Chapter 3: Valves and Circuits

Valves are used in fluid-power circuits for controlling flow direction, pressure and
flow. Different circuits are constructed by suitably connecting a number of valves through
lines with one or more pumps and one or more actuators. A typical classification of the
valves is depicted in Figure 3.1 along with symbolic representation for each. All the
direction-control valves, or DCVs, which have been shown as manually operated, could also
be electrical-command operated. Internal features of a non-return or check valve, a pressure
relief valve and an electrical-command operated 4-way direction control valve have already
been described with the help of Figure 1.3c. Figures 3.2 to 3.14 show the internal features of
different valves and their applications in different circuits.

Valves

Direction Control Pressure Control Flow Control

Non-return or Check Pressure relief Fixed

Normal Remote-pilot To sump

Two-way Unloading
Variable

To sump
Normally off Normally on
Counterbalance
Three-way Pressure-
Compensated
A B
Four-way
Sequence
Open centered P T
A B
Pressure reducing
Tandem centered P T
A B

Closed centered P T
A B

Floating centered P T
Figure 3.1: Valve classification and symbol

13
 1 A 1 T P

3 2 3 2 3

B A
(a) (b) (c)
P
P T T
1 1

3 2 4 2 3 3 2 4 2 3
A B
A B

(d) (e)
Figure 3.2: Schematics of (a) remote-pilot NRV, (b) 2-way DCV, (c) 3-way DCV,
(d) 4-way open-centered DCV and (e) 4-way tandem-centered DCV

M
M

(a) (b)
Figure 3.3: Applications of (a) 3-way DCV in regenerative circuit and (b) tandem-center
4-way DCV in multi-cylinder actuation
Figure 3.2 show the internal features of different types of directional control valves.
Figure 3.2(a) depicts a remote-pilot operated NRV, also called check valve, with the pilot
port at the bottom. When the pilot pressure is sufficient to overcome the spring force so as to
lift the spool, the port at the left side gets uncovered thereby directing flow through the
valves through the ports located at the left and right sides.
In the DCVs shown in Figures 3.2(b) to 3.2(e), there is a bush (1) that houses a spool
valve within it. The spool valve has one or more stems (2) and one or more lands (3 and 4),
the diameter of each of which is relatively bigger than a stem. At the neutral or normal
position of the valve, each land blocks a port to the maximum possible extent. These ports
are called the metered ports, whose opening could be changed by displacing the spool along
with the lands.

14
 Figure 3.2(b) represents a two-way valve that is normally blocked. By displacing the
spool inward, the port blocked by the land (3) is uncovered, thereby allowing flow through
the valve. Two-way valves that are normally on are also available.
A 3-way valve is schematically shown in Figure 3.2(c). Figure 3.3(a) depicts its
typical application in a regenerative circuit. The 3-way valve shown in this figure has two
possible positions. In the normal position, the rod-end flow from the cylinder is used together
with the pump flow to feed the cap-end of the cylinder through the valve. The reservoir
remains disconnected during the consequent extension of the piston. This extension is
accomplished due to larger wetted area of the piston at the cap-end side in comparison to that
at the rod-end. When the position of the valve is shifted, the pump flow gets directed to the
rod-end of the cylinder to cause piston retraction that in turn pushes oil from the cap-end of
the cylinder through the valve back to the reservoir.
Figure 3.2(d) represents an open-center 4-way DCV. At the neutral position of the
spool, all the ports remain connected with the reservoir that is apparent from the
corresponding symbolic diagram in Figure 3.1. Hence, the pump flow is allowed back to the
reservoir through this valve at a much lower pressure in comparison to that necessitated in a
close-center valve, in which all the DCV ports remain disconnected from the reservoir.
Under the situation, the pump flow is either fed to other parts of the circuit or comes back to
the reservoir by overcoming the setting of the PRV. In case of discharge through the PRV,
the loss of power in draining of the pressurized oil causes heating of the oil. This calls for
using either a heat exchanger to cool the oil or employing a pressure-compensated pump that
automatically stops the pump from raising oil from the reservoir. In case of open and close-
center DCVs, the lands are respectively narrower and wider than the corresponding axial
width of the port cuts. Therefore, these can also be described respectively as under and over-
lapped valves.
The port opening in an electrically driven valve, also called a servo-valve, could be
varied in a continuous manner from zero to a maximum for flow control in either direction,
as opposed to a limited number of positions in a manually operated valve. Servo-class
solenoid-operated DCVs are usually close centered. However, these are also classified as
underlapped, critically lapped or overlapped depending on whether the metering land is
respectively narrower, equal or wider than the corresponding axial width of the port cut. The
lapping in a close-center valve is limited to only about 2 to 3% of the full stroke, whereas for
other types these may be up 10 to 15% of the stroke.
A tandem-center valve has been detailed in Figure 3.2(e), in which the actuator
chambers remain blocked and the ports corresponding to the pump and the tank remain inter-
connected at the neutral. It is apparent from Figure 3.3(b) that such type of porting allows a
bank of cylinders to be fed flexibly by a single pump. It is possible to extend or retract any
selected set of actuators by properly setting the DCV positions, with other actuators in the
bank remaining locked by keeping the DCVs for those at the neutral position. DCVs are
available also with different other inter-connections of two or more ports that together are
categorized as floating-center type. Figure 3.1 shows one type of floating-center valve in
which only the pump port does not get connected to the tank port at the neutral. Like a close-
center DCV, the flow would either pass to other part of the circuit or drain to the tank
through a pressure-relief valve. The function of the relief valve with a pump-port open type
DCV is to protect the system from being over-pressurized, if the DCV malfunctions.

15
 Pilot stage
2 Q 5:Qs vs Pp
Po 3:Qs vs ΔPs=ΔPo
Po Q
4 Pp Pr Qsd
1
Qs Main valve
3 4:Qp vs Pp
(b)
1:Qp vs Po
Q=Qs+Qp Qpd 2:Qp vs ΔPo

Line at high pressure Pp ΔPsc Ppc P

6:Psc
(a) (c) (d)
Figure 3.4: Two-stage pressure relief valve – (a) Schematic diagram, (b) Symbolic
diagram, (c) Simplified symbolic diagram and (d) Characteristic Curve
A two-stage pressure relief valve has been described in Figure 3.4(a). It has a spool
valve (1) as its main stage, a poppet valve (2) as its pilot stage, a body (3) having all the flow
passages and a restrictor or orifice (4) machined inside. While Figure 3.4(b) shows a more
detailed symbol of the valve, its symbol presented in Figure 3.4(c) is a simplified one. In the
detailed symbol, valves in both the stages have been shown separately along with the
restrictor in between. However, the filled triangle in Figure 3.4(c) symbolically represents the
pilot stage. The discharge (Q)–pressure (P) characteristics of each stage of the valve along
with that of the fixed orifice has been presented in Figure 3.4(d)
Both the valves in the two-stage arrangement are spring loaded. There is a setscrew
attached to the pilot stage that could be adjusted for altering the cracking pressure Pc. The
stiffness kp of the pilot-stage spring is much higher than the stiffness ks of the main-stage
spring. Up to line pressure Pp reaching Pc, the pilot stage is kept shut by high spring pre-
compression xpo. The main stage also remains closed, in spite of its low spring pre-
compression xso, since in absence of any flow through the pilot line the pressure drop at the
fixed orifice that is also equal to the pressure differential across the spool of the main valve
ΔPo = ΔPs = Pp − Po
remains zero. For Pp well beyond Pc, when both the pilot and main valves open, their axial
openings can be expressed respectively as
x p ={πd l2 Po /( 4k p )}− x p 0 ,
and xs ={πd s2 ( Pp −Po )/(4k s )}− xs 0 ,
where ds and dl are the diameters of the spool and the internal lines respectively. Considering
the same discharge coefficient Cd for all the orifices, half-angle θ for the conical seats of both
the valves, diameters of the fixed orifice given by do, the pilot-line and main discharges can
be written as
Q p =Cd πdl ( x p /sinθ ) 2 Po / ρ =Cd (πd o2 / 4) 2ΔPo / ρ ,

and Qs =Cd πd s ( xs /sinθ ) 2ΔPs / ρ .

The discharge variations corresponding to the last two equations have been shown by
Curves 1, 2 and 3 in Figure 3.4(d). With increase in Pp, Qp and hence ΔPs increase, which in

16
turn causes Qs to increase much more steeply than Qp. This is achieved by choosing kp>>ks
and ds>>dl>>do. The pressure drop Po in the pilot stage remains much higher than the drop
ΔPs occurring at the fixed orifice. Adding these drops given by Curves 1 and 2 for the same
pilot-line discharge, the corresponding pump pressure has been obtained yielding the
variation shown in Curve 4. The main discharge in Curve 5 corresponds to that in Curve 3,
whereas the pressure in Curve 5 is obtained by adding the pressure difference of Curve 3
with the pressure of Curve 1 for the same discharges in Curves 1 and 2 corresponding to the
pressure difference of Curve 3 that is also equal to the difference in Curve 2. The difference
(Ppd-Psc) is called the pressure override. It is evident from Figure 3.4(d) that relieving the
pump discharge by a single-stage valve identical to the pilot stage would have been caused
pressure override of much higher magnitude. This arises from the necessity of using a high-
stiffness spring with pre-compression for ensuring high cracking pressure. In a two-stage
valve, high cracking pressure is ensured by the pilot stage and low override is ensured by the
low-stiffness spring of the main stage with low pre-compression together with very low
discharge through the pilot stage.
In applications with a single-stage pressure relief valve, often an unloading valve is
used. Like the main stage of a two-stage valve, the unloading valve has a spring of much
lower stiffness. Figure 3.5 depicts a circuit high-low unloading circuit with an unloading
valve. The actuation would result a low-force high-velocity period of piston movement prior
to the tool getting engaged with the work piece followed by a high-force low-velocity period
of piston movement with the tool engaged with the work piece. During the first part, flow
from both the pumps sustains the speed. As the tool engages with the work piece, the
working pressure goes up thereby closing the NRV and directing the low-pressure high-
discharge pump delivery through the unloading valve and the high-pressure low-discharge
pump delivery through the actuator. By this arrangement, the excessive heating of oil that
would have been caused in case of flow relieving at the high-pressure setting of the relief
valve is avoided.
Free travel,
P low, Q high
Work piece to

high, Q small
be pressed, P
pressure, low
P2 ≡ UV set

Tool

Q1 P1≡ PRV set

Q2 pressure, high
M

Figure 3.5: High-Low Unloading Circuit

17
 A

B To sump

(a) Schematic
A

M
B

(b) Symbol (c) Circuit

Figure 3.6: Schematic and symbol of counterbalance valve and

counterbalance circuit
A counterbalance valve (CBV) is used in a counterbalance circuit for catering a load
on the piston that changes significantly between extension and retraction strokes. Figure
3.6(a) shows the internal feature of the valve that is made up of a spool valve with a setscrew
arrangement and a non-return valve. As long as pressure at Port B is higher than that at A, the
discharge takes place through the NRV from Port B side to Port A side. However, if the
pressure at A is more than that at B, both the NRV and the spool valve remains closed, if the
pressure rise at A is within the cut-off limit. At the cut-off limit, the pressure force on the
spool equals the spring loading on it. Beyond the cut-off limit, the spool valve opens
allowing the discharge through the spool valve from Port B to Port A. The symbol of this
valve is shown in Figure 3.6(b). Figure 3.6(c) depicts the circuit involving an asymmetric
double-acting cylinder meant to provide higher actuating force for raising the load placed on
the piston by virtue of the higher wetted area at the bottom side.
Figure 3.6(c) shows the load at the bottommost position and the DCV at the neutral.
If the DCV lever is now shifted to activate the port connections shown at the right-side of the
neutral, the oil is fed through it and the NRV of the CBV to the bottom chamber of the
cylinder at a high pressure. As a result, the load is raised and the discharge from the top
chamber of the cylinder returns through the DCV back to the reservoir. In case the load needs
to be held stationary at a desired height between the bottommost and topmost position, the
DCV needs to be reverted to the neutral position as soon as the desired height is attained. Of
course, the set-screw of the CBV needs to be adjusted to set the cut-off limit according to the
load on the piston. The weight needs to be counterbalanced by the pressure force with
pressures at the bottom chamber within the cut-off limit and the top chamber near to the
reservoir condition. If the DCV port connections shown by the block at the left of the neutral
are set manually by moving the lever, the load starts to descend. This is due to the pressure in
the top and bottom chambers of the cylinder raised to the relief valve setting and beyond the
cut-off limit of the CBV causing the discharge through its spool valve.
Figure 3.7 depicts two sequence circuits. The objective is to have sequential motion
in Cylinders A1 and A2 by changing the position of the lever of the DCV in the circuits. In
both the circuits shown in Figs. 3.7(a) and (b), there are CBV1 and CBV2. At the neutral

18
position N of the DCV, all the pistons remain locked due to employing a close-center DCV
in the circuit. With an open-center DCV, pistons of A2 cylinder would have been at the most
extended positions due to the unequal wetted area on the two sides of the pistons. The
shifting of the DCV lever from N to L with the pistons at the most retracted position is
considered next. In both the arrangements, A1 piston would be first extended followed by the
extension of A2 piston guided by the opening of CBV1 due to raised pressure in the line fed
by the pump due to A1 piston stopping at its mechanical limit. The tools attached to A2
cylinder could perform pricking and cutting operation on the work piece attached to the A1
cylinder. At the completion of the metal working, the DCV would be shifted to the R
position. CV2 ensures that A2 piston retracts first followed by A1 piston retraction in Figure
3.7(a) and A1 piston retracts first followed by A2 piston retraction in Figure 3.7(b).
In Figure 3.8, a pressure-reducing valve, or PRV, is shown. The role of the valve is to
set the maximum pressure in part of a circuit less than that of the relief valve. Up to a cut-off
pressure at Port A, the valve remains open allowing flow through it. Beyond the limit, the
valve gets closed, blocking off the flow through it. Thus, the pressure in the circuit fed
through Port A would remain within the cut-off limit that could be adjusted by the setscrew.

A2 A1

CBV2
CBV1 A2

A1

L N R CBV1
L N R
CBV2

M
M

(a) (b)
Figure 3.7: Sequence Circuits
A
A

B
B
To sump
(a) Schematic (b) Symbol
Figure 3.8: Pressure reducing valve schematic and symbol

19
 The sequence valve (SV) shown in Figure 3.9 (a) is similar to the spool valve part of
a CBV with setscrew arrangement. Figure 3.9 (b) is the symbolic representation of the SV.
An intensifier circuit has been shown in Figure 3.10 to describe the role of an SV can be
explained in terms of an. In this circuit diagram, the intensifier has been explicitly labeled.
When the DCV is put in L position with the piston inside the cylinder most retracted, the
operation begins with unloaded movement of the piston. This free travel ends, when the tool
mounted on the piston rod touches the work piece that needs to be pierced, say. As a result,
the pressure in the system goes up thereby closing the remote-pilot check valve and opening
the SV. This opens the flow path through the SV and the PRV to the intensifier. An
intensifier is used, if the load demand during a small piston stroking need to be more than
that the pump could deliver.
The intensifier shown in the figure has a rod joining two coaxial pistons of cross-
sectional areas, say A1 and A2, which can move inside a stepped cylinder with three ports.
The ports at the opposite large-area and small-area ends are meant for connection with the
pump line and the cylinder line respectively. Of course, the pressure p1 acting on the larger-
area piston when the intensifier receives the flow from the pump gets amplified to p2, which
can be expressed by using the Pascal law as
p2 = p1 A1 / A2 .
A A

(a) Schematic B (b) Symbol

B To sump
Figure 3.9: Sequence valve schematic and symbol

Intensifier
p2 p1
A2 A1

L N R

Figure 3.10: Intensifier Circuit

20
 This amplified pressure generates the necessary large force to perform the piercing
operation. Thus, the SV sequences the fast approach of the tool till it touches the work piece
followed by directing the flow to the intensifier to generate the necessary large force in the
working cylinder. The setting of the PRV should be adjusted to conform to the strength of the
material of the work piece that needs to be overcome to enable the piercing. As a result of the
pressure drop in the PRV, the check valve shown above it remains closed during the piercing
operation. When the pistons inside the intensifier move towards the smaller-area cylinder
head, the oil volume between the pistons clearly reduces. The flow consequent to this leaves
the intensifier through its third port to return to the tank.
Following the piercing operation, the DCV is put to the R position. The flow to the
rod-end of the cylinder causes piston retraction. During the initial part, the flow out of the
cylinder enters the smaller-area side of the intensifier causing its retraction as well. The flow
from its opposite end returns to the tank through the simple check valve. In order to support
the retraction, the flow necessary through the intermediate port into the intensifier is supplied
by the pump. Once the retraction of the intensifier gets over, the pump pressure increases
forcing the remote check valve to open and allow flow from the cylinder through it back to
the tank. This allows the full retraction of the piston inside the cylinder.
It is evident from Figure 3.11 that a pressure-compensated flow-control valve (PC-FCV) has
a needle valve (1) involving a set-screw for adjusting the valve opening and a spring-loaded
spool valve (2) with one internal metered port whose opening depends on the spring (3) with
stiffness ks and initial deflection xp when the spool remains at its rightmost position. The
figure shows the spool displaced by x along with the pressures at the spool valve inlet, fixed
orifice outlet and between the spool valve and the orifice as P1, P2 and P3 respectively.
Corresponding to x=0, these pressures would be P1, P20 and P30 respectively. Hence, it can be
written that
( P30 − P20 ) As = k s x p (1)
Q0 = C d A f 2( P30 − P20 )/ ρ = C d wx0 2( P1 − P30 )/ ρ (2)
( P3 − P2 ) As = k s ( x p + x) (3)
Q = C d A f 2( P3 − P2 )/ ρ = C d w( x0 − x) 2( P1 − P3 )/ ρ (4)
(1) and (3) ⇒ ( P3 − P2 )/( P30 − P20 ) =1+ ( x / x p ) . (5)
(2) and (4) ⇒ Q /Q0 = ( P3 − P2 )/( P30 − P20 ) ={( x0 − x) ( P1 − P3 ) }/{x0 ( P1 − P30 )} , (6)
⇒ ( P1 − P3 )/( P1 − P30 ) = (Q /Q0 ) 2 /(1− x / x0 ) 2 . (7)

P2

1
P3
x0-x
2
3 x

P1
Figure 3.11: Pressure-compensated flow control valve

21
Let P1=9.7MPa, P30=8.9MPa, P20=8.7MPa, x0 = 0.6 mm,
P1=9.7MPa, P3=2.1MPa, P2=1.7MPa, x0 − x = 0.28 mm,
⇒ Q / Q0 = (0.28 7.6 ) /(0.6 0.8 ) = 1.4(0.2 × 2.7) /(0.6 × 0.9) = 1.4 .
Of course for a fixed-orifice control valve and same pressure drop across the valve
Q /Q0 = 9.7 −1.7 / 9.7 −8.7 = 2.82 .
Thus, a change of discharge by 182% corresponding to fixed-area orifice is contained only to
40% by pressure compensation.
Three popular speed control circuits, namely the meter-in, meter-out and bleeder
arrangements for the extension stroke have been shown in Figures 3.12(a), (b) and (c)
respectively. In the first two cases, a parallel arrangement of the NRV and the FCV causes
pressurization during piston extension and free-flow during retraction. The comparison of
these arrangements is discussed next by developing the necessary equations for given
Q=4×10-3m3/s, PPRV=20MPa, Pr=0, A1/A2=2.0, Metered ports of the DCV characterized by
the pressure-drop constant to square of the discharge given by K=0.8×106MPa.s2/m6.
The metering demands of the piston speed and external hydraulic force may be represented,
say as Q1=1×10-3m3/s and F / A2 =17.2MPa.
Now, the pressure drop equations at the pump and tank ports, the hydraulic force on
the piston, the hydraulic power loss, the pump-port discharge, the power output and the
efficiency for the respective circuits can be expressed respectively as
Pp − Pv1 = KQ12 in Circuits (a) and (b), (1)
Pv 2 = KQ22 = KQ12 / 4 in all the circuits, (2)

P1, P2, A2 P1, P2, A2 P1, P2, A2

A1 A1 A1

Q1 Q2 Q1 Q2 Q1 Q2
Qp1
Pv1 Pv2 Pv1 Pv2 Pv1 Pv2

Pp Pr=0 Pp Pr=0 Pp Pr=0

Qp Qp Qp

M M M

a) Meter-in circuit b) Meter-out circuit c) Bleeder circuit

Figure 3.12: Speed-control circuits

22
F / A2 =( P1 A1 − P2 A2 ) / A2 = 2 P1 − P2 in all the circuits, (3)
HPL ={( Pp − Pv1 ) + ( Pv 2 − Pr ) / 2}Q1 + ΔPFCV Q1 + PPRV (Q −Q1 ) in Circuit (a), (4a)
{( Pp − Pv1 ) + ( Pv 2 − Pr ) / 2}Q1 + ΔPFCV Q1 / 2+ PPRV (Q −Q1 ) in Circuit (b), (4b)
( Pp − Pv1 )Q p1 +( Pv 2 − Pr )Q1 / 2+ ΔPFCV (Q p1 −Q1 ) + PPRV (Q −Q p1 ) in Circuit (c), (4c)
QP1 = ( Pp − P1 ) / K in Circuit (c),
HPO = FQ2 / A2 =( F / A2 )(Q1 / 2)=8.6 kW in all the circuits
and η h = HPO /( HPO + HPL) in all the circuits. (5)
Calculations are given with an eq. or its number shown before a colon in the table below.
Pv1, Pv2, P1 & P2, MPa ΔPFCV , HPL, η, %:
Circuit MPa MPa kW (5)
Circuit⇒ (3):⇒ MPa
(a) (1):19.2 (2):0.2 P2=Pv2=0.2 P1=(P2+F/A2)/2=8.7 Pv1- P1:10.5 (4a):71.40 10.75
(b) (1):19.2 (2):0.2 P1=Pv1=19.2 P2=2P1-F/A2=21.2 P2- Pv2:21.0 (4b):71.40 10.75
(c) Pv1=P1 (2):0.2 P2=Pv2=0.2 P1=(P2+F/A2)/2=8.7 P1:8.7 (4c):71.40 10.75
The efficiency in all the circuits turned out to be equal, since both the output and
input powers were equal in all the cases. Of course, the outputs were equal by the problem
statement. The input remained equal, since in all the cases the pump pressure turned out to be
equal to the set RV pressure. Since the bleeder circuit does not have any FCV in the flow
paths connecting the cylinder, the pressure drop in this path is dictated only by the DCV
characteristics. In the given situation, Qp1 was found to be equal to 3.76×10-3m3/s. Therefore,
with reduction in the external load demand, the RV in this circuit would have responded
earliest by getting closed. At the RV closing load with the drained flow Qd=0, it can be
obtained that
P1|Qd=0=(20-0.8×42)MPa=7.8MPa,
QFCV|Qd=0= QFCV|Qd≠0√(7.8/8.7)=2.61×10-3m3/s,
Q1|Qd=0=(4-2.61)×10-3m3/s=1.39×10-3m3/s,
P2|Qd=0= P2|Qd≠0×( Q1|Qd≠0/ Q1|Qd=0)2=0.39MPa,
(F/A2) |Qd=0=(2P1- P2)|Qd=15.21MPa.
Of course below this external load, the pump pressure would become less than the RV
setting, thereby resulting in lesser hydraulic input power and improved circuit efficiency.
It is evident that the pressure level within the actuator in the meter-out circuit is the
highest. Thus, the problem of cavitation, which would arise due to fall of system pressure
below the vapor pressure at the prevailing temperature during the transients, is expected to be
the least. The point may be clarified through the estimation system pressures at the steady
state after the decay of the transients following the sudden release of the external force. Such
an event would occur, say after the piercing of a thin plate by the pressure force generated by
the actuator. Now, Equation (4) with F=0 yields that P2|F=0=2 P1|F=0. Thus, assuming that the
system discharge would increase by x times and the pressure drops at the orifices of the DCV
and FCV by x2 times, the pressure in MPa can be obtained as
for Circuit (a), P2|F=0=0.2x2=2{20-x2(0.8+10.5)}⇒x=√{20/(0.8+10.5+0.2/2)}=1.32,
⇒P1v|F=0=20-0.8 x2=18.6,P1|F=0=P1v|F=0-10.5x2=0.3, P2|F=0=P2v|F=0=0.6,
and for Circuit (b) P2|F=0=(0.2+21.0)x2=2(20-0.8x2)⇒x=√{20/(0.8+0.2/2+21.0/2)}=1.32,
⇒P1v|F=0=P1|F=0=20-0.8x2=18.6,P2|F=0=37.2,P2v|F=0=P2|F=0-21x2=0.6.

23
 The above calculations clearly show the steady-state piston speed to be equal in both
the cases, after the subsidence of the transient following the load withdrawal. However, the
pressures in the cylinder chambers at the steady state indicate much higher values for Circuit
(b) that are far away from the vapor pressure. Since the increased discharge to the cylinder
means piston acceleration, the transient phase may be associated with a peak piston velocity
that is higher than even the higher steady state value. Clearly, the consequent pressure drops
in the DCV and FCV in Circuit (a) may cause the oil within the cylinder to cavitate. Hence,
Circuit (b) provides a better arrangement for supporting a varying load. However, Circuit (a)
could still be used in case the external load does not vary too much and it is easier to install
the NRV and FCV set towards the cap-end side of the cylinder.
Since the PRV gets closed at a relatively high load in case of the bleeder circuit, the
effect of the pump dynamics like flow and pressure ripples gets coupled to the dynamics of
the actuator piston. If the discharge in the circuit tends to increase or decrease due to an
external factor, the pressure drop in the FCV in the meter-in or the meter-out circuit increases
or decreases respectively so as to counteract the external factor. Therefore, the role of the
FCV in these two circuits is to cut down the fluctuations. However, the position of the FCV
in the bleeder circuit does not allow this beneficial effect of the FCV to be harnessed.
While an intensifier is meant to supplement the pressure developed by the pump
during a part of the full working cycle, an accumulator supplements the flow of the pump
during a part of the working cycle. An accumulator is a container in which fluid is stored
under pressure as a source of power. Its other functions are as follows.
1. Emergency power source in case of power failure to operate critical circuit functions,
say retraction of the extended piston
2. Hydraulic shock absorber for circuits where sudden impact loads, quick stops, or
reversals with heavy loads are a characteristic of the system
3. Reduction of the flow ripples arising from to pulsating nature of pump delivery
4. Providing make up fluid with variation in fluid temperature

The accumulators could be gas loaded or spring loaded. The working of a gas-loaded
accumulator has been explained by solving a numerical problem.

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 In the circuit described by Figure 3.9, a circuit using the PRV is shown. Both the
actuator pistons are connected to the same object. The pressure-reducing valve allows the
moment and the maximum net force acting on the body to be adjusted. It may be mentioned
here that in a parallel manipulator, a number of actuators impart multi-degree freedom
motion to the same body. In a circuit with pressure-reducing valve, it is possible to impart
single degree-of-freedom motion to a single body by each actuator.

Table

Figure 3.9: Application of pressure reducing valve in a two-actuator circuit with

common power pack and common load

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