring forces (which
maintain the load connected to the return when no
external force is applied) and forces generated by the
electric actuator. Detailed servovalve model refers to
three subsystems: electromagnetic, mechanical and
hydraulic.
Mechanical model: The mechanical model of the
servovalve is described by
x v vv ;
1
vv F0  kxv  bv vv fm xv ; j
mv
FB xv ; ps ; p1 ; p0 ;

where xv ; vv are the plunger position and speed, fm is the

magnetic force, j is the magnetic ux, F0 kxv is the
valve spring force, bv vv represents the friction forces
viscous static Coulomb; generated by the oil

owing in the valve restrictions, FB is the Bernoulli

force, acting on the plunger due to uid owing through
orices. The expression of the Bernoulli force is
8
>
< 2Cd Cv cos yAf xv jps  p1 j if xv > xvf ;
FB 0
if xvd pxv pxvf ;
>
:
2Cd Cv cos yAd xv jp1  p0 j
if xv oxvd ;
where Cd is the discharge coefcient, Cv is the velocity
coefcient, y is the jet angle, Af xv ; Ad xv are the lling
and dumping orice areas, xvf ; xvd dene the amplitude
of the dead-zone. Note that Bernoulli forces are
proportional to the orice area and the pressure drop
and always act in a direction to close the orice. The
reader is referred to (Merritt, 1967) for detailed
analytical derivation of the forces acting on the plunger.
Electromagnetic model: Electromagnetic force acting
on the plunger is generated by a variable reluctance
actuator, constituted by a solenoid and a slider,
connected to the plunger. The structure of the electromagnetic model is dened as in Filicori, Guarino Lo
Bianco, and Tonielli (1993):
1
V  ri;
N
Ni Rxv j Fj;
1 @R
xv j2 ;
fm xv ; j 
2 @xv
j

where N is the number of coil turns, Nj is the linked

magnetic ux, i is the winding current, V is the input
voltage, r is the winding resistance, Rxv is the
nonlinear air-gap reluctance, Fj is the nonlinear
magnetization curve of the iron core.

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1372

2000

1.8

1800

1.6

1600

1.4

1400

1.2

Force [N]

Orifice area [mm2]

filling

dumping

0.8

1200
1000

600

0.4

400
200

xvd xvf

0
0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.2

1.4

Plunger position [mm]

(a)

fc (x)

800

0.6

0.2

fo (x)

1.6

(b)

10

12

Clutch position [mm]

Fig. 2. (a) Filling and dumping orice areas Af xv ; Ad xv ; (b) clutch spring forces f x; v:

Hydraulic model: The valve is an overlapped valve, i.e.

the land width is greater than the port width when the
spool is neutral (which corresponds to no oil ow) and
hence there exists a dead-band in the orice area vs.
spool displacement, as it can be seen from characteristics
reported in Fig. 2(a). The servovalve outlet ow can be
written according to Bernoullis equation:

8 r
p
2
>
>
sgnp

p

jps  p1 jAf xv
C
>
d
s
1
>
r
>
<
q1 0
>
r
>
>
p
>
2
>
: Cd
sgnp1  p0 jp1  p0 jAd xv
r

if xv > xvf filling;

if xvd pxv pxvf dead-zone;

if xv oxvd dumping;

where r is the oil density.

2.2. Mechanical actuator model
The clutch actuator is mainly constituted by a mass
springdamper system, where a mass m is driven by
Belville spring forces, friction forces (ArmstrongHe! louvry, Dupont, & Canudas De Wit, 1994) and
hydraulic forces. The model is given by the following
equations, where the oil ow q2 is the input
x v;
1
v f x; v  bv Ap2 ;
m
b
q2  Av;
p 2
V0 Ax

modulus of the oil. The term Ap2 in (4) represents

the actuator hydraulic force. The term f x; v
collects all the position-dependent nonlinear forces,
given by the sum of the pre-load and Belville
spring forces. Since the Belville spring has a
hysteresis, the analytical expression of its force is
given by

where x; v are the actuator position and speed, p2 is the

pressure in the mechanical actuator chamber, m is
the actuator mass, V0 is the minimum volume of the
chamber, achieved when x 0 (see Fig. 1), A is
the actuator cross-sectional area, b is the bulk

8
>
f x
>
> 0
>
>
>
>
>
>
< bv Ap
2
f x; v
>
>
>
>
>
> fc x
>
>
>
:

if v > 0 or v 0 and
bv Ap2 > f0 x;
if v 0 and
fc xo  bv Ap2 of0 x;
if vo0 or v 0 and
bv Ap2 ofc x;
5

where functions f0 x and fc x are shown in Fig. 2(b).

Friction forces bv take into account viscous forces
(b0 0 is assumed), which are approximatively linear.
2.3. Pipeline model
Due to car lay-out constraints, pipeline can be
relatively long and exible. Delay due to propagation
of the ow in the line and pressure/ow oscillations
must be taken into account when the pipeline is excited
with the large bandwidth signals required for the clutch

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M. Montanari et al. / Control Engineering Practice 12 (2004) 13691379

q1(t)
Z(s)

1373

q2(t)

exp(-(s))

1/Z(s)
-

p1(t)

p2(t)

exp(-(s))
Fig. 3. Pipeline model based on a two-port network.

movement. Moreover, pipeline and actuator chamber

introduce complex and quite uncertain dynamics in the
system, since oil parameters are temperature dependent
and some hydraulics effects cannot be well modelled. In
order to guarantee robust stability of the closed-loop
system, a careful analysis of the pipeline dynamics is
necessary. Moreover, this dynamics strongly affects the
achievable system performances.
Using a scattering variables approach, it is possible to
model the uid line as a two-port network with inputs
and outputs given by the upstream and downstream
ows q1 ; q2 and pressures p1 ; p2 : Since the natural
output of the valve is the oil ow q1 ; while the input of
the actuator is the oil ow q2 ; the two-port conguration
depicted in Fig. 3 is considered. From the solution of
PDEs describing the uid line (Goodson & Leonard,
1972; Lozano, Brogliato, Egeland, & Maschke, 2000)
and modal approximation technique (Yang & Tobler,
1991), the following reduced-order nite-dimensional
LTI model for the uid line is obtained:
2
3
1i1 2=Dn lci 2Z0 =Dn s% 8
"
#
7
n 6
X
6 s%2 8s% l2ci
P1 s
s%2 8s% l2ci 7
6
7

6
7
Q2 s
2=Z0 Dn s%
1i1 2=Dn lci 5
i1 4

s%2 8s% l2ci
s%2 8s% l2ci
"
#
P2 s

;
6
Q1 s
where
ln0
r c0
r2
; Z0 0 2 ; s% 0 s;
2
n0
c0 r
pr0
 0 
1 p
lci i 
; i 1; y; n
2 Dn

Dn

and n is the number of modal (normalized) frequencies

lci considered in the approximation, l is the axial length
of the pipeline, r0 is the radius of the tube, r0 is the oil
density, be is the equivalent oil bulk modulus in the
pipeline
taking into account pipeline elasticity, c0
p
be =r0 is the sonic velocity of the uid, n0 is the mean
kinematic viscosity. It is worth noting that the hydraulic
circuit is provided with a spilling device which ensures
that there is no signicant amount of air enclosed in the
pipe. Hence, the effect of entrained air can be neglected.
Since a nite number of modes is used in model (6), it
is necessary to correct the steady-state value of the
transfer functions, as described in Yang and Tobler

Table 1
Clutch system parameters and methods used for their identication
Parameter

Value

Units

Theor.

m
A
b
V0
f x; v

0:755
665 106
1800
166 106
(Fig. 2(b))

kg
m3
N=m=s
m3
N

b
be
l
n0
r0
r0

600 106
Variable
Variable
94 106
852
3:25 103

Pa
Pa
m
m2 =s
kg=m3
m

mv
N
r
L
F0
k
Kf
Rxv
Fj
bv vv
bv
FB xv ; ps ; p1 ; p0
Af xv ; Ad xv

0:021
410
2:7
42 103
2:02
7570
7:9

kg

53
(Fig. 2(a))

O
H
N
N=m
N=A
A=Wb
A
N
N=m=s
N
mm2

Exper.

s
d
d
d
d
d
d

(1991), in order to guarantee that at steady state it holds

" # "
#" #
1 8Z0 Dn
p2
p1

:
7
q2
0
1
q1
It results that n 4 modes are sufcient for simulation.
Note that
the rst natural frequency of the pipeline is
p
o1 p be =r0 =2l:

3. Model identication and validation

System model parameters have been dened either on
the basis of theoretical relationships or by identication
procedures from experimental data. System model
parameters together with the method used for their
denition are reported in Table 1: s and d
correspond, respectively, to static and dynamic experiments; nonlinear least-squares error techniques have
been used for the parameter identication (Coleman,
Branch, & Grace, 1999). Identied valve orice areas

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1374
2

8
x [mm]

i* [A]

1.5
1
0.5
0

0
6
x 10

0.2

0.4

0.6

0
6
x 10

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.2

0.4
time (s)

0.6

3
p2 [Pa]

p [Pa]

4
2

2
1
0

2
1

0.2

0.4
time (s)

0.6

Fig. 4. Validation of the clutch system model l 0:3 m and be 600 MPa: Position x and pressures p1 ; p2 of the real system (solid) and model
(marked), with reference current i :
2
8
6
x [mm]

i [A]

1. 5
*

1
0. 5
0

2
0
6
x 10

0.2

0.4

0.6

0
6
x 10

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.2

0.4
time (s)

0.6

p 2[Pa]

p [Pa]

1
0

2
1

0.2

0.4
time (s)

0.6

Fig. 5. Validation of the clutch system model (l 1:3 m and be 75 MPa). Position x and pressures p1 ; p2 of the real system (solid) and model
(marked), with reference current i :

and actuator spring forces f0 x and fc x are shown in

Figs. 2(a) and (b).
In order to validate the complete model, comparisons
between experiments and simulations under the same
operating conditions have been performed. Two tests
are reported: the same reference current i is imposed by
means of a fast current control loop in both the real
system and the simulation model. Simulation model is
based on considerations reported in Section 2. Both
upstream and downstream pressures p1 ; p2 are measured in these tests for validation purposes. In Fig. 4, a
pipeline with l 0:3 m and be 600 MPa; corresponding to rigid pipeline wall, has been adopted. In Fig. 5, a
long exible pipeline with l 1:3 m; be 75 MPa is
adopted. It is worth noting that these tests are quite
tough owing to high sensitivity with respect to the input/

output characteristic between servovalve current and oil

ow. Simulated position and pressure match the
experimental ones with good accuracy.

4. Control model derivation

The model described in Section 2 is fairly complex,
since it involves nonlinearities and secondary effects.
Moreover, it depends on physical parameters which are
function of temperature, operating conditions and aging
of components. In addition, some physical parameters
are difcult to identify, due to unmeasurable state
variables. Hence, a reduced model for control design
purposes is developed, neglecting fast dynamics and
second-order phenomena.

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4.1. Approximate model of the servovalve

goal is achieved satisfying two conditions. Firstly, the

closed-loop pressure/position controllers must be designed with a sufciently small bandwidth with respect to
the rst resonance frequency o1 introduced by the
pipeline. Besides, the position reference trajectory itself
must have harmonic content below the o1 frequency.
This condition imposes a limitation on the fastest
achievable clutch movement (and consequently on the
duration of the gear shift), that depends on the properties
of the pipeline (namely pipeline length and elasticity).

Under usual operating conditions, the magnetic force

acting on the servovalve plunger is considered proportional to the valve current
fm xv ; j Kf i;

1375

where Kf is the force constant. This assumption holds

because the servovalve is purposely
designed to have
p
@R=@xxCconst and jp i; i.e. Fjpj2 and
FjbRxj in the saturation region, which is the
normal operating condition.
Designing a high gain current controller, the servovalve
can be considered a current-driven actuator. Analyzing the
time constants of the resulting system and assuming that
the bandwidth of the outer loops is sufciently slow with
respect to the bandwidth of the servovalve, the following
algebraic relation between the imposed servovalve current
and the spool displacement is obtained:
F0 Kf i
xv
:
9
k

4.3. Simplified actuator model

Hysteresis due to the Belville spring is neglected for the
controller design, hence the mean spring force f x; v
f x 12 f0 x fc x is considered. Friction forces are
approximated with a linear friction model bv bv:
It is worth to note that the obtained reduced-order
model is almost linear. The only nonlinearities are
introduced by the actuator spring and the hydraulic
servovalve model (10).

This equation is obtained from (1) neglecting the

Bernoulli force and considering relation (8). Hence, the
model of the valve used for the control design, described
by Bernoulli equation (3), is expressed by:

5. Controller design
Based on the reduced model, a position tracking
controller for the clutch system is designed. Main

p
8

if i > if filling;
>
< sgnps  p1 jps  p1 j ff i
if id pi pif dead-zone;
q1 0
>
p
:
sgnp1  p0 jp1  p0 j fd i if i oid dumping;
where functions ff  and fd  are obtained from orice
area proles and relation (9), while if ; id are the threshold
current values corresponding to spool displacements on
the dead-zone limits xvf ; xvd ; respectively.

10

objectives of the controller are: (A) good tracking of

clutch position trajectories with large harmonic content,
always considering the bandwidth limitation introduced
by the pipeline resonances, (B) robustness with respect
to parameter uncertainties and unmodelled dynamics.
The conceptual control scheme is depicted in Fig. 6.
The controller is based on a cascade structure with
nested position, pressure and current loops. The valve
current i is measured with Hall effect current sensor, oil
pressure ps (supply pressure) and p2 (downstream
pressure) are measured with semiconductor pressure

4.2. Approximate model of the pipeline

For control purpose, a simplied model of the pipeline,
which is given by the steady state behaviour of the
hydraulic line (7), is utilized. This model can be adopted if
the pipeline resonances are not signicantly excited. This
x

Hydraulic
model inv.
x

Actuator
inversion

v*,a*,j*

p0, ps

Reference
Generator

x*

position
regulator

p2*

pressure
regulator

q*

valve
inversion

p2

Fig. 6. Position tracking controller structure.

p2

i*

current
drive
i

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1376

sensors, the clutch position x with an LVDT sensor.

With respect to commercial standard solutions, a
feedback pressure control is introduced in order to
minimize the effects of valve uncertainties on the
hydraulic circuit.
Position and pressure controllers are composed by
feedforward and feedback actions. The rst ones
provide nonlinearities compensation and allow for fast
response, whereas the second ones are designed to assure
robustness with respect to parameter variations and
uncertainties. The fast current controller is not presented here. As already described, it can be thought as a
fast inner loop whose dynamics is neglected. In the
controller block diagram, the nonlinear lter proposed
in Zanasi, Guarino Lo Bianco, and Tonielli (2000) is
used for the generation of the smooth position reference
x and its time derivatives v x  ; a v and j 
v. : This lter also ensures bandwidth limitation of the
reference signals. Hence, pipeline dynamics can be
neglected according to (7) in the computation of the
feedforward actions, reducing the computational burden
without impairing their effectiveness. Moreover, uncertainties on the oil parameters may impair the improvements theoretically achievable with more complex
feedforward actions obtained by model inversion of
the pipeline. On the other hand, effects of the pipeline
reference frequency o1 must be considered for the
tuning of the closed-loop controller parameters.
Referring to the servovalve model (10) and the
pipeline model (7), it is possible to consider the oil ow
q q1 q2 as the input of the system, thanks to model
inversion. In fact, recalling that ff  and fd 
are invertible functions, the reference current i are
dened as

i

q
p


sgnp2 8Z0 Dn q  p0 jp2 8Z0 Dn q  p0 j
if q o0 dumping;

where kp is the constant positive pressure gain and x is

an auxiliary signal to be dened. Recalling that q2
q1 q ; the error model of the pressure dynamics is
Ab
v*  kp p* x  p 2 :
14
p* 
V0 Ax
Note that reference derivative p  is not completely
2

known, since its expression depends on v as follows:



1 @f




xv bv mv.  kx v  v :
p 2
A @x
In order to compensate for the time derivative of p 2 ;
after dening x as


1 @f



xv bv mv.
x
A @x

1
v* kx x*  b*v Ap* 2 ;
m
Ab
kx
1 @f
x*v  kp p* 2 :
v* v* 
p* 2 
V0 Ax
A @x
A

id if

q 0 dead-zone;

1
v* b*v  kx x* Ap* 2 ;
13
m
where p* 2 p2  p2 is the downstream pressure tracking
error. Since pressure p2 is not the available control input
in the clutch system, a pressure controller is designed by
dynamic inversion of the hydraulic actuator model. Let
us dene the following reference ow q :
V0 Ax
V0 Ax
p* 2
x;
q Av  kp
b
b

the overall error model is

x* v*;

!
8

q
>
1
>
p
ff
>
>
sgnps  p2 8Z0 Dn q jps  p2 8Z0 Dn q j
>
>
>
>
>
if q > 0 filling;
>
>
>
>1
<

>
>
if
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
fd1
>
>
>
>
:

control input p2 :

1
*
12
p2 f x bv mv  kx x:
A
Feedforward actions and compensating term for the
spring force are introduced and a proportional position
regulator, with constant positive gain kx ; is designed.
The error model for the actuator dynamics is
x* v*;

11
where q is the reference oil ow to be dened later.
Note that upstream pressure p1 has been computed from
the measured pressure p2 and the control input q :
The position and speed tracking errors are dened
as x* x  x and v* v  v ; respectively. The control design is based on a backstepping approach
(Kristic, Kanellakopoulos, & Kokotovich, 1995). Referring to the mechanical actuator dynamics, the
following position tracking controller is dened, with

15

With a proper tuning of control parameters kp ; kx ; the

controller guarantees exponential tracking of the position reference. Details of the stability proof are reported
in Appendix A.1.
The resulting controller is then discretized by using
Euler algorithm to derive the digital implementation,
whose performances are analyzed in next section.

6. Performance analysis
In this section, position tracking performances are
analyzed with respect to some key factors of the
global system. The goal is twofold: identication of
the system key parameters and choice of their optimal

ARTICLE IN PRESS
M. Montanari et al. / Control Engineering Practice 12 (2004) 13691379

conguration for the clutch actuation system. Owing to

strong nonlinearity and complexity of the controlled
device, this investigation cannot be carried out in an
analytical way. Hence, activity has been performed
through simulations. A benchmark position reference
relative to a gear shift is used. The reference trajectory is
parameterized in time in order to simulate different gear
shift times (see Figs. 9(a), (b)). The selected performance
index is the rms value of the position tracking error.
Simulations have shown that electrical and mechanical
servovalve parameter variations up to 50% of the nominal
values do not signicantly affect system performances,
owing to the presence of current and pressure feedback
controllers. Also the servovalve dynamics does not
signicantly inuence the system performance for the
considered gear shift times. In addition, the servovalve
orice areas and the power supply pressure guarantee that
the required oil ow can be provided by the servovalve for
all the considered reference trajectories. On the other side,
it results that length and elasticity of the pipeline are key
parameters for the overall system performance.
It is worth noting that in the following considerations,
the controller structure is not modied, while the
control parameters are suitably tuned for each conguration to match the bandwidth limitation imposed by
the pipeline.
In Fig. 7, the effects of different pipelines are shown:
short 0:3 m and long 1:3 m pipeline are considered,
while rigid or exible pipeline refers to equivalent bulk
modulus be ; respectively, equal to 600 MPa (equal to oil
bulk) or 75 MPa: In order to minimize the inuence of
sampling time, comparisons of Fig. 7 are obtained by
using a sampling time Ts 0:2 ms for controller

1377

implementation. Fig. 7 allows to nd the minimum

achievable gear shift time for each pipeline conguration, given a maximum allowable rms value of the
tracking error. It is worth observing that the length of
the pipeline inuences the maximum achievable performance, while pipeline stiffness is less relevant.
Another key parameter is the sampling time of the
digital controller, since it strongly affects the sizing of
the ECU due to the induced computational load. In
Fig. 8, the effect of sampling time is analyzed for two
different pipelines: long-exible and short-rigid. In the
diagram, the rms tracking error value has been
represented versus different sampling times (0:2; 2; 5
and 10 ms), considering different gear shift times
0:25; 0:7; 1:3 s: As expected, for each gear shift time
there exists a minimum sampling time under which no
performance improvement is obtained. In this situation,
the dynamics limits are imposed by the rst pipeline
resonance frequency, hence it is of no help to choose
smaller sampling times. This fact is relevant mostly for
long exible pipelines. On the other hand, once a
pipeline has been selected, the selection of the greatest
sampling time compatible with the performances can be
performed based on the results of Fig. 8, where it is
shown that different system congurations meet the
same desired performance expressed by a tracking rms
error. For example, a tracking error of 0:55 mm; for the
0:7 s position reference corresponds to two system
congurations: the rst one is characterized by the long
exible pipeline and sampling time equal to 0:2 ms; the
second one is characterized by the short rigid pipeline
and sampling time equal to 10 ms: Hence, a trade-off
between the pipeline and the ECU features can be

longflexible
longrigid
shortflexible
shortrigid

1.2

Tracking RMS error [mm]

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8
Gear shift time [s]

1.2

Fig. 7. Performance analysis for different pipeline congurations.

1.4

ARTICLE IN PRESS
M. Montanari et al. / Control Engineering Practice 12 (2004) 13691379

1378
1.6

lf0.25s
lf0.7 s
lf1.3 s
sr0.25 s
sr0.7 s
sr1.3 s
experimental

1.4

Tracking RMS error (mm)

1.2

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

4
5
6
Sampling time (ms)

10

Fig. 8. Tracking error analysis for different sampling times and pipeline congurations: solid lines correspond to long-exible (lf) and dashed lines to
short-rigid (sr) pipelines.

6
4

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

6
3

Press. (Pa)

x 10

0.1

2
1

x 10

0.2

0.4

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.2

0.6

0.8

1.2

2
1
0

0
0

(a)

0
0

Press. (Pa)

x 10

x 10

Pos. (m)

Pos. (m)

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

Time (s)

0.7

(b)

Time (s)

Fig. 9. (a) Experimental test: short-rigid pipeline, Ts 5 ms: Position x and reference position x (marked). Downstream pressure p2 and reference
pressure p2 (marked); (b) experimental test: long-exible pipeline, Ts 0:2 ms: Position x and reference position x (marked). Downstream pressure
p2 and reference pressure p2 (marked).

performed using Fig. 8, leading to an optimized

system conguration.
Since all the activities are carried out by simulation, it
is important to verify how reliable the prediction is. In
order to validate the developed model, experiments have
been performed on a prototyping station. The experimental setup is composed by a DSP board equipped
with a DSP TMS320C32, installed on a standard PC. It
is linked with the clutch control system by means of an
interface board used to acquire and lter sensor signals
and to impose the servovalve voltage. Experiments with
two different congurations, selected via the proposed
procedure, are reported in Figs. 9(a) and (b). The

resulting rms values of the tracking error are also

reported in Fig. 8, where it is shown that they closely
match the values predicted by simulations.

7. Conclusions
It has been shown how proper modelling and control
design for a hydraulic clutch control system can lead to
different system congurations capable to achieve the
desired performances. A proper model is essential for
studying system behaviour via simulation: the approach
followed in the paper showed valuable results. On the

ARTICLE IN PRESS
M. Montanari et al. / Control Engineering Practice 12 (2004) 13691379

other hand, the closed-loop controller cannot be

neglected. Again, deriving controller parameters directly
from system model, through the use of a simplied
model, allows to carry out the performance analysis
directly in simulation. This is instrumental in xing
system specications before actual implementation,
avoiding expensive trial and error design.

Appendix A
A.1. Stability proof of the proposed controller
By means of Lyapunov-like technique (Khalil, 1996),
it can be shown that the position reference trajectory is
exponentially tracked by means of the controller of
Section 6. Consider the Lyapunov function candidate




1
b2 2
V
2mv*2 2kx
x* 2b*vx* Zp* 22 ;
2
m
where Z is a constant positive parameter to be dened.
The time derivative of V along the trajectories of (15) is
bkx 2
Ab
x* p* 2 2A*vp* 2
x*  Zkp p* 22
V  b*v2 
m 
m

kx
Ab
1 @f
x v*p* 2 :


Z
A V0 Ax A @x

A:1

Considering bounded clutch position xA0; xM ; there

exist a constant K > 0 such that


 Ab
 K
1 @f


V Ax A @x xo A :
0
Applying Youngs inequality to the fourth term of (A.1),
it holds


Ab
Ab kx 2 A 2
x* p* 2 p
x* p* 2 ;
m
2m A
kx
hence it follows that


2
 bkx x* 2  b*v2  Zkp  bA p* 22
Vp
2m
2mkx



kx K
2A Z
v*p* 2 :
A

A:2

It can be shown that with proper choice of constant Z

and control parameters kx ; kp the time derivative V is
negative denite. Hence, tracking errors tend exponentially to zero.

1379

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