Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory 13 (2005) 21–38

www.elsevier.com/locate/simpat

Dynamic analysis of proportional solenoid

controlled piloted relief valve by bondgraph
a,* b
K. Dasgupta , J. Watton
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mining Machinery Engineering, Indian School of Mines,
Dhanbad, 826004, India
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Energy Studies, Cardiff School of Engineering,
Cardiff University, Wales, UK

Received 28 February 2003; received in revised form 4 August 2004; accepted 4 August 2004
Available online 22 September 2004

Abstract

In this article dynamics of a proportional controlled piloted relief valve have been studied
through Bondgraph simulation technique. The governing equations of the system have been
derived from the model. While solving the system equations numerically, various pressure-flow
characteristics across the valve ports and the orifices are taken into consideration. The simu-
lation study identifies some critical parameters, which have significant effect on the transient
response of the system. The simulation results are also verified with experimental results.
[The static and dynamic characteristics of a pressure relief valve with a proportional sole-
noid-controlled pilot stage, IMechE, Part I, Journal of Systems and Control Engineering,
216 (2002) 143–156.]

2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Piloted relief valve; Bondgraph model; Simulation study

*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 326 202 487/578; fax: +91 326 206372/203042.
E-mail address: dasgupta_k2001@yahoo.co.in (K. Dasgupta).

1569-190X/$ - see front matter
2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.simpat.2004.08.002
22 K. Dasgupta, J. Watton / Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory 13 (2005) 21–38

Nomenclature

amv, apl The cross-sectional area of the main spindle and the pilot spindle
Ca, Cb, Ce The flow coefficient for the orifices, a, b and e
Cd The discharge coefficient of the flow rate
Cv The velocity coefficient of the flow rate
dmv, dpl The diameter of the main spindle and the pilot spindle
Ffmv, Ffpl The flow forces acting on the main spindle and the pilot spindle
Fsv The solenoid force
Kc1, Kc2, Kc3, Kc4 The bulk stiffness of the fluid in the chamber c1, c2, c3 and c4
Ks The bulk stiffness of fluid in the main chamber
Kms, Kpl The stiffness of the main spring and the pilot spring
Ksv The proportional constant of the solenoid (N/volt)
Mmv, Mpl The mass of the main spindle and the pilot valve spindle
Pc1, Pc2, Pc3, Pc4 The pressure in the chamber c1, c2, c3 and c4
Ps The pressure in the main chamber
pmv, ppl The momentum of the main spindle and the pilot spindle
Ra, Rb, Rc, Re The resistances of the orifices a, b, c and e
Ro, Rd The resistance of the exit port and the pilot port
Rmv, Rpl The damping coefficient of the main spindle and the pilot spindle
Vc1, Vc2, Vc3, Vc4 The charged volume of fluid in the chamber c1, c2, c3 and c4
Vmc The charged volume of fluid in the main chamber
Vsv The command voltage
xmv, xpl The displacement of the main spindle and the pilot spindle
xmvm, xplm The maximum displacement of the main spindle and the pilot
spindle
xpmv, xppl The pre-compression of the main spring and the pilot spring
V_ a ; V_ b ; V_ c ; V_ e The flow through the orifices a, b, c and e
V_ o ; V_ d The flow through the exit port and the pilot port
V_ supl The supply flow to the main chamber
b The bulk modulus of the fluid
l, m The absolute and the kinetic viscosity of the fluid
q The density of the fluid
/mv, /pl The conical half angle of the main spindle and the pilot spindle
• It indicates the time derivative of the variable

1. Introduction

The performance of a hydraulic control system is strongly influenced by the dy-

namic characteristics of its control valves. The function of a relief valve is to limit
the maximum pressure that can exist in a system. Till now most of the studies on
the pressure relief valves (PRV) have been concentrated on the flow visualization as-
 K. Dasgupta, J. Watton / Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory 13 (2005) 21–38 23

pects without considering the coupled dynamics among the fluid and the moving
mechanical parts [1,2]. The piloted relief valve can better maintain constant pressure
in a system as compared to the direct operated relief valve, due to its better pressure
override characteristic. With the addition of the pilot stage, the main and the pilot
spool become coupled together hydraulically, which makes the design and analysis
of the valve more difficult. Several design approaches including artificial neural net-
work models have been developed to study the static and dynamic characteristics of
such a valve [3–5].
Often the two stage pressure relief valves are combined with a rectilinear solenoid
to constitute a proportional valve. It is particularly useful in electro-hydraulic con-
trol systems since pressure setting is controlled by an electrical signal, the pressure
setting being ostensibly proportional to the current applied to the first stage solenoid.
It is cost effective where real-time optimum performance with energy management is
essential. Such a valve may be interfaced to electrical control components and it is
particularly suited to micro-computer controlled applications. The detail study on
such a valve is essential to investigate system performance and design of the control
system for the plant used in high performance application.
Zung et al. [6] have presented a nonlinear dynamic model of a proportional con-
trolled piloted PRV where the parameters measured from the blue print are used for
simulation. Davies et al. [7] used a system identification approach using time series
analysis for the characterization of a two-stage PRV with proportional solenoid
drive and control of a pilot stage. However, in such studies several simplifications
are made, ignoring the higher order dynamics. More recently, Maiti et al. [8] have
analysed the static and dynamic performance of a proportional PRV where the sim-
ulation results were obtained using the MATLAB-SIMULINK environment and
validated experimentally.
However, in all these studies analytical approaches were used, which are not easy
to apply in practice for similar problems. They are based on the equation of motion
and control theory. The transfer function method is very powerful tool for analyzing
hydraulic control systems. It is, however, limited in that non-linear terms that fre-
quently appear in hydraulic describing equations, must be linearised in one fashion
or the other, usually about an operating point. For large variations such as step
changes in the input, the transfer function may not be well-suited. Consequently,
other analytical approach such as Bondgraph technique [9,10] which does not in-
volve linearization is considered to be more desirable in the present study. It is a
powerful tool for modeling complex systems even with interaction of several energy
domains. The present study intends to analyse the dynamic characteristics of a pro-
portional solenoid controlled piloted relief valve through bondgraph. The model
takes into account various non-linear effects such as flow forces, main and pilot valve
dynamics, chamber fluid compressibility and non-linear orifice flow. The results in-
clude the systemÕs response with respect to the step changes in command voltage
given to the solenoid. The effects of pre-compression of the pilot spring, the charac-
teristics of the damping orifice on the performance of the system, as well as the effect
of change of voltage signal on the valveÕs performance have also been studied. The
model relating the various physical parameters to performance can be used to predict
24 K. Dasgupta, J. Watton / Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory 13 (2005) 21–38

and improve the performance in the physical design of the valve. The model predic-
tion compares favourably with experimental data [8]. The rest of the article is organ-
ized as follows:
The physical construction of the valve is described in Section 2. Stepwise develop-
ment of the model and its describing equations are explained in Section 3. The sim-
ulation results are discussed in Section 4 and finally conclusions are drawn in Section
5.

2. Description of the valve

The simplified representation of the constructional feature of a proportional sole-

noid controlled piloted relief valve is shown in Fig. 1. It consists mainly of two sub-
systems; the main stage and the pilot stage with proportional solenoid. The pressure
setting of the valve is achieved via the current-controlled proportional solenoid, that
operates directly the pilot cone, or by the pre-compression of the pilot spring. In
addition, a linear variable transformer is used to sense the pilot spool position for
the requirement of the close loop P + I control system to minimize the hysteresis
and improve the linearity. The command voltage generates a proportional force
on the pilot cone. A brief discussion on the operation of the valve follows:
With the stable source of supply V_ supl , the pressure developed in the system oper-
ates on the main spool and at the same time it is fed via the orifices (a, b and c) to the
chamber c2. With the increase in pressure in chamber c2 sufficient to open the pilot
control valve (pre-loaded with the spring force and solenoid force), the main spindle
is thrown out of balance owing to the pressure drop across the pilot valve. This causes

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the proportional pressure relief valve.

 K. Dasgupta, J. Watton / Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory 13 (2005) 21–38 25

the main valve spindle to move up, relieving the major flow V_ o from the main cham-
ber to the tank port. At the same time, a small amount of flow V_ e passes through ori-
fice e returns to tank. The orifice c behind the spool is damping orifice to control the
fluctuation and settling time of the systemÕs response. Any change in the voltage ap-
plied to the solenoid also changes the pressure setting of the system. The pressure in
the main chamber is considered to be the plenum pressure Ps. The pressures in the
other chambers are subsequently represented by Pc1, Pc2, Pc3 and Pc4.

3. Bondgraph model and describing equations

The mathematical model of the proportional controlled piloted relief valve has
been developed using Bondgraph approach [9,10]. It is a special graphical tool that
uses the power transfer concept as its basis unique for all disciplines. Subsystems can
be mechanical, hydraulics and electrical system, which all have their efforts and
flows. Once the model has been developed, the causality of relationships is readily
assigned using a few determined rules [9]. This article will not discuss the Bondgraph
technique, but the interested reader is referred to some excellent text books cited at
the end of this paper for further information about the method [9–14].
Having said this, we now develop the model of the valve as follows:

• In the first step the model of the main valve is developed,

• The model that considers the pilot valve with proportional solenoid is developed
next,
• Finally, combining the two models, the complete valve model has been developed.

Following assumptions have been made in developing the models:

• A constant source of supply to the inlet port of the valve is considered,

• The fluid considered for the analysis has Newtonian characteristics,
• Resistive and capacitive effects are lumped wherever appropriate,
• All springs are assumed to be linear,
• Sump pressure is assumed to be zero,
• The masses of the main spring and the piston body are lumped into one inertial
element, as are the damping forces. Similar considerations are also made for
the pilot spool and its spring,
• With the opening of the valve ports, the dynamic flow forces acting on the valve
spools are neglected, only the steady state flow forces are considered,
• The positional stiction of the valve spools which may occur in the real situation
has not been accounted in the model.

3.1. Main valve model

Fig. 2 shows the bondgraph model of the main valve.

26 K. Dasgupta, J. Watton / Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory 13 (2005) 21–38

Fig. 2. Bondgraph model of the main valve.

A constant flow source V_ supl to the inlet port of the valve 0P s junction is repre-
sented by the SF element. The compressibility loss of the fluid in the main chamber
and chamber c4 are taken into account by the C elements at 0 junctions. Ro repre-
sents the outlet port resistance, the flow through which depends on the port opening
area. It is indicated by the dotted line connecting Ro with the 1x_ mv junction represent-
ing the motion of the valve spindle. Ra represents the resistance of the orifice a,
through which flow V_ a passes to chamber c1. In the above model I, R, C and SE ele-
ments connected with the 1x_ mv junction represents the inertia force Fmi corresponding
to the spindle mass Mmv, resistive force Fmv due to the viscous resistance coefficient
Rmv, the spring force Fms that corresponds to the stiffness of the spring Kms as well as
the pre-compression of the spring, respectively; whereas SE element on the same
junction represents the flow reaction force on the valve spindle that occurs in the
event of the opening of the valve port. The transformer element TF connecting
the 0P s and 1x_ mv junctions transforms the pressure to the force acting on the end face
of the valve spindle. The amv above the transformer denotes its modulus and repre-
sents the cross-sectional area of the main valve spindle. The oriented arrowed arc
over the TF indicates the way the transformer is defined. In the present study, the
modulus is declared relating flow to flow. Similarly, the TF element connecting
 K. Dasgupta, J. Watton / Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory 13 (2005) 21–38 27

1x_ mv and 0P c4 junctions transform the movement of the main spindle to the change in
the volume flow rate in chamber c4.
The system equations derived from the model are based on the lumped elements (I
and C) with integral causality present in the system. They are as follows:
With the compressibility of fluid in the main chamber and chamber c4, the flow
balance in each chamber becomes, as shown in the 0 junction in the model:

V_ mc ¼ V_ supl  V_ a  V_ o  V_ mv ð3:1Þ

V_ c4 ¼ x_ mv amv  V_ c ð3:2Þ

The sum of the flow rates leads to the change of pressures Ps and Pc4 using the bulk
modulus. The pressure in the main chamber is expressed as
P s ¼ K s V mc ð3:3Þ
where, Ks is the equivalent bulk stiffness of the fluid in the main chamber, the general
expression of which is K = b/V, where b is the bulk modulus of the fluid and V is the
volume of the respective chamber fluid. Similarly the pressure in chamber c4 is
calculated.
In Fig. 2, 1 junction in the mechanical part of the main valve spindle comes from a
force balance, resulting from the constitutive equations of each element. Referring to
the Fig. 3a, the inertia force on the valve spindle is expressed as
p_ mv ¼ ðP s  P c4 Þamv  Rmv x_ mv  K ms ðxmv þ xpmv Þ  F fmv ð3:4Þ

where xmv and xpmv are the displacement of the valve spindle and the pre-compres-
sion of the spring respectively.
In the above equation, the steady state flow reaction force that acts on the valve
spindle in the event of the opening of the outlet port is given by [3,8]:
F fmv ¼ C d C v pd mv xmv sinð2/mv ÞðP s  P c4 Þ ð3:5Þ
where Cd, Cv are the flow coefficients, whereas dmv and /mv are the geometrical
parameters of the valve spindle as shown in Fig. 3a.
After complete opening of the valve port, i.e. xmv P xmvm, to arrest the spindle
motion, high damping coefficient and high stiffness have been considered for the
valve seat.
The velocity of the main valve spindle is given by
p
x_ mv ¼ mv ð3:6Þ
M mv

3.2. Pilot valve model

Fig. 4 shows the bondgraph model of the pilot stage.

In the above model the pilot port resistance Rd is modulated in the same way as
discussed in Section 3.1 for resistance Ro. The force acting on the valve spindle is
28 K. Dasgupta, J. Watton / Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory 13 (2005) 21–38

Fig. 3. Schematic diagram of the valves (a) Main valve (b) Pilot valve.

Fig. 4. Bondgraph model of the pilot valve.

proportional to the differential pressure (Pc2  Pc3) across it. The pilot valve dynam-
ics indicted at 1x_ pl junction is similar to that of the main valve dynamics shown in Eq.
(3.4). In addition, the movement of the valve spindle is also opposed by the solenoid
force Fsv that depends on the supply voltage applied to the solenoid. The modulus
 K. Dasgupta, J. Watton / Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory 13 (2005) 21–38 29

Ksv of the TF element is the proportionality constant between Fsv and Vsv. In the
above model, the orifices are represented by their respective resistive elements.
Referring to Fig. 4, the describing equations of the pilot valve model are:
Considering the compressibility of the fluid loss in chamber c1, c2 and c3, the flow
balance equations become:

V_ c1 ¼ V_ a  V_ b ð3:7Þ

V_ c2 ¼ V_ b þ V_ c  V_ d  x_ pl apl ð3:8Þ

V_ c3 ¼ V_ d þ x_ pl apl  V_ e ð3:9Þ

The pressure at chambers c1, c2 and c3 are given by Pc1, Pc2 and Pc3 calculated in the
same way as explained in Eq. (3.3).
Referring to Fig. 4, the valve dynamics due to the mechanical part of the pilot
valve spindle is expressed as
p_ pl ¼ ðP c2  P c3 Þapl  Rpl x_ pl  K pl ðxpl þ xppl Þ  F fpl  F sv ð3:10Þ

where the solenoid force Fsv = KsvVsv and the steady state flow reaction force that
acts on the valve spindle in the event of the opening of the pilot port is given by [3,8]:
F fpl ¼ C d C v pd pl xpl sinð2/pl ÞðP c2  P c3 Þ ð3:11Þ
where, dpl and /pl are geometrical parameters of the valve spindle shown in Fig. 3b.
After complete opening of the valve port, i.e. xpl P xplm, to arrest the spindle mo-
tion, high damping and high stiffness have been considered for the valve seat.
The velocity of the pilot spindle is given by
ppl
x_ pl ¼ ð3:12Þ
M pl

3.3. Complete model of the valve

Combining two models discussed above, the complete model of the valve is made.
It is shown in Fig. 5.
In the above model, as the resistances representing the orifices are in conductive
causality, while solving the system equations they are considered as the flow sources,
the value of the which depend on the pressure difference across them and the area of
the orifices.
The flow through the orifices are obtained from the earlier studies on the similar
valves [3,4,8], the detail derivation of which is given in Appendix A.
The flow through the orifices a, b and e are expressed as

V_ a ¼ C a DP a1=ð2kÞ ð3:13Þ
30 K. Dasgupta, J. Watton / Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory 13 (2005) 21–38

Fig. 5. Bondgraph model of the proportional solenoid controlled piloted relief valve.

1=ð2kÞ
V_ b ¼ C b DP b ð3:14Þ

1=ð2kÞ
V_ e ¼ C e P c3 ð3:15Þ

The general form of flow coefficient Ci is expressed as


a 2a
1
p2 d 4i 4
Ci ¼
8qN k pli vi

where di and li are the generalized diameter and length of the orifice. vi is the flow
velocity. In the present analysis, the value of Nk is taken as 54 for the orifices a
and b and 28 for the orifice e; whereas the value of k is considered as 0.5.
Assuming laminar flow passes through the damping orifice c, it may be expressed
as
pd 4c
V_ c ¼ DP c ð3:16Þ
128llc
The flow through the main stage V_ o and the pilot port V_ d is expressed as
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
2ðP s  P c4 Þ
V_ o ¼ C d pd mv xmv sin /mv ð3:17Þ
q
and,
V_ d ¼ C p x2pl DP d ð3:18Þ
where Cp is the flow coefficient through the pilot stage (orifice d); that is expressed as
2gpd pl sin2 /pl
Cp ¼ qm
where g = 0.066 in the range of 0.2 < Re < 15 [3].
 K. Dasgupta, J. Watton / Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory 13 (2005) 21–38 31

However, the model takes into account both the laminar and the turbulent
flow through the valve ports, whichever occur in the system. On the basis of von
Mises assumption [15], the critical pressure at the transition point is expressed as
follows:
" 2 #2
C d lpr m
DP ct ¼ 2q ð3:19Þ
0:32ar

where, lpr and ar are the perimeter and the port opening area, respectively.

4. Simulation results and discussions

The parametric studies on the dynamic performance of the proportional solenoid

controlled piloted relief valve have been carried out by solving the system equations
obtained in Section 3 numerically with the help of Symbols 2000 [16]. This particular
package runs on as self styled multi-tasking environment through different modules
including control system analysis. The pictorial representation of the bondgraph
model of any physical system can be made and subsequently, the state equations
are developed, those are solved numerically along with their graphical representa-
tion. It can also take into account various non-linearities of the system. By using
the software, the observer states can be created additionally by activated bonds
which do not change the dynamics of the system. The user can build its own sub-
model allowing it to be incorporated in other models; such few common sub-models
used in engineering systems are also available in the library of the software for direct
use. By selecting a set of icons, a meaningful visualization of the behaviour of the
plant can be made.
The values of the parameters used in the simulation are obtained from the earlier
studies [7,8] and they are given in Appendix B. From the experimental data [8], a
good approximation is made for the linear relationship between the command volt-
age Vsv and the generated solenoid force Fsv.
Fig. 6 compares the experimental data [8] of the pressure (Ps) with that of the sim-
ulation results. There is a small steady state error in the predicted response (about
5%) that may be attributed to the differences between the calculated and the actual
values of the various orifice resistances. The simulation result shows that the re-
sponse is of higher order form with the significant ripples in the transient values. This
is mainly due to the characteristics of the orifices explained later. However, similar
pressure ripple characteristics were found in the experimental investigation and the
close agreement between the two results validates the proposed model. It is evident
that the pressure curve has almost no overshoot with the moderate peak and settling
time. It is due to the good damping characteristics of the main valve spindle. The
damping coefficients of the main and the pilot spindle are estimated by the trial
and error method, starting with a typical value of Rmv/Rpl equal to 10 with Rmv hav-
ing a range of 50–75 Ns/m for these types of valve [3]. The best simulation result
matching with its experimental counterpart shown in Fig. 6 is obtained for the
32 K. Dasgupta, J. Watton / Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory 13 (2005) 21–38

Fig. 6. Comparison between experimental and simulation results of the system pressure (Ps).

Rmv/Rpl equal to 5.5 with the Rmv having the value of 50 Ns/m. Later it is used in the
simulation of the dynamic characteristics of the valve.
The dynamic response of the system pressure (Ps) for the step changes (increase)
in the input voltage to the solenoid (Vsv) is shown in Fig. 7. The responses of the sys-
tem pressure (Ps) are plotted with respect to the changes in the command voltages;
these are 4–8 V, 4–7 V and 4–6 V. With the increase in the input voltage to the sole-
noid, more force is required to open the pilot port d; thereby the system pressure
increases.
The transient response of the system pressure for different pre-compression of the
pilot spring with respect to the step input of the supply flow rate V_ s is shown in

Fig. 7. The system response (Ps) for a step change in the command voltage (Vsv).
 K. Dasgupta, J. Watton / Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory 13 (2005) 21–38 33

Fig. 8. It shows that with the increase in the pre-compression of the pilot spring
(xppl), the steady state system pressure (Ps) increases. It increases the working range
of the hydraulic system where such a valve is incorporated. However, it has the sig-
nificant ripples in the steady state value. Such ripples are caused due to the effect of
the pump flow characteristics, the effect of the damping orifice as well as the oscilla-
tory component of the solenoid dynamic characteristics. In practice it is difficult to
quantify them individually.
The effect of the damping orifice c on the response of the system pressure is shown
in Fig. 9. The damping orifice is represented as a resistive element (Rc) in Fig. 3. With

Fig. 8. The effect of the pre-compression of the spring (xppl) on the system response.

Fig. 9. The effect of the damping orifice (dc) on the performance of the system.
34 K. Dasgupta, J. Watton / Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory 13 (2005) 21–38

the increase in the resistance of the damping orifice (which means decreasing the
diameter of the orifice dc) the pressure ripples are filtered out without appreciable
change in the settling time of the system response.
The effect of the flow forces acting on the valve spools is shown in Fig. 10. Con-
sidering the flow force, the steady state system pressure slightly increases. This is due
to the fact that the flow force will always try to close the valve, thereby providing
more resistance to the exit flow and increases the system pressure.
Fig. 11 shows the system response for the variation of the orifice diameter a. It
indicates that with the decrease in the orifice diameter, the steady state system pres-

Fig. 10. The effect of the flow force (Ffmv) on the system pressure.

Fig. 11. The effect of the orifice diameter (da) on the overall response of the system.
 K. Dasgupta, J. Watton / Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory 13 (2005) 21–38 35

sure slightly increases; however, the pressure fluctuation reduces as it provides in-
crease in damping.
Summerising all the above facts, it may be concluded that the pre-compression of
the pilot spring (xppl), the diameter of the damping orifice (dc) and the orifice a (da)
are the important design variables for controlling the overall performance of the sys-
tem where such valve is incorporated.

5. Conclusion

In this article a dynamic model of a proportional solenoid controlled piloted

relief valve is discussed, and a non-linear bondgraph model is proposed. The
model is simple, nevertheless the simulation results agree with the experiment [8] very
well. The various design parameters on the overall response of the system are
discussed.
The effects of changes of the diameter of the orifice a, pre-compression of the pilot
spring (xppl), the diameter of the damping orifice (dc) are some of the important de-
sign parameters which affect the systemÕs response. The experimental systemÕs re-
sponse has the significant pressure ripples in its steady state value. Such ripples
are caused due to the pump flow characteristics, the effect of the damping orifice
as well as the oscillatory component of the solenoid dynamic characteristics. In prac-
tice it is difficult to quantify them individually. However, the factors having signifi-
cant effect on controlling the pressure ripples are the characteristics of the damping
orifice c as well as the orifice a. It may be difficult to control them in real situation.
The experimental procedure described by Chin [3] may be a useful method for val-
idating the same. It is also shown that increasing pre-compression of the pilot spring
increases the working range of the valve.
The model can be further refined by incorporating the dynamic behaviour of the
pilot and main springs, dynamic flow forces on the valve spools. The characteristics
of the solenoid forces are taken from earlier investigation where the oscillatory com-
ponent of the solenoid forces was not considered. Therefore, for further refinement
of the model, more detail analysis of the solenoid may be needed as proposed by
Zung et al. [6].
It is further concluded that this study provides a good base upon which an inter-
action study between the other components and such a relief valve of a complete
hydraulic system can be initiated. The model can be used to predict trend under var-
ious loading conditions that are difficult to create experimentally. This consideration
is important in future expansion of the study to include the dynamics of the pump
and loads.

Acknowledgments

The first author gratefully acknowledges the fellowship and facilities provided to
him by the Indian National Science Academy, India, and the Royal Society, UK,
36 K. Dasgupta, J. Watton / Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory 13 (2005) 21–38

and kind cooperation by the University staff during his 3 months work in the Cardiff
School of Engineering, UK. The Research and the Development Project Grant for
2000–2003 from UGC, Government of India, for carrying out the research work
on this topic is also acknowledged.

Appendix A. Flow through the orifices

Through the experimental investigation Takenaka [17] showed that the friction
coefficient f in a short piston orifice is given by

k
l
f ¼ Nk ðAI:1Þ
d i Re

for li/(di Re) < 0.1, where Nk and k are constants with the values of Nk = 28 and
k = 0.5. li and di are the generalized length and the diameter of the piston orifice.
According to Merrit [18], the friction coefficient for a piston orifice greater than
the transient length may be expressed as


li
f ¼ 64 þ 2:28 ðAI:2Þ
d i Re

Using Eq. (AI.1), from DarcyÕs equation, the pressure drop across the orifice is given
by

2
li
DP ¼ 0:5qv2i N k ðAI:3Þ
dRe

where vi is the flow velocity.

_
In Eq. (AI.3) the ReynoldÕs number Re ¼ Vaiivdii where flow through an orifice is ex-
pressed as
p
V_ i ¼ d 2i vi ðAI:4Þ
4

Eq. (AI.3) can be rewritten into

"
a #0:5
2DP d 2i V_ i
vi ¼ ðAI:5Þ
qN k li a i m i

Substituting Eq. (AI.5) into Eq. (AI.4), and solving for V_ i yield
1
V_ i ¼ C i DP 2a ðAI:6Þ
h 4

a i2a
1
p2 d i 4
where the flow coefficient C i ¼ 8qN k pli vi
.
 K. Dasgupta, J. Watton / Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory 13 (2005) 21–38 37

Appendix B

Major specifications of the Proportional controlled piloted relief valve

Parameter Value Unit
4
amv 2.13 · 10 m2
aplt 8 · 106 m2
Cd 0.62
Cv 1.0
da 7.5 · 104 m
db 6.0 · 104 m
dc 6.0 · 104 m
de 1.5 · 103 m
dpl 3.25 · 103 m
dmv 16.5 · 103 m
la 1.4 · 103 m
lb 1.0 · 103 m
lc 1.0 · 103 m
Ksv 8.0 N/volt
mmv 9.2 · 102 kg
mpl 18.5 · 103 kg
Vc4 5.35 · 106 m3
Vc1 1.6 · 107 m3
Vc3 1.13 · 105 m3
xpmv 2.5 · 103 m
xppl 0.0 m
/mv 0.44 rad
/pl 0.17 rad
l 0.05 Pa.s
m 6 · 105 m2/s
q 850 kg/m3
le 1.0 · 103 m

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