OPTIMIZATION OF

BUTTERFLY VALVE DESIGN

USING COMPUTATIONAL
FLUID DYNAMICS
 INTRODUCTION
 Butterfly valves are commonly used as control
equipments in applications where the pressure drops
required of the valves are relatively low.
 As shutoff valve (on/off service) or throttling valves
(for flow or pressure control), the higher performance
and the better precision of butterfly valves are
required.
 Further accurate butterfly valve performance
information is necessary to ensure the safe operation
of nuclear and non-nuclear power plants, as well as
chemical and other industrial plants.
 OBJECTIVE
 To analyse the flow field (characteristics) around the
butterfly valve for the various opening angles.
 To optimize the design of butterfly valve by
considering the following disc shapes.
a) Symmetric disc
b) Prismatic disc
c) Conical Disc
d) Radial Disc
 WHY CFD FOR THIS
PROJECT
 Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is
capable of simulating any physical flow process
 The project involves flow of compressible
fluid over valve and it helps better
understanding of the flow pattern and to study
all aspects of the of flow field such as
turbulence, recirculation zones, velocity and
pressure distribution etc.
 Steps to be Carried out for CFD
Analysis
 Creation of Geometry
 Creation of mesh
 Definition of fluid and its properties
 Definition initial, Final and Wall boundary
conditions
 Running the solver
 Obtaining simulation results
 Dimension of valve Body
Disc Diameter : 150 mm
Disc thickness : 8 mm
Hub diameter : 30 mm
Solid Model of butterfly valves

Symmetric disc Prismatic disc

Conical Disc Radial Disc

Wire Frame Model –Symmetric Disc
20 Degree opening Angle
Wire Frame Model –Symmetric Disc
40 Degree opening Angle
Wire Frame Model –Symmetric Disc
60 Degree opening Angle
 Meshing
Meshing Type : Volume Meshing
Meshing Element : Tetrahedron
Global Element factor : 2
Number of Nodes : 145456
Number of Elements : 825052
Meshed Model –Symmetric Disc
20 Degree opening Angle
Meshed Model –Symmetric Disc

40 Degree opening Angle

Meshed Model –Symmetric Disc
60 Degree opening Angle