The inertance hydraulic converter relies on fluid inertance to modulate flow or pressure and is considered to be a competitive alternative to the conventional proportional hydraulic system due to its potential advantage in efficiency. As the quantification of fluid inertance, the suction flow characteristic is the crucial performance indicator for efficiency improvement. To explore the discrepancy between the passive inertance hydraulic converter featured by the check valve and the active inertance hydraulic converter driven by an equivalent 2/3 way fast switching valve in regard to suction flow characteristics, analytical models of the inertance hydraulic converters were established in MATLAB/Simulink. The validated models of the respective suction components were incorporated in the overall analytical models and their suction flow characteristics were theoretically and experimentally discussed. The analytical predictions and experimental measurements for the current configurations indicated that the active inertance hydraulic converter yields a larger transient suction flow rate than that of the passive inertance hydraulic converter due to the difference of the respective suction components. The suction flow characteristic can be modulated using the supply pressure and duty cycle, which was confirmed by experimental measurements. In addition, the suction flow characteristics are heavily affected by the resistance of the suction flow passage and switching frequency. There is a compromise between the resistance and switching frequency for inertance hydraulic converters to achieve large suction flow rate.

惯性液压转换器依靠流体惯性来调节流量或压力，由于其潜在的效率优势，被认为是传统比例液压系统的竞争替代品。作为流体惯性的量化，吸入流量特性是提高效率的关键性能指标。为探讨单向阀无源惯性液力转换器与等效2/3路快速切换阀驱动的有源惯性液力转换器在吸入流量特性方面的差异，在MATLAB中建立惯性液力转换器的解析模型/模拟。各个吸入组件的验证模型被纳入整体分析模型，并从理论上和实验上讨论了它们的吸入流动特性。当前配置的分析预测和实验测量表明，由于各自吸入分量的不同，主动惯性液压转换器产生比被动惯性液压转换器更大的瞬态吸入流量。吸入流量特性可以使用供应压力和占空比进行调节，这已通过实验测量得到证实。此外，吸入流道的阻力和开关频率对吸入流特性影响较大。