About this course: Fluid power has the highest power density of all conventional power-transmission technologies. Learn the benefits and limitations of fluid power, how to analyze fluid power components and circuits, and how to design and simulate fluid power circuits for applications. In this course, you will be introduced to the fundamental principles and analytical modeling of fluid power components, circuits, and systems. You will learn the benefits and limitations of fluid power compared with other power transmission technologies; the operation, use, and symbols of common hydraulic components; how to formulate and analyze models of hydraulic components and circuits; and how to design and predict the performance of fluid power circuits. This course is supported by the National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power, and is endorsed by the National Fluid Power Association, the leading industry trade group in fluid power.

Who is this class for: Our target audience for this course includes the following: 1. New engineering hires to a company that uses (or wants to use) fluid power. 2. Engineering graduate students engaged in a research project that uses fluid power. 3. Engineering undergraduate students who wish to be exposed to fluid power. 4. Anyone with a curiosity who wishes to gain a deeper understanding for how fluid power systems work.

Created by: University of Minnesota

Taught by: James D. Van De Ven, PhD, Assistant Professor
Mechanical Engineering
Taught by: Will Durfee, PhD, Morse Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor
Mechanical Engineering

Language	English
How To Pass	Pass all graded assignments to complete the course.
User Ratings	4.8 stars Average User Rating 4.8See what learners said

Syllabus

WEEK 1

Week 1: Fundamentals of Fluid Power

This week: An overview of the course, introduction to hydraulics and pneumatics, and introduction to fundamental concepts of fluid power through the cylinder.

9 videos, 10 readings

Graded: Week 1 Quiz

WEEK 2

Week 2: Components and Concepts: Part 1

This week: circuit diagrams, the written language of fluid power, and how fluid flows through conduits. We hope that you find the hydraulic circuits on the mowing machine as interesting as we did.

5 videos, 7 readings

Graded: Week 2

WEEK 3

Week 3: Components and Concepts: Part 2

This will be a busy week diving into valves and pumps. We will discuss how basic valves function, how to use them in hydraulic circuits, and how to calculate pressure drop for a given flow rate, or vice versa. The videos will directly address the discussion on...

9 videos, 10 readings

Graded: Week 3

WEEK 4

Week 4: Predicting Performance Through Simulation

This week is entirely devoted to you learning how to use Simscape Fluids (formerly SimHydraulics), the fluid power simulation application that we use in the course. The lecture provides an introduction to computer-based, object-oriented simulation, and goes th...

1 video, 6 readings

WEEK 5

Week 5: Fluid Properties

This week we will take a dive into hydraulic fluids (no pun intended) and how their properties and behavior influence the circuit operation. In the lectures, you will see the water hammer effect and explore the assumption of fluid incompressibility. We encou...

3 videos, 4 readings

Graded: Week 5

WEEK 6

Week 6: Advanced Components and Systems and Course Summary

This week you will learn about two new components, the accumulator, which stores hydraulic energy, and the servo valve, which provides fast and precise flow control. We will then be pulling together topics from throughout the course to look at servo hydraulic ...

8 videos, 11 readings

Graded: Week 6 Quiz

FAQs

How It Works

Coursework

Each course is like an interactive textbook, featuring pre-recorded videos, quizzes and projects.

Help from Your Peers

Connect with thousands of other learners and debate ideas, discuss course material, and get help mastering concepts.

Certificates

Earn official recognition for your work, and share your success with friends, colleagues, and employers.

Creators

University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota is among the largest public research universities in the country, offering undergraduate, graduate, and professional students a multitude of opportunities for study and research. Located at the heart of one of the nation’s most vibrant, diverse metropolitan communities, students on the campuses in Minneapolis and St. Paul benefit from extensive partnerships with world-renowned health centers, international corporations, government agencies, and arts, nonprofit, and public service organizations.

Ratings and Reviews

Rated 4.8 out of 5 of 141 ratings

Great professors

this is good course

Very informative course providing elaborative and descriptive material.

Good introduction to fluid power mains components. Some exercises are very school-like and would not appear as real life problems to solve but it's mainly at the beginning and cease as the course go on. Other than that I only regret that there is not a following course to this one going into more detail of each components (their failure modes, the way to size / test them), a focus on seals and leakages, etc... Thank you again for the team and their effort to create an interesting and applied course.

Share