Flow controls
❑In either of the hydraulic and pneumatic system fluid under pressure flows and
are fed to the actuators.
❑The energy in form of pressure passes from different control blocks or parts
known as valves.
❑The valves are mostly used to
1. Block or stop the flow
2. Control flow direction
3. Control pressure
4. Control amount of flow
❑Each of these method employ different kind of valves to either control the flow
direction, pressure and speed of the actuators.
❑While valves can be customized according to the specific needs, the cot
associated with the design and production is often lengthy and tedious.
❑The coming sections can be divided into;
1. DVCs
2. PCVs
3. FCVs
DCVs
❑DCVs control the fluid flow direction and thus control the actuators movement
direction as well.
❑Based on the construction, DCVs can be classified into;
1. Seat or poppet valves
2. Sliding or spool valves
❖ In a direction control valve, the
inlet can be connected to outlet
port A or B.
❖ Or it may allow a pressurized
port to get unloaded; i.e. from A
or B to T
❖ By suitable positioning of the
internal moving parts, all ports of
the valve cab be closed.
❖ This internal part could be
solenoid or a poppet.
Seat or poppet valves
❑In these valves, a flat plate, a sphere or a poppet can be made to attach to or seat
on a finely machined seat.
❑The valves are of quick response type and contamination in the working fluids
hardly have any effect on the performance.
❑Since the poppets sit on a seat, these can perform well under high pressure
conditions.
❑However, they are not found to be as effective in a large sized valve.
❑Valves used in IC engines can be taken as an example, thus quality of the
machined surface dictates the effectiveness of the valves.
❑Furthermore the efficiency of the contact should also be very high so that the
valve works effectively.
Spool valve
❑Based on the solenoid movement these DCVs can be classified into;
❑Rotary Spool
❑Sliding spool
Rotary Spool
❑Rotating piston with the longitudinal grooves are the primary component of
these valves.
❑These valves are mostly used for manual control.
❑Lack of adequate sealing hinders their application in very high pressure
application.
❑These valves are costlier than their sliding counterparts and can only be implied
under low to moderate pressure.
❑High precision and tolerance between the parts make these valves costly.
Sliding spool
❑Sliding piston inside a valve casing is a major construction entity.
❑Opening and closing of ports are done by sliding of piston.
❑Since movement across the pressure is made, the piston need to act against the flow pressure and friction
must be overcome.
❑Solenoid is a common automation system, while pneumatic and hydraulic control could be implemented for
the same.
❑Whether sliding or rotating the following points must be considered while valve designing
1. Size of the valve
2. Valve body and rigidity
3. Pressure
4. Friction
5. Valve clearance
6. Sealing
7. Internal parts
8. Actuation methods
2, 3 and 4 way valves construction
❑Way mostly refers to the direction of the fluid flow.
❑1-way valve only allows fluid flow in one direction or does not has provision for reverse flow.
❑2-way valves have two openings, which is often joined and separated by spool movement.
❑Thus, the movement of spool could either allow the flow or could hinder the flow.
❑An arrow direction shows the flow direction.
❑A perpendicular mark shows the flow is completely cut off.
3-way valve
❑A 3-way valve will have 3 openings.
❑One opening will be from pressure side, while two others will be of actuator and tank side.
❑These valves has three openings and two spool position system.
❑Thus often referred as 3/2 valve, which means 3 ports or ways and 2 position valve system
❑In one extreme position the flow takes place between pressure to actuator side
❑While other extreme will provide flow from actuator to the tank.
❑Sliding spools use land to open or close the circuit.
❑Most commonly 2 and 4 lands spools are used; where 2 land spools are used for low rating.
❑While 4 lands are commonly applied on high rating system.
4-way valves
❑4 ports are present where, one is pressure port, other one is tank or return port.
❑While other two are for actuator control.
❑4/2 valves have provision for two spool position
❑Double actuation cylinders mostly use this application
❑4/3 valves has 4 ports but also 3 spool positions.
❑This position allows for complete shutting of all the 4 ports/ways.
Valve position
❑It refers to the position of the land with in the valves, which results in the flow or stoppage of fluid.
❑Mostly spools have 1 neutral position and 2 operating position, where neutral position is represented as 0.
❑While 1 or 2 is specified for on position.
❑If the valve has a combination of two flows it will be called as 2-position valve.
Valve spool
❑The spools are mostly used for the following actions;
1. Closed center valve
2. Open center spool
3. Partial open center spool
4. Fully by-pass spool
5. Partial bypass spool
Valve material
❑Body: Carbon steel, Ductile Cast iron, Aluminum, stainless steel.
❑Al-alloys for low pressure application, high strength Al-alloy in aviation sectors
❑Stainless steel in corrosive environment
❑Spool: Case hardened steel
❑Hardness of 60 HRC, RA of 2-3µm
❑Spool and Bore clearance: 5-10µm
Flow and Pressure control valves
❑Apart from DCVs, other valves are also used in hydraulic circuit and are;
1. Non return valves or check valves
2. Flow control valves
3. Pressure control valves
Non-return valves or check valves
❑It blocks the reverse flow of the fluids.
❑Means it only allows flow in one direction only.
❑These combine the functionality of both pressure control and direction control.
❑Spring resistance is attached to these valves.
❑When the incoming pressure exceeds the spring stiffness, it is pushed back and the flow is allowed to take
place.
❑On the contrary when the fluid tries to move in reverse direction, the spring retracts and the port is closed.
❑Check valves are the simplest hydraulic component.
❑These are employed to maintain the pressure inside the system, making sure that no amount of fluid is
moving back to the tank.
Pressure control valves
❑The function of PCVs are;
1. To limit maximum pressure within the system
2. To reduce or contain pressure in certain section of the circuit
3. Relieve system pressure
4. Other pressure related morbidities
❑The operation is based on a balance between fluid pressure and mechanical force (springs)
❑The valves can have any position between fully open and fully closed.
❑Based on the operations these valves can be classified into;
1. Pressure relief valves
2. Sequence valve
3. Pressure reducing valves
4. Pressure compensation valves
Pressure relief valves
Sequence Valve
❑Are used to control various operations in a sequential manner; i.e. one after another.
