fluidics

fluidics, the technology of using the flow characteristics of liquid or gas to operate a control system. One of the newest of the control technologies, fluidics has in recent years come to compete with mechanical and electrical systems.

Although fluidic principles are fairly old, it was not until about 1960 that researchers attempted to use fluidics commercially. The demand for reliable controls in space research stimulated progress. In the 1930s Henri Coandă, a Romanian scientist, described what is now known as the Coandă effect, a major contribution to fluidic technology. He observed that as a free jet emerges from a jet nozzle the stream will tend to follow a nearby curved or inclined surface. It also “attaches” itself to and flows along this surface if the curvature or angle of inclination is not too sharp. Coandă explained this tendency as being caused by the jet stream’s entraining (picking up) nearby fluid molecules. When the supply of these molecules is limited by an adjacent surface, a partial vacuum develops between the jet and the surface. If the pressure on the other side of the jet remains constant, the partial vacuum, which is a lower pressure region, will force the jet to bend and attach itself to the wall.

Because fluidics is not as rapid as electronics, it is unlikely to compete in fields with ultrahigh-speed requirements. On the other hand, in many applications fluidics is advantageous. It is now possible to detect, interlock, and power complex operations by using air throughout a system. Controls can be installed by a competent fitter who might not be capable of dealing with electronic or electrical systems. The elimination of electrical contacts prevents a possible fire hazard.

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Pneumatic circuits require controls with simple interlocking, performed by air-piloted and mechanically operated control valves. Because it employs the same medium, fluidics is useful for sensitive detection and complex control as part of a pneumatic system.

Combining hydraulics and fluidics is more complicated, however, because the same medium is not used. Yet since both systems require plumbing expertise, labour problems can be reduced. Power-output devices handling hydraulic pressures that respond to fluidic signals are available commercially.

Fluidics has been applied to industrial problems on a wide scale, with no particular industry emerging as an obvious choice. Fluidics can operate in hazardous environments and sense objects by methods not available previously. Some typical applications include a weighing system that selects 10 different weights of raw material before machining; air-jet detection of delicate material (the roof lining of an automobile) that would be damaged by mechanical methods; and sonic detectors operating in the highly inflammable, contaminated area of a paint-spray booth. These detectors sense sound waves without disturbing the freshly painted surface.

Principles of operation

Fluidic devices operate on either the digital principle (they are either “on” or “off”) or the analog principle (the output of the device is continuously proportional to the input). The accompanying figure illustrates the distinction.

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In the case of an OR circuit, as shown in the figure, input a or b can produce an output signal, because each has a path through which the signal can flow to the output. This system is called logical (and digital) because no output is possible without an input. Either condition will satisfy the required output (the OR function, as an output, is produced whenever one or the other input is energized).

When an AND circuit is involved, both inputs are required for an output because the flow from a or b alone, without a counterbalancing force, will go out one of the vents. If both are applied, they will collide, producing flow out of the centre port marked a and b. This again is logical (and digital) because no output is possible unless both signals are applied. All conditions must be satisfied before an output is obtained (the AND function) as an output signal will be produced only if an input is applied to both inputs a and b simultaneously.

With a proportional circuit, fluid flowing from the supply will go out of the vent unless input a is applied. This is an analog effect because the output can be altered proportionally from minimum to maximum by varying the power of input a.

Fluidic devices can thus produce both logic (digital) and analog (proportional) effects or functions. The OR and the AND are the most common logic functions.

In most fluidic devices, low-value input pressures or flows can control higher output pressures or flows. This is what is meant by the term fluid amplifier. A supply of fluid entering a device becomes a stream forced to follow a chosen path through carefully designed internal shapes before giving an output. Input jets of far lower power are positioned to give the greatest possible effect on the stream, thereby controlling the output. Fluid amplifiers respond to very small fluid signals provided by such devices as temperature or velocity detectors, generally by input sensors attached to existing mechanical movements. The number of devices controlled by one similar device is called the fan-out ratio. For example, if the output of one device is so strong that it can switch four others at the same time, the fan-out ratio is four.

Technological developments

Among the more recent advances in fluidics is modular construction of circuits—i.e., construction of combinations of components that can be readily fitted together to form whole systems. A motor governor system, for example, converts pulsating frequencies of air motor exhausts into pressure levels, which are then compared to preset values. The difference in pressure is amplified to provide speed regulation of the motor. Converting the frequency of ON/OFF pulses into progressively increasing or decreasing values is called digital proportional. Fluidic devices are stacked in layers to provide a common supply and interconnections.

Another significant development is the edge tone amplifier, which works very much like a musical instrument; air blown at a sharp wedge oscillates at very high frequencies (about 5,000 hertz) to produce an output that is virtually continuous. Frequency of oscillation (sound) is controlled mechanically or by varying the force of the air directed at the wedge.

Sound detection is possible with laminar streams that can be made sensitive to certain sound frequencies. A beam of sound can span distances for detection without even the slight force exerted by an air jet.