Hydraulic Flow Control Valves
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Function of a flow control valve
• To control or regulate the speed of the actuators
• Flow rate at the throttling point :
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Types of throttling points
• Fixed throttle openings :
• Whenever a small hole is drilled on the valve
body in order to achieve a pressure drop, a
fixed throttling point is created.
• Area of the throttle opening :
Orifice plate
Valve body throttle
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Variable throttle openings
Variable throttle
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Types of flow control valves
• Flow regulator :
• Variable throttle valves :
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Types of flow control valves....
• Throttle check valves-directional control function :
Single-double throttle check valve (symbols)
Throttle check valve cross-section
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Two-way flow control valve
• Downstream pressure compensator type :
Two-way flow control valve cross-section
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Two-way flow control valve....
• Downstream pressure compensator type :
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Two-way flow control valve....
• Upstream pressure compensator type :
Upstream pressure compensator
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Pressure compensated flow control
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Application of two-way flow control
valves
• Meter-in flow control :
• Meter-out flow control :
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Application of two-way flow control
valves
• Bleed-off flow control :
• Three-way flow control valves :
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Deceleration or cam operated flow
control valve
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Demand-compensated or priority flow
control valve
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Flow divider or synchronizing flow
control valve circuit
Flow divider circuit
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Pressure- and temperature-
compensated flow control valve
Pressure- and temperature-compensated flow control valve
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Speed-Controlling Circuits
• In hydraulic operations, it is necessary to control the
speed of the actuator so as to control the force, power,
timing and other factors of the operation.
• Actuator speed control is achieved by controlling the rate
of flow into or out of the cylinder.
• Speed control by controlling the rate of flow into the
cylinder is called meter-in control.
• Speed control by controlling the rate of flow out of the
cylinder is called meter-out control.
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Meter-In Circuit
The inlet flow into the cylinder is
controlled using a flow-control
valve.
In the return stroke, however, the
fluid can bypass the needle valve
and flow through the check valve
and hence the return speed is not
controlled.
This implies that the extending
speed of the cylinder is controlled
whereas the retracing speed is not
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Meter-Out Circuit
When the cylinder extends, the flow
coming from the pump into the cylinder is
not controlled directly.
However, the flow out of the cylinder is
controlled using the flow-control valve
(metering orifice).
On the other hand, when the cylinder
retracts, the flow passes through the check
valve unopposed, bypassing the needle
valve. Thus, only the speed during the
extend stroke is controlled.
Both the meter-in and meter-out circuits
mentioned above perform the same
operation (control the speed of the
extending stroke of the piston), even
though the processes are exactly opposite
to one another.
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Bleed-Off Circuit
In this type of flow control, an additional
line is run through a flow-control valve
back to the tank.
To slow down the actuator, some of the
flow is bleedoff through the flow-control
valve into the tank before it reaches the
actuator.
This reduces the flow into the actuator,
thereby reducing the speed of the extend
stroke.
The main difference between a bleed-off
circuit and a meter-in/meter-out circuit is
that in a bleed-off circuit, opening the
flow-control valve decreases the speed of
the actuator, whereas in the case of a
meter-in/meter-out circuit, it is the other
way around.
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PROBLEMS
• A 55-mm diameter sharp-edged orifice is placed in a
pipeline to measure the flow rate. If the measured
pressure drop is 300 kPa and the fluid specific gravity is
0.90, find the flow rate in units of m3 /s
where Q is the volume flow rate in LPM, is the capacity coefficient = 0.80 for the sharp-edge orifice, c =
0.6 for a square-edged orifice, A is the area of orifice opening in mm2, is the pressure drop across the
orifice (kPa) and SG is the specific gravity of the flowing fluid = 0.9.
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• The system shown has a hydraulic cylinder with a suspended load W. The cylinder piston and
rod diameters are 50.8 and 25.4 mm, respectively. The pressure-relief valve setting is 5150 kPa.
Determine the pressure p2 for a constant cylinder speed:
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• For a constant cylinder speed, the summation of the forces on the hydraulic cylinder must be equal to zero. Thus,
we have
where p1 pressure-relief valve setting 5150 kPa
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• A cylinder has to exert a forward thrust of 100 kN and a reverse thrust of 10
kN. The effects of using various methods of regulating the extend speed will
be considered. In all the cases, the retract speed should be approximately 5
m/min utilizing full pump flow. Assume that the maximum pump pressure is
160 bar and the pressure drops over the following components and their
associated pipe work (where they are used):
• Filter = 3 bar
• Directional control valve (DCV) = 2 bar
• Flow-control valve (controlled flow) = 10 bar
• Flow-control valve (check valve) = 3 bar
• Determine the following:
• (a) The cylinder size (assume the piston-to-rod area ratio to be 2:1).
• (b) Pump size.
• (c) Circuit efficiency when using the following:
• Case 1: No flow controls (calculate the extend speed).
• Case 2: Meter-in flow control for extend speed 0.5 m/min.
• Case 3: Meter-out flow control for extend speed 0.05 m/min.
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Case 1: No flow controls (Fig.
Part (a) No flow controls
Maximum available pressure at the full bore end of
cylinder = 160 − 3 − 2 = 155 bar
Back pressure at the annulus side of cylinder = 2 bar.
This is equivalent to 1 bar at the full bore end
because of the 2:1 area ratio. Therefore, the
maximum pressure available to overcome load at the
full bore end is 155 − 1 = 154 bar
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• Part (b)No flow controls
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