What Five Hydraulic Circuits Reveal About Energy Efficiency

Eric Lanke hosts Fluid Power Forum with guest Bruno Dupuis of Famic Technologies, discussing his 2026 Advanced Hydraulics Conference presentation on using Automation Studio CAD and simulation to model off-highway hydraulic circuits and quantify energy efficiency improvements.

Dupuis explains building a component-level system model (hydraulics, electrical, and 3D mechanism) and running a repeatable test cycle (lift, rotate 135° CW/CCW, pick and drop load) to compare five case studies: a basic fixed-displacement, pilot-controlled circuit; an electrohydraulic version with joystick control, counterbalance valves, and a load-sense pump; an ideal electric motor drive at constant and variable speed; and a battery-powered permanent magnet synchronous motor system modeled with and without energy recuperation.

Results included projected energy savings around 35–38% versus the baseline for cases 2–3 and about 36 kJ saved over 1:35 when adding regeneration versus no regeneration.

Subscribe to the Fluid Power Forum today to never miss an episode. The podcast is available on all of your favorite podcast platforms, including YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and iHeart Radio.

Connect with our host, Eric Lanke, at [email protected].

Connect with our guest, Bruno Dupuis, at [email protected].

Learn more about Famic Technologies here.

Find and share more interesting fluid power technologies and unique applications using #onlyfluidpowercan and follow podcast and other fluid power industry-related updates at @TheNFPA.

#fluidpowerforum #onlyfluidpowercan #engineering #modeling #energyefficiency