HYDRAULIC ELEMENTS 813
Control valves
Valves are devices to control pumps / actuators in hydraulic
systems. They are basically assemblies of one or more flow
restricting elements which fall into three main classes-sliding (spool
and plate type), seating (poppet, ball and flapper) and flow dividing
elements. The spool valves find application in almost all types of
control valves. The poppet and ball types are popular for
application in check valves and the first stage of pressure control
valves. The flapper valves are successfully employed in two stage
electrohydraylic servovalves. Control valves are broadly classified
according to their function as pressure, flow and direction control
valves.
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PRESSURE CONTROL VALVES
Relief valve
Relief valves protect the other elements in the system from
excessive pressure by diverting the excess fluid to the tank when the
system pressure tends to exceed the set level. The direct acting type
of relief valves have a ball, poppet or a sliding spool working against
a spring. The preload on the spring determines the system pressure
and can be adjusted. The pressure at which a relief valve cracks
open is termed as the cracking pressure and the pressure when the
valve is fully open to by-pass the full rated flow is full flow pressure.
The difference between the two- the pressure differential or the
Pressure override should necessarily be small for close pressure
control. The pressure override is due to the extra compression of the
spring at higher valve openings to accommodate increased flow
rates and is therefore dependent on the stiffness of the spring used.
Long, weak springs are therefore preferred for the application.
Ball and poppet valves suffer from high pressure override and
tendency to chatter. Spool type relief valves of the direct acting type
(Fig. 254 ) provide smooth and stable operation with superior
pressure-flow characteristics. Suitable restrictor in the pressure
sensing line helps achieving the stability of operation. For low
pressure override at higher pressures and flow rates, the two stage
balanced piston (compound) relief valves are used(Fig. 255 ). This
valve consists of two stages-a small poppet type relief valve for
determining the pressure and the main spool valve for handling the
flow. At a pressure lower than thé set value, the main piston is held
on to its seat by a light spring, with the system pressure acting on 814 HYDRAULIC ELEMENTS
Fig. 254 Relief valve, direct acting type Fig. 255 Compound relief valve
either side of the piston because of the capillary a. When the
pressure reaches the set value, the poppet is forced off its seat
venting the oil in the upper chamber of the main valve. The
restricted flow through the orifice into the upper chamber results in
a pressure differential on the main piston, thereby lifting it off to
bypass the flow to reservoir. The light spring acting on the piston
restores it to original position when the system pressure falls below
‘the set value. The light return spring results in low pressure override
for dumping the flow. The vent connection provided in the valve
allows the valve to be manipulated remotely by an auxiliary valve,
operated manually or otherwise.
Fig. 256 Sequence valve Fig. 257 Unloading valve
Sequence valves
These valves are used to ensure action in a particular order of
priority in the system. They maintain a preset minimum pressure
level in the primary line (upstream of the valve) prior to effecting
any function in the secondary line (downstream of the valve). These
are basjcally relief valves with minor modifications and may be
either of the direct acting or compound type. In the direct acting HYDRAULIC ELEMENTS 815
sequence valve (Fig. 256 ) fluid flows freely through the primary
passage to operate the first phase until the pressure setting of the
valve is reached. On reaching the set pressure, the spool is lifted to
divert flow to the secondary circuit. Unlike in a relief valve, the
sequence valve necessitates an external drain connection from the
bias spring chamber. Sequence valves are sometimes built with
check valves to permit flow from secondary to primary circuit.
Unloading valves
These valves are used to off load the pump flow back to tank at
alow pressure when not required by the system. Unloading helps in
reducing considerably the generation of heat due to unused energy
in the system. Fig. 257 shows the construction of an unloading
valve. The primary port pressure is independent of the spring setting
in the valve. On receiving the pilot signal, the spool lifts against the
spring to unload the pump flow into the reservoir.
Fig. 258 Unloading retief valve
A compound relief with pilot control of the vent port can also
be used as an unloading valve. The balance piston type relief valve
together with a differential area mechanism at the vent port of the
valve forms an unloading relief valve or a differential type of
unloading valve which can be used in accumulator circuits to
provide automatic cut-out(unloading) and cut-in(recharging) of
pump flow. Fig. 258 illustrates the application. When the system
pressure rises to the value set by the poppet valve, the poppet lifts to
bypass the fluid thereby permitting the auxiliary (pilot) piston to
push the poppet further up to dump the pump flow at a very low
pressure. The reseating of the poppet is then dependent on the area .
816 HYDRAULIC ELEMENTS
of the pilot piston and the pressure behind it. The pilot piston is
generally 15% larget by area in relation to the poppet. Accordingly,
the poppet can be reseated at a proportionally lower pressure level
behind the piston as compared to the relief setting by the poppet
valve. The check valve shown in the figure holds the pressure in the
accumulator, when the pump is unloaded.
Counter balance valves
These valves provide sufficient back pressure in a hydraulic
system to balance a weight or load to prevent its descent due to
gravity. A direct acting type of valve consisting of a relief valve anda
free flow check valve is shown in Fig. 259 . The check valve permits
flov’ in the reverse direction.
Pressure reducing valves
These valves are used to maintain a secondary pressure which is
lower than the relief valve setting, in any part of a hydraulic system.
Unlike relief, sequence and unloading valves, these are normally
open two way valves which receive the actuating signal from the
downstream side. The direct acting type of valve (Fig. 260 ) uses a
spring loaded spool to control the secondary line pressure. The
Pressure in the secondary line acts on the spool against the spring.
With the increase of secondary pressure above the level set by the
spring, the spool lifts to control the metering at a so as to reduce the
Pressure to the set level. When the secondary pressure falls below
the set value, the spool moves down due to the spring force to allow
more flow through and restore the secondary pressure to the set
level.Pilot operated pressure reducing valves are built on principles
similar to the compound relief valves.
Fig. 260 Pressure reducing valve, direct acting type HYDRAULIC ELEMENTS 817
FLOW CONTROL VALVES
The control of load speed in most hydraulic systems is done by
flow control valves. Having sized the pump and actuator for max-
imum load speed, the lower speeds of load are derived by throttling,
bypassing the excess flow through the relief valve. Variable dis-
Placement pumps could perform the same task, but are not an
economic proposition in many applications. Throttling is hence
commonly resorted to.
The flow through an orifice is given by the equation:
Q,= K,A./Ap
K,= Ca \/270
=955 cmkef)-V2 sec~!
Ca= (0.61 for sharp edged orifice)
P = 0.834 x 10-¢ kgf sec? cm for petroleum based fluids
For a given pressure differential across the orifice, the flow rate
can be varied by changing the flow cross section A. A few of the
basic designs for varying the orifice area are shown in Fig. 261
Needle valves are the simplest of these valves finding applications
for fine metering such as in cushioning of cylinders, gauge shut off
valves and for very fine feed control. Cross section of a rotary type
spool valve is shown in Fig. 262 . The orifice cut along the length of
the sleeve is gradually opened or cut out by the rotation of the spool.
The helical groove on the spool and the shape of the orifice are
selected so as to provide a gradual regulation of flow. Also the
length of the orifice is kept as small as possible to minimise the effect
of temperature (oil viscosity) on the set flow rates.
A major disadvantage of these simple devices is that any varia-
tion in load pressure affects the flow through the valve because of
the change of pressure difference across the orifice. Pressure com-
pensated flow control valves (Fig. 263 ) Provide constant flow for
any particular valve setting by maintaining a constant pressure drop
across the throttle valve. A common approach of achieving this is by
having a pressure reducing valve in series with the throttle valve.
The pressures at the inlet and outlet of the orifice are fed on to either
sides of the reducing valve spool so as to effect a constant press’
differential, equal to the spring value, across the flow orifice. 818 HYDRAULIC ELEMENTS
Fig. 261 WOR.
Fig. 263 Flow control valve, Fig. 264 Flow control valve, pressure
Pressure compensated type and temperature compensated type
Changes in temperature and the consequent changes in the
viscosity of the oil do affect the flow rates from the orifice type
valves. To overcome this problem, temperature compensated val-
ves are used. A flow control valve with both pressure and tempera-
ture compensation is shown in Fig. 264 . The length of the temper-
ature compensating element made of an aluminium alloy varies with
the oil temperature and the throttle is accordingly adjusted au-
tomatically to achieve a constant flow rate. The compensation is
brought about by the dissimilar thermal expansion rates of the
compensating plunger and the matching components. The built-in
check valve allows for free flow in the reverse direction.
The flow controls mentioned above are known to offer regula-
tion of flow from about 0.05 l/min. to about 100 l/min. Very low
flow rate using small orifice is impractical because of plugging of HYDRAULIC ELEMENTS 819
orifice due to contamination of fluids. However, with a fine filter at
the inlet to the valve, control of flow of the order of 5 to 20
cm*/min. are claimed to have been achieved.
Deceleration valves
These valves are devised for external deceleration of slides
moving at high speeds with heavy loads to achieve shockless braking
and reversal at midstrokes of cylinders. A deceleration valve
(Fig. 265 )is essentially a linear type spool valve operated by acam
on the sliding member. As the cam Presses the roller, the tapered
land on the spool moves along the orifice to cut the flow to the drive,
The rate of cut off is dependent both on the shape of the orifice and
the cam profile. When the roller on the spool is off the cam, the
valve permits free flow.
Flow dividing valves
These are incorporated in circuits which require approximately
equal flows in two of its branches. A floating spool controlling two
variable orifices is the heart of the flow divider (Fig. 266 ). Any
increase in load pressure in one branch of the circuit causes the
spool to shift so as to reduce the restriction to the particular branch
while at the same time increasing the resistance in the other branch
The spool takes up such a Position as to divide the flow equally
RESTRICTOR
Fig. 266 Flow dividing valve
Fig. 265. Deceleration valve
DIRECTION CONTROL VALVES
These valves are deployed to steer the flow to selected flow
Paths in any part ofa hydraulic circuit. The spool type valves both of
_ the linear as well as the rotary movement are devised for the
Purpose. Principle of operation of these valves is illustrated in
Fig. 267. Rotary type direction control valves (Fig. 268 ) are 820 HYDRAULIC ELEMENTS
commonly seen as applied to machine tool table reversals such as in
cylindrical and surface grinding machines. Owing to the feasibility
of application of different modes of control for their operation, the
linear spool valves are the most commonly used type. These
valves based on their functions and mode of control are classified as
in Table 360 & 361.
The physical construction of a solenoid valve is shown in
Fig. 269 These valves are operated either on AC or DC. The AC
operated valves have a drawback in that they tend to burn due to
heavy currents drawn, in the event of improper closure of the
plunger (as in the case of spool sticking). They are however popular
from the point of ease of deriving the control voltage. At high
Pressures and flow rates,large operating forces are required making
solenoid control untidy. Two stage electrohydraulic valves are
therefore devised, whereby low pilot pressure supply from the first
stage solenoid valve is used to shift the spool of the main valve
(Fig. 270). The solenoid pilot operated valve shown in Fig. 271
is built with restrictions in the pilot lines to regulate the speed of
spool shift, controlling either braking or reversing of the load.
Minimum interport leakage, low pressure drop due to flow
through the valve and fast response of operation of solenoid valves
are the important requirements of direction control valves. Sol-
enoid valves can function satisfactorily at frequencies as high as
1500-2000 operations an hour.
Fig. 268 Direction control valves,
rotary spool type HYDRAULIC ELEMENTS 821
Table 360 Classification of direction control valves
rc
GIp
Path of flow ~
re Three x) Four
functional functional functional
Two way Ports Three way Ports | Four way ports
Position
Two position Three position
Multiway, multiposition
‘Control
General
Solenoid actuated
Pushbotton actuated
Lever actuated Motor actuated
Foot pedal actuated
Pilot pressure actuated
f
Plunger actuated
3 |
ee =| Roller trip actuated Two stage valves
7 | solenoid shifts first
75 | stage spool for pilot
Roller actuated G | Pressure actuation
of main spool
Spring
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Spring offset
LL Spring centred No spring HYDRAULIC ELEMENTS
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