actuators Article An Algorithm for the Broad Evaluation of Potential Matches between Actuator Concepts and Heavy-Duty Mobile Applications † David Fassbender * and Tatiana Minav   Citation: Fassbender, D.; Minav, T. An Algorithm for the Broad Evaluation of Potential Matches between Actuator Concepts and Heavy-Duty Mobile Applications. Actuators 2021, 10, 111. https://doi.org/10.3390/act10060111 Academic Editor: Ioan Ursu Received: 6 May 2021 Accepted: 19 May 2021 Published: 25 May 2021 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, IHA—Innovative Hydraulics and Automation, Tampere University, 33720 Tampere, Finland; tatiana.minav@tuni.fi * Correspondence: david.fassbender@tuni.fi † This paper represents an extension of the work previously presented at the 1st International Electronic Conference on Actuator Technology 2020 under the title “Finding the Perfect Match: Different Heavy-Duty Mobile Applications Call for Different Actuators”. Abstract: In recent years, a variety of novel actuator concepts for the implements of heavy-duty mobile machines (HDMMs) has been proposed by industry and academia. Mostly, novel concepts aim at improving the typically low energy efficiency of state-of-the-art hydraulic valve-controlled actuators. However, besides energy-efficiency, many aspects that are crucial for a successful concept integration are often neglected in studies. Furthermore, most of the time, a specific HDMM is focused as an application while other HDMM types can show very different properties that might make a novel concept less suitable. In order to take more aspects and HDMM types into account when evaluating actuator concepts, this paper proposes a novel evaluation algorithm, which calculates so-called mismatch values for each potential actuator-application match, based on different problem aspects that can indicate a potential mismatch between a certain actuator concept and an HDMM. The lower the mismatch value, which depends on actuator characteristics as well as HDMM attributes, the more potential is the match. At the same time, the modular nature of the algorithm allows to evaluate a large number of possible matches at once, with low effort. For the performance demonstration of the algorithm, 36 potential matches formed out of six actuator concepts and six HDMM types are exemplarily evaluated. The resulting actuator concept ratings for the six different HDMMs are in line with general reasoning and confirm that the evaluation algorithm is a powerful tool to get a first, quick overview of a large solution space of actuator-HDMM matches. However, analyzing the limitations of the algorithm also shows that it cannot replace conventional requirements engineering and simulation studies if detailed and reliable results are required. Keywords: hydraulic actuators; heavy-duty mobile machines; electro-hydraulics; design process; energy efficiency 1. Introduction Next to driving, the main function of a HDMM is fulfilling a work task with its im- plements. Those implements comprise mostly linear actuators with requirements such as robustness, low price, high safety and compactness. So far, centralized, valve-controlled hydraulic systems have been the standard solution to meet those requirements. Examples of valve-controlled concepts are load sensing (LS) systems, negative flow control or open- center systems [1], and they all have one major issue in common which is high metering losses caused by the control valves. Due to arising and tightening emission regulations in many countries worldwide, these losses and the related low energy efficiency became more problematic. In response, numerous new actuator concepts have been proposed by researchers over the last decades as replacements for conventional valve-controlled actuators on HDMMs. Major concepts are independent metering [2], multi-pressure rail Actuators 2021, 10, 111. https://doi.org/10.3390/act10060111 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/actuators