Abstract: With the rapid development of the economy, tourists are placing increasingly higher demands on the safety and comfort of riding sightseeing cable cars. Humanized design and scientific manufacturing have become inevitable trends in the development of ropeways. This paper provides a brief elaboration on the vibration damping system of funiculars, briefly explains the definition of vibration damping, the role of vibration damping technology, and the daily inspection and maintenance of the funicular vibration damping system.
Keywords: Hydraulic system; Components; Fault; Maintenance
I. Introduction to Hydraulic Systems
Although a hydraulic system appears simple, it is an indispensable core force in modern industrial production. Whether in construction equipment, mining machinery, automotive manufacturing, or marine and aerospace engineering, hydraulic technology plays a crucial role. Although ropeway cable cars started relatively late, hydraulic technology has always accompanied the development of ropeways. As times progress, safety requirements for equipment are becoming increasingly stringent. A complete hydraulic system consists of five parts: the power unit, the actuator, hydraulic control components, auxiliary components, and hydraulic fluid. The power unit is the heart of the hydraulic system. Its main function is to convert the mechanical energy of the prime mover into the pressure energy of the fluid, such as the oil pump in a hydraulic system, which provides power to the entire system. The function of the actuator is to convert the pressure energy of the fluid into mechanical energy, driving the load to perform linear reciprocating or rotary motion. The function of the hydraulic control components is to precisely control the flow direction, flow rate, and pressure of the hydraulic fluid in the system. Auxiliary components include the oil tank, oil filter, pipes and fittings, seals, pressure gauges, oil level and temperature gauges, etc., which are necessary conditions for ensuring the circulation and stable operation of the hydraulic system. Hydraulic fluid is the working medium that transmits energy in the hydraulic system, such as various mineral oils, emulsions, and synthetic hydraulic fluids.
II. Main Hydraulic Components
III. Hydraulic Fault Analysis
The primary troubleshooting of hydraulic system faults is through diagnosis, which means determining the location and cause of the fault in hydraulic equipment without dismantling it, relying on observation and instrument testing. A hydraulic equipment fault refers to the deviation of various technical indicators from their normal state, such as damage to pipelines and certain components, oil leakage, and overheating, resulting in the loss of working capacity, reduced power, and increased vibration and noise.
1. Emergency brake fails to open, while the service brake opens normally
During a trial run after a morning inspection of a cable car, the emergency brake failed to open, and the cable car could not start normally. The technical personnel conducted inspections and tests according to the operation manual. The service brake could open, indicating that the power section functioned normally. Then, by pressurizing and testing the brake with a manual pump, the emergency brake could open. This indicated that the problem lay with the control components. However, to identify which specific component was at fault, an analysis of the hydraulic schematic was required. The failure of the emergency brake to open indicated a problem in the valve spool switching section. By measuring the voltage of the solenoid valve coils, voltage was present, but it was impossible to determine if the solenoid valve coils were working normally. The technicians conducted manual push tests on the solenoid valves individually and found that one solenoid valve coil was energized but the spool did not actuate. The hydraulic oil returned to the tank, causing the emergency brake to fail to open.
Dismantling and analyzing the replaced solenoid valve revealed that the cause of this fault was long-term use of the coil combined with mechanical wear of the spool; the energized coil could not drive the spool to actuate, resulting in the spool not moving. Additionally, the drive room is located underground, where high humidity caused rust on the surface of the spool.
2. Emergency brake pressure drops, while the service brake shows no pressure drop
During a routine manual brake opening "paper test" for a cable car, it was found that the pressure gauge value dropped after the emergency brake was opened. By comparison, the service brake pressure did not drop when opened, indicating that the manual pump oil supply pipeline was fine, and the problem lay in the branch pipelines and components of the emergency brake. By using the item-by-item elimination method to test the emergency brake, it was ultimately found that the handle of the plate-type changeover valve (electric-to-manual switching) for the emergency brake was loose compared to that of the service brake. When slowly turning the wrench for testing, it was found that the pressure drop rate was significantly slower, but the pressure still decreased. The technicians analyzed the drawings and compared the components of the emergency brake, discovering that the check valve on the emergency brake pipeline was installed in the electric direction and could not perform a throttling function in manual mode, hence the pressure drop phenomenon.
Dismantling and analyzing the replaced plate-type ball valve revealed two causes for this fault: 1. Mechanical wear makes the handle drive the spool insensitively, resulting in incomplete switching; 2. Impurities in the hydraulic oil caused blockage, making the spool operate insensitively and experience sticking.
IV. Inspection and Maintenance of Hydraulic Components
Through the analysis of the above two faults, both faults occurred in the components. Therefore, as technicians, when using hydraulic equipment, we must analyze the hydraulic schematics and understand their working principles. This is because the possible faults in hydraulic systems are diverse. Even for the same fault phenomenon, the causes can be different, as it is the result of the comprehensive influence of many factors. Especially for the hydraulic equipment of ropeway cable cars, because they are special equipment, the requirements for hydraulic equipment are more stringent, the equipment is more complex, and the causes of faults are even more multifaceted. A hydraulic system is a closed system, and the working state of each component cannot be seen or touched. Therefore, during fault diagnosis, the factors causing the fault must be analyzed one by one, paying attention to their internal connections and identifying the main contradiction, so that troubleshooting can be done relatively easily.
Currently, most hydraulic systems still adopt the maintenance management methods of "fix it when it breaks down" and "scheduled maintenance." Fixing it after a breakdown inevitably affects production, while scheduled maintenance can cause significant waste. Some large ports are transitioning from scheduled maintenance to predictive maintenance, which is highly beneficial for improving productivity, saving maintenance costs, and rationally allocating spare parts. To achieve predictive maintenance, condition monitoring technology must be adopted. That is, using various sensors, related instruments, and computers to form a testing system to understand the operating state of the system and the technical state of the system and components at any time through the display and comparison of relevant parameters, identify the faulty parts, and achieve automatic alarm and automatic shutdown. However, the cost of using such precision diagnosis and condition monitoring technology is relatively high, and it is currently not suitable for general hydraulic systems. Currently, the methods applicable to the fault diagnosis of hydraulic systems in port engineering machinery include the sensory judgment method and the hydraulic schematic method.
1. Sensory Judgment Method
Using the tactile, visual, auditory, and olfactory senses of operators and maintenance personnel to judge hydraulic system faults is a simple method for obtaining on-site hydraulic fault information. Tactile sense is used to touch whether the housing of components like hydraulic pumps is too hot, and to feel the vibration of the actuator during movement and the pipelines. Visual inspection is to observe whether the values of pressure gauges and oil thermometers at each measuring point are normal; whether the actuator can move or if movement is weak; whether the oil level in the tank is normal; and whether there is external leakage. Auditory sense is to listen to whether the noise of the hydraulic pump and hydraulic motor is too loud, whether the relief valve is screaming, whether the impact sound during reversing is too loud, and to listen for abnormal noises caused by cavitation. The olfactory sense is mainly used to identify faults such as oil deterioration and hydraulic pump burning. Such methods can yield different diagnostic results due to individual differences in feeling and judgment ability, and they only provide qualitative analysis. To determine the actual cause of the fault, the relevant components must still be removed for testing.
2. Hydraulic Schematic Method
The hydraulic schematic analysis method involves technical personnel analyzing the hydraulic diagrams to identify potential fault points. This method is frequently used by ropeway cable car technicians.
A tester can be used to measure the internal leakage of each component in the system to determine the technical state or faults of the hydraulic components.
V. Conclusion
Equipment maintenance possesses a certain degree of professionalism, among which emergency troubleshooting has even higher requirements. It not only tests the professional skills of maintenance personnel but also challenges their psychological quality and reaction capabilities. Therefore, maintenance personnel need to conduct multi-angle thinking and analyze the deep-seated causes of faults based on each equipment failure, continuously summarize work experience, and thereby achieve targeted equipment maintenance, prevent fault occurrence, and improve emergency troubleshooting capabilities, effectively ensuring the safe operation of ropeway equipment. The technical department organizes technical personnel to carefully analyze mechanical and electrical equipment, deeply grasp the working principles of each component of the cable car mechanical and electrical equipment, and formulate corresponding emergency measures to face complex fault types.
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