Here is desertfox' link:
Interactive Analysis of Closed Loop Electro-hydraulic Control Systems
I'm going to make my own summary of that so it’s easier for me to remember later. I share it here in case it’s a useful summary / memory device to anyone else. (if it’s just a layer of useless chatter, then I apologize).
I’m going to make it simpler than the authors and NEGLECT the external volume. Assume cylinder has constant diameter D and therefore constant area A
Cylinder stroke H is dividided into H1 and H2 where H1+H2 = H.
Let’s increase H1 by a small increment dh
Assume fractional change in pressure proportional to fractional change in trapped volume
dP / P = B dv / V where B is proportionality constant
define differential forces dF in direction opposite of dh.
For each volume (V1 and V2) we have a Pressure (P1 and P2) which generates a force (F1 and F2) where the two forces F1 and F2 acting in parallel (total force = F1+F2)
We will only work with the differential forces dF1 and dF2 not total forces F1 and F2. That presumes the control system when at rest keeps the pressure on both sides of the piston the same (except for the pressure oscillations on each side associated with the effect of piston position oscillation upon individual trapped volumes on each side). So the sum of the forces from the same-static pressure acting on both sides of the piston is zero regardless of the static pressure.
dFi = A dPi = A B dv / Vi = A B dVi / Vi = A B (dh * A) / (Hi*A) = A B dh / Hi
where Hi = H1 or H2 (H2 = H-H1)
dF = dF1 + dF2 = A B dh / H1 + A B dh / (H – H1)
Stiffness = dF / dh = A B { 1/ H1 + 1/(H-H1)}
Shape of the curve now makes sense. As you get near to H1 = 0 or H1 = H (the ends of the cylinder) the stiffness blows up towards infinity (or lower than that if you added back the effects of the trapped volumes in the tubing outside of the cylinder).
It is a result of fractional change in volume (for a given small movement dh) getting huge when trapped volume on either end gets small. The algebraic manipulations were probably more than was required to get there, but that bolded last part seems easy to remember / visualize to me.
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(2B)+(2B)' ?