Technical Paper
Hydrostatic Drives in Heavy Mobile Machinery–New Concepts and Development Trends
1998-09-14
981989
The use of hydrostatic transmission as vehicle drives is primarily motivated by its large range of continuously variable speed, high maneuverability and a possibility to increase the overall efficiency. Consequently an optimally designed system can provide low fuel consumption and thereby low exhaust gas emission. Modern technology involving electro-hydraulic systems, microprocessor control and control theory makes it easier to utilize the advantage of these properties than using traditional hydro-mechanical control. The requirements on productivity are very high for mobile machinery. High output capacity and a wide velocity range are therefore of great importance. To meet these requirements an ordinary hydrostatic transmission is generally used with a mechanical gearbox connected in series. The main drawback in this concept is the high cost in using a gearbox, which can switch gear ratios without jerks and other disturbances in speed and torque transmission.