UNIT – 3 CONTROL VALVES

Marks - 16

Necessity -

• Control of fluid is necessary to make the fluid power adaptable for the use of
consumer.
• In a hydraulic system, the pump generates flow of oil which is to be fed to the cylinder
or other actuator.
• The pressure energy is fed to the actuator through a number of control blocks called
valves.
• Hence the valve is nothing but a device which is necessary to control the oil energy.
• Various types of valves are used in hydraulic system. Basically valves are expected to
control –
• Blocking or stopping of flow
• Direction of flow
• Pressure
• Flow quantity

What to Control -

 What are the various parameters that need to be controlled in the case of oil energy?

1. In a hydraulic machine the actuators make to and fro motion. Hence the direction of the oil
feeding the cylinder or motor needs to be reversed. This means direction of oil flow is an
essential aspect of hydraulic operations. This is achieved by “Direction Control Valves”.
2. Oil energy does the work due to pressure in the oil system. In hydraulic system there may
be a need to increase or decrease the pressure of the oil depending on the application.
Hence a group of valves called “pressure control valves” have been designed.
3. The speed of the actuators needs to be altered as per operational requirement. For this
purpose hydraulic system use “flow control valves”.

Poppet Valve -

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 • In poppet valve either discs, ball or cones are used to close or open the flow of fluid.
• Poppet valves are simple in construction and hence they are inexpensive.
• They are easy to operate and can be easily installed.
• Since poppet valves are less sensitive to contamination, less stricter oil filters can be
used in the system.

Sliding Spool Type Valves -

• In sliding spool type valves, the valve spool is to slide in a matching bore thereby
connecting or breaking the various ports of the valve.
• The spool is displaced axially inside the valve.
• The spool may be actuated manually, electrically or by hydraulic/pneumatic means.

Rotary Spool Type Valves -

• Rotary spool type valve has rotary spool which has internal oil passages to carry out
the direction control element.
• As shown in figure, the valve has four ports P,T,A,B.

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 • This type of spool is mainly used in manually operated valves. They are more
appropriate for lower pressure.

Pressure Relief Valve -

• Pressure relief valves are found in every hydraulic system.

• A pressure relief valve is a „normally closed valve‟ connected between pressure line
and the oil reservoir.
• Its main purpose is to limit the pressure in a system to a preset maximum pressure by
diverting some or all the oil to the tank, when the maximum set pressure is reached.

• A simple relief valve consists of a ball or cone seated in the valve body by the
compressive force of a spring.
• When the pressure in the inlet is insufficient to overcome the force of the spring, the
valve remains closed and hence it is often referred as normally closed valve.

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Compound Relief Valve –

• Direct controlled pressure relief valves are used where the flow rate and the system
pressure are reasonably smaller and there not much variation in system pressure or
flow rate.
• For large flow rate and higher pressures we need spring with higher strength which in
turn causes the spring to large enough to withstand the pressure making it unsuitable
for the compact design of the hydraulic system.
• In such cases the use of an indirectly operated valve i.e. a pilot operated valve is used.
This valve is also called as „Compound Relief Valve‟.
• All the pilot operated valves whether pressure valve, direction control valve or flow
control valve work on the same principle of flow through orifice.

• It is known that when the fluid flows through the orifice, its pressure drops due to
internal resistance to flow (back pressure).
• Thus P1 > P2 .

• The valve consists of two stages namely main & pilot operated.
• The main valve is big and pilot stage is small directly operated relief valve with small
spring.
• The input pressure is applied to the lower end of main valve and the same is applied to
the cone of pivot valve through orifice.
• The input pressure applied on the main valve is same as the pressure applied on the
cone of pivot valve.

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 • When the pressure in the system exceeds the limit, the cone is lifted allowing smaller
flow to drain.
• The flow through the orifice causes the pressure difference on bottom and top of the
spool which results in differential force which moves the main spool in upward direction
and opens the main passage of fluid to drain.
• In short pilot stage controls the pressure but is not meant for massive flow and flow
through the pilot stage is used to trigger the main spool which opens bigger passage of
fluid to reservoir.

Difference between Pressure Relief and Pressure Reducing Valve -

Pressure Relief Valve Pressure Reducing Valve

Relief valve is a normally closed valve Reducing valve is a normally open valve

Pressure relief valve senses pressure at Reducing valve senses pressure at outlet
inlet

Relief valve doesn't have an external drain Reducing valve has an external drain line.
line.

Pressure Reducing Valve –

• These valves are normally open pressure control valves used to maintain reduced
pressure in certain portions of the hydraulic system.
• They are actuated by the pressure sensed in the branch circuit and tend to close as it
reaches the pressure of the valve setting preventing further build-up of pressure.

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 • A direct acting valve generally has a spring loaded spool to control the down stream
pressure.
• If the main supply pressure is below the valve setting, fluid will flow freely from the inlet
to outlet.
• An internal connection from the outlet passage transmits the outlet pressure to the
spool end opposite the spring.
• When the outlet pressure rises to the valve setting, the spool moves partly to block the
outlet port.
• Only enough flow is passed to the outlet to maintain the preset pressure.
• If the valve closes completely, leakage could cause the spool pressure to build up.
• Instead a continuous bleed to the tank is permitted to keep it slightly open and prevent
downstream pressure from rising above the valve setting.
• A separate drain passage is provided to return this flow to the tank.

Sequencing Valve –
• The function of a sequence valve is to provide flow to a second line in case when the
pressure level in a particular line reaches it‟s threshold.
• E.g. A pressure sequence valve used in a clamping and machining circuit may permit
the clamping operation to take place first.
• When the clamping cylinder is fully extended, the machining cylinder is actuated.
• This means this valve will cause actions to take place in a definite order.
• Here fluid flows truly through the primary passage to operate the first phase and as
soon as the spring setting of the valve is reached, the valve spool lifts and oil flow is
diverted through the second phase.

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Sequencing Valve (Construction) –
• It is nothing but a pilot operated relief valve, in which the drain is connected to second
consumer.
• It has two spools attached to each other. The spools are drilled with an internal orifice.

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 • In normal position valve is closed.
• When the operation of consumer one is complete, pressure starts building, and when
reaches the set value of pilot relief valve, fluid flows through the spools to drain.
• As the fluid flows through spool, the orifice causes pressure difference between spring
side and spool side.
• The pressure difference causes the spool to uncover the port B and thus supplying
fluid to another consumer.

Counter Balance Valve –

• The counter balance valve is used to maintain control over a vertical cylinder so that it
will not fall freely because of gravity.
• Counter balance valve as a whole is the combination of two pilots operated relief
valves that receive their pilot signals from opposite sides of the cylinders.
•

• There are 2 check valves attached parallel to each relief valve, for cylinder motion.
• This valve is also known as a back pressure valve.

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Direction Control Valves –

• Direction control valves are used to provide link between various parts of hydraulic
system by means of connecting, disconnecting or changing flow of direction.
• In DC valves each position is presented by a separate square. Arrows and lines in the
square provide information about what type of connections exists between ports.

Methods of Valve Actuation -

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Center Positions of DC Valve –

Closed Center position –

o In closed center position, all the ports are closed.

o The fluid finds its path to drain through pressure relief valve, resulting in heat
built up in the system.

Open Center Position -

• In Open center position, all the ports are open to each other.
• This position allows free movement of the actuator when flow from pump is returned to
the tank at low pressure.
• When this valve is used the pump flow is directed to the drain through the DC valve
and no heat is build up in the system.

Tandem Center Position -

• Tandem Center position –

o Here the ports P and T get connected and A and B get blocked.
o Hence while a tandem center valve stops the motion, the pump flow is
unloaded to the tank through the DC valve.

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• Tandem center position allows the pump flow to be connected to a series of valves for
another circuit. Thus eliminating the use of another power pack.

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