Tips, tricks and steps to get a simple model going and then make it complex.
Automation Studio is a fluid power simulation and automation tool. One thing that makes it unique from other simulation options is that with one license engineers can assess many use cases. For instance, structural, thermal and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analyses of hydraulic, pneumatic, controls and electrical systems can be assessed in one tool and with the same user interface (UI). With other simulation software options, even when offered by the same provider, each one of these analyses may require a different license to numerous software that each use a different UI.
My focus with Automation Studio is hydraulic circuits. I use the digital simulation tool to provide a smell test before I physically build a system. Different use cases include testing a circuit design, modeling an existing system to assess updates, or building a digital twin that can help you understand the limits of a real-world system.
This tutorial will run through a simple modeling example in Automation Studio and provide tips and tricks along the way.
Getting started with a blank page and the Library Explorer window.
When making your first hydraulic circuit model in Automation Studio, I suggest that you start incredibly simple. The software can model a lot of systems, so it’s easy—even for seasoned users—to make little mistakes along the way. Instead, model a small subsystem. Once it is working properly, you can add complexity to it and produce a higher fidelity model. As a result, when I start a hydraulic circuit (using the PROJECT icon), the software provides me with a blank page.
The Library Explorer lists a full range of hydraulic components that engineers can use to model a circuit. When an errant click accidentally closes this indispensable window, you can click the Library Explorer icon in the toolbar to bring it back.
Everyone learned about hydraulic and pneumatic systems differently, and there are several different sequences for modeling these systems. I prefer the system requirement method and will follow the steps of this method in this tutorial.
First, figure out what you are trying to do. Then design a setup to do this. In this example, we’re trying to design a system that will move 100 pounds with a hydraulic cylinder. So, from the Library Explorer, we start with the cylinder.
Finding parts in the Library Explorer is like a muscle; when you’re exercising it all the time, you get good at it. After building a study every week or so, you will get comfortable with the commands and icons in Automation Studio. Seasoned users might be able to head to the right folder in the Library Explorer and find the desired components. Others who are picking the software up after a long break or using it for the first time can type the name of a desired component into the Search Filter of the Library Explorer. This will limit the number of options available, making it easier to find the parts you need.
I want a double-acting, single-rod cylinder. To find it, I type “cylinder” into the search window. I can then drag-and-drop the component into the workspace. When it populates the workspace, it should show blue, signifying that it is not pressurized.
Right-clicking on the component in the workspace brings up a menu that allows you to tailor the part to fit your needs. This menu enables users to set the part’s technical properties, visual options (like rotation) and alignment in the workspace.
After the cylinder is chosen, I work backward and find the control system for that cylinder. Hydraulics is a funny industry because everyone calls components by different names—I’ve learned several alternate nomenclatures, formal and informal, just by talking to various sales reps and end users. In this case, I want a 4-way, 2-port control valve that is directional and normally open. It will tell my cylinder when to extend and when to retract. In the Library Explorer, I move first to the Directional Valve library and then to the 4/2-Way Valves library. There I find one that is normally open with a lever actuator and a spring holding the valve open.
Next comes a pressure relief valve to set the pressure of the system, the pump to move the fluid and create said pressure and a motor to act as the prime mover. A reservoir is then needed to hold the working fluid. Once all these components populate the workspace and the technical property is customized, the next step is to hook them all together.
Connecting all the components with hoses to transmit the fluid is incredibly simple in theory. But in practice, Automation Studio can make it difficult. The workspace grid is set up with vertical and horizontal layers. This means that components can be moved up or down and left or right. Often, parts need to be placed in specific locations to make the hoses connect. Connections that are open will usually show as red dots on the ends of a component.
How to Run and Understand a Simulation in Automation Studio
When your system is ready to test, you can move to the Simulation tab. Once there, hit the Normal Simulation icon. This will pressurize the system and allow you to see what is happening as the components interact.
Using colors, Automation Studio tells you which components and lines are pressurized (red) and which have no pressure or are draining back to the tank (blue).
Users can actuate the directional control valve by clicking on the limit switch on the side of the valve to set whether the flow is moving forward through the cylinder or in reverse. When extending the cylinder, the system takes a moment to switch directions and several of the hose sections show blue, signifying that the fluid inside is draining to the tank.
Because the world of hydraulics is so industry, manufacturer and region specific, there are dozens of layouts you can use to set up a cylinder extension and retraction system like this. My main assumptions were the need to move a 100-pound load and the availability of an electric motor to provide sufficient power to the pump.
