Moog, part of Moog Inc. (NYSE: MOG.A and MOG.B) – a global provider of high-performance motion control solutions – has successfully contributed to Easydur’s challenge of creating an exclusive spring testing machine, featuring hybrid actuation technology. The solution, which is the result of a long-standing partnership between the two companies, is custom-designed to meet the client’s need for a more compact machine while ensuring unmatched reliability, robustness, and energy efficiency.
Easydur, specialized in the design and manufacturing of measurement systems, boasts over 40 years of experience in developing custom-made solutions. From universal testing machines to vision systems, industrial hardness testers, hydraulic presses, and dynamic testing machines, every project Easydur takes on is fully tailored in terms of dimensions, types of test loads and the addition of special features, to ensure excellent performance.
Power in a compact design
Easydur chooses MOOG for its top-tier expertise to develop a hydraulic press for compression tests on springs, designed for loads up to 300 kN and speeds of 3 m/min. An engineering challenge, successfully addressed through the synergy of the two companies’ technical teams, which lies in the creation of a system that combines power and compactness to ensure optimal use in the extremely limited factory space available. The solution far exceeded the customer’s expectations, who had initially considered a hydraulic actuation system, typically bulkier and complex to configure compared to an electromechanical one.
A technologically neutral approach at the heart of the solution
In this context, MOOG stands out for its technologically neutral approach, aimed at identifying the most functional technology for each customer. This market-appreciated orientation stems from the ability of the in-house engineering team to objectively evaluate the available electromechanical, hydraulic, and electrohydrostatic technologies and to identify the ideal solution according to the performance requirements of each specific application.
Valentino Affri, Head of Engineering Department at Easydur, comments: «The technologically neutral vision, combined with the constant support provided to Easydur throughout all project phases, from commissioning to after-sales, is one of the main reasons why we have relied on Moog as a partner over the years».
EPU at the heart of the innovative testing solution
MOOG proposed a hybrid actuation system featuring the 19 cm³ Electrohydrostatic Pump Unit (EPU), mounted on a custom-designed manifold and paired with the DS2020 servo drive. This solution merges the strengths of hydraulic actuation, such as robustness, reliability, and repeatability, with the advantages of electromechanical applications, including compactness and ease of use.
«The EPU system, in particular, features a closed-circuit hydraulic component that not only eliminates the complexity and costs associated with oil management, such as hydraulic power units and intricate piping but it simplifies integration between different units», explains Matteo Frascoli, Sales & System Engineer at Moog, who concludes: «Additionally, a drive has allowed us to manage the movement of a high power density hydraulic axis, further enhancing the solution’s reliability and robustness».
Finally, among the advantages of the proposed solutions is the chance to recover part of the energy used throughout the machine’s work cycle. During characterization tests, the springs are compressed, storing elastic energy that, once released, is not dissipated in the form of heat, as in traditional hydraulic systems, but it is stored on the drive’s field bus, ready to be reused in the next cycle. For the customer, this feature translates into enhanced efficiency, ensuring maximum energy savings.
Valentino Affri comments: «This success strengthens a collaboration that goes beyond the mere supply of components, where know-how and specialized skills are shared to overcome every application challenge, even the most complex».
