Vacuum 168 (2019) 108836

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Vacuum
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Influence of characteristics of flow control valves on the cooling T

performance of a GM cryocooler
Debashis Pandaa,*, Sunil K. Sarangib, Ashok. K. Satapathya
a
National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, India
b
Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: In this study, the influences of flow control characteristics of a flow control valve (either a rotary valve or
GM cryocooler electrically operated solenoid valves) on the refrigeration performance of a GM cryocooler is investigated nu-
Waiting period merically. A rotary valve is a flow control device that generates the pressure wave in association with the helium
Flow characteristics compressor for a GM cryocooler. A one-dimensional numerical model based on nodal analysis is developed with
Rotary valve
suitable initial and boundary conditions to capture the inside flow physics of the single stage GM cryocooler. By
using the numerical model, the effect of the waiting period, opening angle differences of high and low-pressure
valves on the refrigeration capacity and COP of the cryocooler is studied. It is perceived that both cooling power
and COP are unable to dispense the best performance at a particular waiting period. COP is able to attain its
maximum value at about 70° of waiting period whereas, refrigeration capacity is maximum at about 10° of the
waiting period.

1. Introduction Thus, an amendment of cooling performance of a GM cryocooler is

Single stage GM cryocoolers have been invented in the middle of the
20th century and are thought to be an adequate and reliable cryocooler
to achieve a cryogenic temperature in a single stage. These cryocoolers
offer numerous merits over Stirling cryocoolers such as an isolated
compressor from the expander, ease-of-fabrication, compact size, rea-
sonable weight and easily portable. Hence, it is often considered to be
suitable for many commercial applications such as cooling of super-
conducting magnets, cooling of MRIs, generation of liquid cryogens etc.
[1]. One of the most vital applications of GM cryocooler is its use in
cryopumping. Cryopumping is the procedure of creation of vacuum in
an enclosed chamber by imposing cryogenic temperatures, and GM
cryocoolers are most favorable amongst other regenerative cryocoolers
for creating cryogenic temperature in the cryopumping process. The
mechanism of creation of vacuum in the cryopumping process is pri-
marily accomplished with three different phenomena (such as cryo-
sorption, cryocondensation and cryotraping), and the device engaged to
do these phenomena is called as “cryopump”. Thus, a GM cryocooler is
not able to create a vacuum directly but is one of the most vital per-
ipheral segment that is required for cryopump. Cryopumping is having
numerous applications in various contemporary scientific areas such as
superconducting magnets, fission reactions, high energy physics etc.
[1–3].
an essential criterion for the enhancement of competence and reliability
of cryopumps. Since the commencement of a GM cryocooler, several
investigators did copious attempts to improve the performance of the
GM cryocooler. Various numerical models in one-dimensional geometry
[4–6], numerical model with two-dimensional axisymmetric geometry
[7], theoretical design methodologies and tools (thermodynamic and
heat balance analysis [8–11], and linear networking theory [12]) have
been developed to calculate the theoretical performance of GM cryo-
coolers. These apart, experimental investigations have also been carried
out to verify those design methodologies [9,12]. Geometrical mod-
ifications of the regenerator and displacer have been performed, and
further improvements have been suggested to enhance the cooling
power [13–15]. However, less effort has been proffered to improve the
shapes and flow control characteristics of the rotary valve.
Flow control characteristics of the flow control valve, which pro-
duces the pressure wave for the GM cryocooler, significantly affects the
cooling performance of the cryocooler. A flow control valve is either a
single rotary valve (that consists of a valve stator and rotor, in which
high and low pressure receded portions present in the surface plane of
the rotor are connected alternatively with valve stator to produce the
high and low pressure) or an electrically operated high and low-pres-
sure solenoid valves [16]. A proper perception of the flow control
characteristics of the rotary valves is imperative to enhance its

*
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: debashis1003@gmail.com, 516me1006@nitrkl.ac.in (D. Panda).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vacuum.2019.108836
Received 30 April 2019; Received in revised form 22 July 2019; Accepted 24 July 2019
Available online 26 July 2019
0042-207X/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
D. Panda, et al.
Nomenclature
A Working fluid flow cross-sectional area, m2
As Solid/matrix cross-sectional area, m2
AL Heat transfer area per unit length, m
Cf Darcy friction factor
cv Specific heat of working fluid at constant volume, J/kg-K
CV,HPV Flow coefficient of high pressure side of rotary valve
CV,LVP Flow coefficient of low pressure side of rotary valve
cp Specific heat of working fluid at constant pressure, J/kg-K
cs Specific heat of solid/matrix, J/kg-K
Dh Characteristic length (diameter), m
f Cold head operating frequency, Hz
h Heat transfer coefficient, W/m2-K
k Thermal conductivity of fluid, W/m-K
ks Thermal conductivity of solid, W/m-K
m Mass, kg
m Mass flow rate of the working fluid, kg/sec
P Pressure, MPa
t Time, sec
T Temperature of working fluid, K
Ts Temperature of solid/matrix domain, K
u Velocity of working fluid, m/sec
V Swept volume of expansion chamber, m3
WT Waiting time of rotary valve/flow control mechanism, deg
x Axial co-ordinate
xd Displacement of displacer, m
Greek symbols
α Constant to consider axial conduction of solid-matrix
β Constant
performance, which ultimately improves the cooling performance of
the GM cryocooler. The fluid flow characteristics of the flow control
mechanism (e.g. block 5 in Fig. 1a) in case of a GM cryocooler is con-
trolled by the flow coefficient of high-pressure valve (HPV), flow
coefficient of low-pressure valve (LPV) and waiting time/opening angle
difference (OAD). The flow coefficients of HPV and LPV are usually
calibrated by the valve manufactures and these may not be changed by
the user, thus, the only way to change the flow control characteristics
can be achieved by changing the waiting period/OAD. With decrease in
waiting period/OAD, the fluid of the compressor will be able to com-
municate with the expansion chamber of cold head for a longer dura-
tion of time in a cycle. As a result, more amount of acoustic power flows
from the compressor to the expansion chamber and, thereby, enhances
its cooling capacity. Besides, the value of pressure in the expansion
chamber becomes closer to the high pressure of the compressor for a
longer period. Hence, the pressure difference between expansion
chamber (i.e. cold end of displacer) and upper gas chamber (i.e. warm
end of displacer) increases. Therefore, during the movement of dis-
placer towards the downward direction in the expansion process, the
high-pressure gas present in the expansion chamber opposes the dis-
placer motion with a larger force. Henceforth by increasing the waiting
period, both refrigeration capacity and pressure difference decreases
and vice-versa. Nonetheless, the objective of the designer is to decrease
the pressure difference and to increase the cooling capacity, which
could only be possible by selecting a proper value of waiting period/
OAD, at which cooling capacity becomes maximum and pressure drop
would be minimum. Thus, an effective flow control mechanisms not
only able to enhance the cooling performance but also able to decreases
the pressure differential generated between the warm and cold end of
the displacer which is located inside the cold head [16,17]. In a me-
chanically driven displacer, the decrease in pressure differential at both
2
Vacuum 168 (2019) 108836
θ Phase angle, deg
Density of working fluid, kg/m3
τ Period, sec
ψ Valve opening closing durations
Γ Coefficients of discretization equation
Λ Discretization constant
Υ Coefficients of discretization equation
Subscripts
1 Hot side of the regenerator-displacer mounting
2 Cold side of the regenerator-displacer mounting
s Solid/matrix
HP High-pressure
LP Low-pressure
Superscripts
k Current time step
Abbreviations
CHX Cold heat exchanger
COP Coefficient of performance
DIPTR Double inlet pulse tube refrigerator
EC Expansion chamber
FVM Finite volume method
GM Gifford-McMahon
HPV High pressure valve
LPV Low pressure valve
OAD Opening angle difference
REGEN Regenerator
ends will significantly diminish motor power. This, on the other hand,
decreases the size and weight of the GM cryocooler.
Hence, the effective design of flow control mechanism (i.e. rotary
valves or solenoid valves) with optimum timing setting is of point of
interest among the cryocooler community. In recent days, many US
patents have been granted to SHI cryogenic group Ltd., a commercial
organization that manufactures and sells GM cryocoolers for various
industrial applications such as cryopumping, MRIs, etc. [16–18]. But
there does not exist any pieces of literature that reflect the effect of
valve timings and waiting times of rotary valve on the cooling perfor-
mance of a GM cryocooler. The effect of valve timings on the cooling
performance can be computed by two methods such as experimental
investigations, numerical investigations or a combination of both. The
first one (i.e. experimental) gives accurate results but, an effective de-
sign and fabrication of the rotary valve is typically expensive from both
financial as well as manufacturing point of view. This is due to the use
of relatively costly materials as well as ultra-high precision machining
processes with skilled manpower. On the other hand, a numerical
model (may also be regarded as a design or simulation tool) which may
be able to predict its performance in a comparable agreement with the
experimental results with an acceptable range of error. This can also be
used as an effective model to study the significance of valve operation
timings on the cooling performance of a cryocooler. A numerical model
basically consists of a set of equations that control the complex thermal,
dynamic and flow behavior that happens inside the cryocooler and is
solved with suitable numerical methods. The equations are primarily a
combination of continuity and momentum equations (that governs the
flow behavior), energy equations of fluid and solid domain (that gov-
erns the heat transfer behavior) and a displacer motion as boundary
condition (that governs the dynamic behavior of displacer).
Fortunately, the governing equations of a GM cooler are well
D. Panda, et al.
Fig. 1a. Schematic diagram of GM cryocooler.
established and also solution techniques are perfectly addressed in
many kinds of literature [4–6,19,20]. However, due to the non-linearity
and coupled nature of the equations, there does not exist any closed-
form analytical solution, thus numerical methods like finite volume
method (FVM) is opted to solve these equations. In FVM, the governing
differential equations are converted into algebraic equations by em-
ploying suitable discretization procedures for both time and space co-
ordinates. Finally, proper iterative schemes are opted to solve the al-
gebraic equations. After the solution of these equations by using
appropriate methods, the performance parameters such as cooling
power, COP, work supplied by compressor, mean cyclic workflow,
acoustic power flow, relative Carnot COP etc. can be easily computed.
By using FVM based numerical model, the influences of many critical
parameters such as frequency, the phase angle of the displacer, stroke
length etc. on cooling performance of a GM cryocooler have been ex-
amined [20–22]. However, the influence of flow control mechanism on
the cooling performance is not yet addressed in the literature, thus, the
target of the present research is to address the aforementioned objec-
tive.
The aim of this investigation is to examine the effect of rotary valve
flow control characteristics and its operation timing charts on the
cooling performance of a GM cryocooler. The effect of waiting time
period on the cooling power and COP is studied. Also, the effect of
opening angle differences between the high pressure valve (HPV) and
3
Vacuum 168 (2019) 108836
low-pressure valve (LPV) on cooling power and COP of the cryocooler is
addressed. The dynamic variations of mass flow rates at the rotary valve
and outlet of regenerator with respect to the normalized phase angle
over a cycle with different waiting periods and opening angle differ-
ences are illustrated. Pressure-volume variations with respect to the
normalized phase angle at the expansion chamber are also depicted.
PV-diagram at expansion chamber is drawn to explain the workflow
behaviors taking place at the expansion chamber. All these phenomena
are adequate to design an effective flow control mechanism (i.e. rotary
valve) more effectively for a specific purpose.
The present paper is arranged into four sections comprising of this
introduction section, which holds an introduction about GM cryocooler,
its applications and its advantages, literature gap and aim of the current
study. The next section (i.e. section. 2) is divided into two subsections,
in which first subsection (i.e. sub-section 2.1) provides a schematic
diagram about GM cryocooler. Subsection 2.2 explains about detailed
numerical methodology (such as governing equations, initial and
boundary conditions, solution procedure). The validation of the model
with respect to the published results is also included. In section 3, the
results obtained from the current investigation and its discussion is
addressed. Final conclusions obtained in this work are stated in the
closing section.
D. Panda, et al.
2. Numerical model
2.1. Physical domain of GM cryocooler
The schematic diagram of a GM cryocooler is depicted in Fig. 1a.
The entire GM cryocooler is divided into a compression unit, a flow
control unit (also referred as flow control mechanism/flow control
valve/rotary valve) and a cold head unit (also called as expander). In-
side the compression unit, a helium compressor, two buffers (VH and
VL) and its associated cooling mechanism (a water-cooled heat ex-
changer) is located to remove the heat of compression. The compressor
mostly used in GM cryocooler is either a scroll or a reciprocating
compressor. The HPV and LPV are located inside the flow control unit
to generate the pressure wave. The HPV and LPV are either solenoid
valves (whose timing is controlled by an electronic circuit), or a me-
chanical rotary valve. Since the present work deals with numerical
modelling of influences flow characteristics of valves (both rotary valve
and solenoid valves) on its performance, it is referred to as flow control
mechanism. The flow rate through a typical flow control mechanism is
controlled by flow coefficient of HPV (CV,HPV), flow coefficient of LPV
(CV,LPV), and opening duration of valves. After compression from
compressor (1), high-pressure helium gas flows through the high-
pressure discharge pipe line (1D) which is connected from the discharge
port of compressor to the heat exchanger. The heat exchanger (2),
mostly employed in compressor unit of GM cooler is a cross-flow type
water-cooled heat exchanger, to remove the heat of compression. The
high pressure helium gas after getting cooled from the compressor
passes through the HPV (3), and then to the regenerator (6) through the
housing gas flow path, upper gas chamber (10), and displacer upper-lid-
gas flow path (11). In the case of GM cryocooler, the regenerator me-
shes (6) are kept inside the displacer housing (9). The helium gas ex-
changes heat with the regenerator wire meshes and its temperature
decreases from warm end temperature (i.e. ambient temperature,
300 K) to refrigeration temperature. This period is known as heating
period as the regenerator mesh gets heated. Heat conductive materials
(7) are located sometimes at the low temperature end of regenerator.
Consequently, fluid flows to the expansion chamber (8) from the re-
generator through the displacer lower-lid gas flow path (12). Due to the
displacer motion, the volume of the expansion chamber changes, the
fluid undergoes expansion process and refrigeration effect is produced.
Similarly, when LPV (4) opens, the fluid flows from the expansion
chamber (8) to the compressor (1) through the displacer lower-lid gas
flow path (12), heat conducting materials (7), regenerator (6), upper-lid
gas flow path (11), upper gas chamber (10), and low-pressure suction
Fig. 1b. Equivalent computational domain of GM cooler with node point presentation.
4
Vacuum 168 (2019) 108836
line of the compressor (1S). Thus, one working cycle gets completed and
the process is repeated again. A cold chamber (model as cold heat ex-
changer in computational work) is located at the cold end of cold-head
cylinder. A displacer drive mechanism and a driving motor are provided
to guide the displacer to move along the axial direction (red color arrow
shows the direction of displacer motion in Fig. 1a) inside the cylinder
housing of cold head.
2.2. Computational domain of GM cryocooler and solution procedure
Internal fluid flow and thermal mechanisms of a GM cryocooler are
controlled by employing “conservation of mass”, “conservation of mo-
mentum” and “conservation of energy equations”. In the numerical mod-
elling process, the compressor unit is assumed to be outside the com-
putational domain. The pressure pulse generated by the compressor in
association with rotary valve unit is provided as boundary condition in
the left face of first control volume. Since the helium gas gets cooled by
the heat exchanger before entering to HPV, 300 K temperature is opted
as boundary condition for energy equation of fluid. Flows through the
housing gas flow path, upper gas chamber, and displacer-upper-lid gas
flow path are assumed as flow through a single pipe (between FCM and
REGEN in Fig. 1b). Thus in the computational domain (shown in
Fig. 1b), only one pipe is shown to represent the flow of fluid from valve
to regenerator. The volume variation of expansion chamber occurs due
to displacer motion, its motion is assumed to be like sinusoidal shaped
(which is also correct for a mechanically driven displacer) and is pro-
vided as boundary condition in the right face of nth control volume
(CV). Also, the CV located exactly before the REGEN undergoes volume
change. Furthermore, it is assumed that the working fluid behaves like
an ideal gas and flow regime is laminar throughout the computational
domain except HPV and LPV [4,5]. An additional amount of pressure
drop and heat transfer that occurs inside the porous zone (matrix of the
regenerator and heat exchanger), is modeled by invoking the friction
factor and Nusselt number correlations [23,24].
Additional justified assumptions are: (1) all physical quantities
change only along the axial direction, (2) square shaped opening-
closing of the rotary valve, and (3) an isothermal temperature boundary
condition at the CHX [5]. Subjected to the aforementioned assump-
tions, the computational domain is divided into ‘n’ number of control
volumes along the axial direction. The governing equations are:
Continuity equation
m
= min mout
t (1)
Momentum equation:
D. Panda, et al. Vacuum 168 (2019) 108836

differential equations to algebraic equations. A mixture of “second-

order” and “first-order” implicit method is opted for time-coordinates,
on the other hand, a combination of “first and second-order” upwind
method has been opted for the space coordinates. Forward and back-
ward difference methods are invoked for the discretization of continuity
and momentum equations [25,26]. Discretized continuity, momentum,
and energy equations for fluid and matrix along with its coefficients are
provided in Appendix-1. Equation (A-3) has been solved in each control
volume of the computational domain of GM cooler shown in Fig. 1b.
Nonetheless, for the first control volume, control volume which is lo-
cated before the regenerator and in the last control volume, Eqs. (A-4c
and A-4f) has been modified to consider the pressure change, com-
pression volume variation and expansion chamber volume variation
respectively. In the first control volume 5th term of energy equation is
added (in Eq. A-4f), whereas, in remaining cases 6th term is added (Eq.
A-4f). Due to the displacement of the displacer inside cold head, Δx and
δx values have been updated (i.e. at the last control volume, and the
control volume before the regenerator) in each time step, as a result Eq.
(A-7) changes, and those equations depends on this also updated in
each time step. First order implicit method is opted for the discretiza-
tion of 5th and 6th term of the energy equation for fluid (i.e. Eq. (3)).
Equations (A-3) and (A-5) have been solved in each time step by
adopting “penta” and “tri” diagonal matrix algorithms respectively. For
the first order implicit method, constants (β1, β2, β3) are 1, 1 and 0
respectively. On the other hand, for second order implicit method,
constants (β1, β2, β3) are 1.5, 2.0 and 0.5 respectively. Once, the so-
lutions gets converged in each time step, final values of the physical
quantities and all properties of fluid and solid has been used for the next
time step and so on. Once cyclic steady state reached the program
terminates and all the quantities (pressure, temperature of fluid and
Fig. 2. Flow algorithm for solution of governing differential equations. matrix, mass flow rate, all properties of fluid and solid, etc.) are used to
estimate the final performance parameters. Finally, performance para-
meters such as cooling capacity, COP, compression work etc. are
As the inertia of fluid is very minute in case of a GM cycle cryore-
computed from the physical quantities (such as pressure, flow rate,
frigerator due to the inadequate momentum of the working fluid, it is
temperatures, etc.). At each node point all the physical quantities in-
neglected from the momentum equation and the final equation becomes
cluding pressure changes in a cycle. Transient variation of pressure
P Cf 1 2 u difference between components is estimated by applying equation (A-
+ u =0
x Dh 2 u (2) 2). The cycle average pressure (mean pressure) at each node point has
been calculated by taking the cyclic time-mean of pressure at each node
Energy equation for the fluid point as follows:
( T) (mT ) T dV 1
ACv + Cp + kA + hAL (T Ts ) P Pi = Pi dt
t x x x x dt (8)
dP th
V =0 For example, if N node represents the node at the inlet of the re-
x dt (3)
generator and if regenerator is divided into NREG number of control
Energy equation for matrix volumes, then the node at exit of the regenerator will be denoted as
N + NREG. Therefore, the cyclic average pressure difference across re-
(Ts ) Ts
s As Cs + ks As + hAL (Ts T) = 0 generator can be calculated as PN + NREG PN . The cyclic average pres-
t x x (4)
sure difference among components may be calculated by using the
The mass flow supplied by the rotary valve is calculated through above equation (Eq. (8)) for central nodes of components. The solution
nozzle formula is performed to achieve a converged solution in each cycle and the
solution is repeated to get cyclic steady-state solution as depicted in
2
CV , HPV PHP P12 if PHP > P1 Fig. 2.
mrv =
CV , LPV P12 2
PLP if PLP < P1 The developed model is first validated with the numerical results of
(5)
Xu et al. [5] and also with the experimental results [27] and shown in
Volume variations of the displacer is computed through Fig. 3. The cryocooler which is chosen here for model validation is a
mechanically driven GM cryocooler (RDK-408D2 of SHI cryogenic
x d = Sce + 0.5 × Se × 1 { cos (2 ft ) ( × 180 ) } (6)
group) [5,27], because the aforementioned cryocooler is well studied
both numerically and experimentally, and the detailed geometrical as
where, Sce is the length of dead space. Se is the stroke length of the well as operating parameters are available in the literature. This pro-
displacer, ( ) is the phase angle between displacer. vides an opportunity for model validation properly. The compressor
The “ideal gas equation” is employed to equate the density of and cold head (expander) operate at about 50 Hz and 1 Hz respectively.
working fluid as a function of temperature and system pressure. The high-pressure (PH) and low-pressures (PL) of the helium compressor
are kept at about 2.25 MPa and 0.76 MPa respectively [5]. The inner
P = RT (7)
diameter and length of the cold-head cylinder is about 82 mm and
A “finite volume discretization (FVM)” mode is opted to deduce the 192.5 mm respectively [5,27]. The regenerator is filled with

5
D. Panda, et al.
Fig. 3. Validation of the model with published results of Xu et al. (2012) and
experimental results [27].
phosphorous bronze wire mesh screens of mesh size #150 (por-
osity = 0.68). The stroke length of the expansion chamber is about
25 mm [5]. The length of the regenerator and cold heat exchanger is
taken approximately as 121 mm and 46 mm respectively. The phase
angle between the lead by the displacer is 45° [27]. Xu et al. [5] argued
that pulse tube cooling effect in the radial space between displacer and
cylinder is very small for first stage GM cryocooler for similar structural
and operating parameters. Thus, the influence of radial clearance be-
tween cylinder and displacer can be neglected to improve the compu-
tational efficiency. The warm and cold end temperatures remain con-
stant, and are equal to 300 K and 40 K respectively. The experimental
refrigeration capacity at various refrigeration temperature for above-
mentioned GM cryocooler is estimated from the load map (only first
stage) [27]. By using the geometrical and operating parameters of the
experimental prototype, the cooling capacities at different refrigeration
temperature are estimated using the present numerical model. Xu et al.
[5] also used similar experimental prototype for numerical analysis,
and estimated the refrigeration power at 40 K refrigeration tempera-
ture. The percentage deviation of cooling capacity between the ex-
perimental [27] and numerical results at 40 K was calculated by Xu
et al. [5] and found to be 17.25%. In the present paper, the percentage
deviation between numerical and experimental results at 40 K is found
to be about 11.048%. This may be because the current model considers
the influence of axial conduction in the fluid (in Eq. (3)) which was
seemingly neglected by Xu et al. [5]. Additionally, since these are nu-
merical results some minor deviation may occur based on the selection
of grid size, time step size, final cycle and convergence limits. In Fig. 3,
it is observed that curves for both present numerical and experimental
results [27] follow the similar pattern, i.e. with an increase in re-
frigeration temperature, refrigeration capacity increases. Also, the
nonconformity between the present numerical model and experimental
results is within the acceptable limit. This indicates that, the present
numerical model can be effectively employed to estimate the perfor-
mance of GM cooler.
3. Results and discussion
The mechanism of cold production in both GM cryocooler and
double inlet pulse tube refrigerator (DIPTR) is based on GM thermo-
dynamic cycle. In both the equipment, a flow control mechanism (i.e.
either a rotary valve or solenoid valves) is located after the compressor
to generate the pressure wave. The cold head operating frequencies for
6
Vacuum 168 (2019) 108836
Fig. 4. Valve opening timing chart.
both DIPTR and GM cooler is small i.e. about 1–5 Hz. Nevertheless, the
mode of creation of phase difference between the mass flow and pres-
sure is different in both the machines (due to the use of different phase
shifting mechanisms in both machines). Thus, structural configuration
of both GM cooler and DIPTR is different at cold head. The influences of
the opening−closing durations of HPV and LPV on the cooling capa-
city, efficiency and DC flow rate of a DIPTR were studied by Zhu et al.
[28]. To make the analysis simple, Zhu et al. [28] replaced the open-
ing−closing time intervals by opening−closing angles at a constant
frequency. As the target of the current work is to study the effects of
flow characteristics of valves on GM cryocooler, for convenience, the
opening−closing time periods over a cycle is replaced by open-
ing−closing angles at a constant frequency, analogous to that of a
DIPTR by Zhu et al. [28,29].
Fig. 4 illustrates the HPV and LPV opening-closing chart of a GM
cycle cryocooler. During period ψ1 HPV opens and high-pressure fluid
flows from the discharge port of the helium compressor to the cold
head. Whereas, during ψ3 LPV opens and the cold head is connected
with the suction port of the helium compressor. As a result, fluid flows
from the cold head towards the compressor due to the creation of a
favorable pressure gradient. During the period ψ2 and ψ4, both HPV and
LPV remain closed so the fluid do not flow from compressor to cold
head or vice-versa, and these periods are called as “waiting period” [29].
If the HPV opens for a longer duration than the LPV over a cycle,
then ψ1 is greater than ψ3, and the difference between them is positive,
or in other words, ψ2 is less than ψ4. Similarly, if ψ3 is greater than ψ1,
then the LPV remains open for a longer duration than the HPV, as a
result, differences between the ψ1 and ψ3 are negative. In this case, the
opening duration of ψ2 is larger than ψ4. These three different valve
opening possibilities may arise during the operation of a GM cycle
cryocooler. Consequently, in this study, the effect of all the three dif-
ferent possibilities on the overall performance of a GM cryocooler is
investigated. During the analysis diameter of regenerator is taken as
65 mm, length is 121 mm, diameter and length of CHX is 65 mm and
5.6 mm. Diameter and stroke length of the expansion chamber is taken
to be 65 mm and 40 mm. It is assumed that displacer lead by a phase
angle of 45°. Remaining parameters are same as that of Xu et al. [5].
3.1. Effect of waiting period
Fig. 5 depicts the effect of the waiting period on cooling power and
COP of a GM cryocooler. It is seen that the GM cryocooler is capable of
delivering maximum cooling power at about 10° of the waiting period.
Also, at about 70° of the waiting period, the COP of the cryocooler is
maximum. It is clear that, both the cooling power and COP are not
maximum at a particular waiting period. The COP is the ratio of cooling
power to compression work. As cooling power is maximum at 10° of the
waiting period, the COP also needs to achieve its maximum value at this
period. Unfortunately, it is not so as expected, which may be due to the
changes in compression work. As the duration of the waiting period
increases, cycle average mass flow rate from the compressor decreases.
As a result, the compressor work decreases, which on the other hand
increases the COP. The cycle average mass flow rate variations at the
rotary valve and regenerator outlet over a cycle are drawn in Fig. 6.
This figure shows that there exist linear variations of the mass flow rate
at these two destinations with respect to the waiting period. Also, the
D. Panda, et al. Vacuum 168 (2019) 108836

remains zero for a longer duration.

The dynamic variations of the mass flow rate at the outlet of the
regenerator with respect to the normalized phase angle for different
waiting periods (10°, 30°, 60° and 90°) are illustrated in Fig. 7b. It is
clearly depicted that, during the waiting period (ψ2 and ψ4) the flow
rate is non-zero at regenerator outlet, which may be due to the move-
ment of a certain amount of working fluid from the warm end of dis-
placer to its cold end due to the reciprocating motion of the displacer.
Also, the magnitude of oscillating components of flow rate at the re-
generator outlet is less than that of the valve.
The pressure and volume variations at the expansion chamber with
respect to the normalized phase angle over a cycle are shown in Fig. 8.
It is observed that the point at which the volume attains its minimum
value in the expansion chamber, the system pressure is able to reach its
maximum value for all waiting periods. Also, as the displacer again
starts moving upwards, its volume (expansion chamber volume) in-
creases continuously and the pressure inside the chamber decreases. A
point over a cycle at which the volume is maximum (i.e. displacer is at
Fig. 5. Effect of waiting time on cooling power and COP.
its top dead center), the pressure inside the chamber is minimum. Also,
at a higher value of the waiting period, as both the HPV and LPV remain
closed for a longer duration, it also significantly affects its pressure
fluctuations as shown in Fig. 8. At 90° of waiting period the pressure in
the chamber starts decreasing linearly from its maximum value to its
minimum value with increase in phase angle, whereas at 10° of waiting
period, the pressure in the chamber is able to maintain its maximum
value for a longer duration (i.e. ψ2 and ψ4 is more) over a cycle. As a
result, the area under the Pressure-Volume (PV) diagram in the ex-
pansion chamber is more for 10° of waiting period than 90° of waiting
period, as depicted in Fig. 9. This signifies that an increase in expansion
work occurs with decrease in the waiting period, as a result of this
cooling power increases.

3.2. Effect of positive opening angle difference

If the opening angle difference between HPV and LPV is positive,

then it indicates that the HPV remains open for a longer period than the
LPV over a cycle (i.e. ψ1 is greater than ψ3). The variation of cooling
Fig. 6. Variations of cycle average mass flow rate with respect to waiting
period. power and COP for the positive opening angle difference is depicted in
Fig. 10. It reveals that, with an increase in positive opening angle dif-
ference between the HPV and LPV, the cooling power decreases line-
magnitude of flow rate at the regenerator outlet is larger than that of arly. Also, COP increases and attains its maximum value at about 30° of
the rotary valve, which may be due to the passage of a specific amount opening angle difference and then decreases continuously. Opening
of mass flow from the warm end of displacer (i.e. from upper gas angle difference is 0° means the difference between ψ1 and ψ3 is zero,
chamber) to its cold end (i.e. expansion chamber) via the regenerator and 100° means ψ1 = ψ3+100.
during the compression-expansion processes. The cyclic average variations of mass flow rate at regenerator outlet
The dynamic fluctuations of mass flow rates at these locations (i.e. and rotary valve for different positive opening angle difference is shown
rotary valve and regenerator outlet) with respect to the normalized in Fig. 11. This confirms that the cycle average mass flow rates at both
phase angle over a cycle is described in Fig. 7a and 7b respectively. The the locations decrease with an increase in opening angle difference and
sign convention used here only to shows the flow directions, i.e. during the magnitude of mass flow rate at the regenerator outlet is comparably
positive sign the fluid flows from compressor towards the expander and higher in magnitude than that of the valve. The dynamic amplitude of
vice-versa. Fig. 7a shows the variations of the dynamic flow rate at the
rotary valve for 10°, 30°, 60° and 90° of the waiting period. It is ob-
served that, as waiting period increases, both the valves remain closed
for a longer duration (i.e. the value of both ψ2 and ψ4 is more), as a
result, the magnitude of mass flow rate is zero at the rotary valve
(shown in Fig. 7a). When HPV opens, fluid flows from the compressor
towards the cold head, so that flow rate sign is positive. Whereas,
during the opening of LPV, the fluid flows from the cold head towards
the compressor and the sign of flow rate is negative. During the waiting
period, both HPV and LPV remain closed, thus flow coefficient of HPV
(CV,HPV) and flow coefficient of LPV (CV,LPV) are zero. As the mass flow
rate through the valves depend on flow coefficients of HPV and LPV, its
value is also zero during the waiting period as illustrated in Fig. 7a.
With increase in waiting period, the value of CV,HPV and CV,LPV remains Fig. 7a. Variations of mass flow rate at rotary valve with normalized phase
zero for a longer duration in a cycle, hence magnitude of flow rate angle.

7
D. Panda, et al.
Fig. 7b. Variations of mass flow rate at regenerator outlet with normalized
phase angle.
Fig. 8. Variation of pressure and volume at expansion chamber with respect to
normalized phase angle.
Fig. 9. PV-diagram at the expansion chamber for different waiting periods.
Fig. 10. Effect of positive opening angle differences on cooling power and COP.
8
Vacuum 168 (2019) 108836
Fig. 11. Effect of with positive opening angle differences on mass flow rate at
rotary valve and regenerator outlet.
Fig. 12a. Effect of positive opening angle difference on mass flow rate at rotary
valve.
Fig. 12b. Effect of positive opening angle difference on mass flow rate at re-
generator outlet.
mass flow rates at the valve and regenerator outlet at different mag-
nitudes of opening angle difference are presented in Fig. 12a and 12b
respectively. It is witnessed from Fig. 12a that the magnitude of the
pulsating component of mass flow rate during LPV opening duration
(i.e. ψ3) increases with an increase in positive opening angle difference.
This is because, with an increase in opening angle difference, the LPV
remains closed for a longer duration than that of HPV, but HPV opening
duration remains unchanged (i.e. no change in the magnitude of ψ3).
Thus, flow coefficient of HPV (CV,HPV) remains non-zero value for a
longer duration over a cycle than that of flow coefficient of LPV
(CV,LPV). Consequently, the inflow magnitude of the fluid remains
constant, and the same quantity of fluid tries to flow from the cold head
D. Panda, et al.
Fig. 13. Pressure volume variations at expansion chamber with respect to
normalized phase angle over a cycle.
Fig. 14. PV-work at expansion chamber over a cycle.
Fig. 15. Effect of opening angle difference on cooling power and COP.
towards the compressor during LPV opening period (i.e. ψ3). Accord-
ingly, its dynamic amplitude increases. Due to similar reasons, the
pulsating amplitude of flow rate at the regenerator outlet also rises with
increase in opening angle duration of LPV.
Fig. 13 depicts the pressure-volume variations at the expansion
chamber as a function of normalized phase angle over a cycle. This
figure shows that the maximum pressure in the expansion chamber is
constant during the HPV opening durations (i.e. ψ1) in all the cases.
However, if LPV opens for a longer duration (i.e. if the magnitude of ψ3
increases), then the pressure attains its minimum system pressure for a
longer duration (duration equals to ψ3) over a cycle. With an increase in
opening angle difference (i.e. ψ1 − ψ3 increases), the LPV opening
duration over a cycle decreases and the duration of minimum pressure
in the expansion chamber also decreases (as shown in Fig. 13). Due to
this reason, the area under the PV-diagram also decreases as illustrated
9
Vacuum 168 (2019) 108836
Fig. 16. Effect of negative opening angle differences on mass flow rate at rotary
valve and regenerator outlet.
Fig. 17a. Variations of mass flow rate at rotary valve with respect to normal-
ized phase angle.
Fig. 17b. Variations of mass flow rate at regenerator exist with respect to
normalized phase angle.
in Fig. 14, as a result, cooling power decreases with an increase in
opening angle difference.
3.3. Effect of negative opening angle difference
Variations of cooling power and COP with respect to the negative
opening angle difference between HPV and LPV are plotted in Fig. 15.
Negative opening angle difference signifies that HPV remains open for a
smaller duration than the LPV (i.e. the value of ψ1 is less than that of ψ3)
over a cycle. It is observed that, when the opening angle difference is
−10° (i.e. ψ1−ψ3 = −10°), the cooling power gains its maximum
value, and then it decreases constantly up to −90°. On the other hand,
COP rises with an increase in opening angle difference, and able to
reach its maximum performance at about −60°, then drops. The
D. Panda, et al.
Fig. 18. Pressure volume variations at expansion chamber with respect to
normalized phase angle over a cycle.
Fig. 19. PV-diagram at expansion chamber with different opening angle dif-
ference.
variations of mass flow rate at the rotary valve and regenerator outlet
with respect to different opening angle difference are plotted in Fig. 16,
which shows that, with an increase in opening angle difference, the
mass flow rate at the rotary valve and regenerator outlet decreases.
Also, it is further concluded from Figs. 6, 11 and 16 that the magnitude
of cyclic average mass flow rates at both rotary valve and regenerator
outlet in the present case is lower than that of the former two cases.
Fig. 17 a and 17b present the transient variations of mass flow rates
at the rotary valve and regenerator outlet for different values of nega-
tive opening angle difference (such as −10°, −30°, −60° and −90°).
These figures show that at about −90° of opening angle differences
between the HPV and LPV, the dynamic amplitude of flow rate at the
rotary valve and regenerator outlet during HPV opening period (i.e. ψ1)
is larger, whereas during −10° of opening angle differences, the dy-
namic amplitude of flow rate is smaller. This revels that, with an in-
crease in negative opening angle difference between the HPV and LPV,
the dynamic amplitude of mass flow rate at both rotary valve and re-
generator outlet rises during HPV opening durations (i.e. ψ1). Ad-
ditionally, with increase in negative opening angle differences
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vacuum.2019.108836.
Appendix-1
The final discretized continuity equation (for ith node and kth time step) is:
k k 1 k 2
1 mi 2 mi + 3 mi
mik+ 1 = mik
t (A.1)
The final form of discretized momentum equation (for ith node and kth time step) is:
C fki 1 uik
Pik+ 1 Pik = x i
k
(uik ) 2
Dh 2 uik
10
Vacuum 168 (2019) 108836
(i.e.ψ2 < ψ4), the valve opening period of HPV decreases, while the
opening duration of LPV remains constant. Thus, flow coefficient of LPV
(CV,LPV) remains non-zero value for a longer duration over a cycle than
that of flow coefficient of HPV (CV,HPV). The net effect of these flow
coefficients is that the mass flow rate of HPV remains zero for a longer
duration, as shown in Fig. 17a.
The variation of pressure-volume at the expansion chamber with
respect to the normalized phase angle over a cycle is depicted in Fig. 18.
It shows that at about −90° of opening angle difference, the HPV re-
mains closed for a longer duration, as a result, its pressure decreases
constantly from its high value to its lower value. The area under the PV
diagram (in Fig. 19) decreases and cooling power decreases. On the
other hand, at about −10° of opening angle difference, the HPV re-
mains open for a longer duration. Therefore, the pressure inside the
expansion chamber attains its maximum value for a longer duration
(equal to that of ψ1) and the area under the PV-diagram (in Fig. 18) is
more, thus, the cooling power is more as evident from Fig. 15.
4. Conclusion
A one-dimensional numerical model is developed by discretizing the
governing differential equations through FVM for a single stage GM
cryocooler. The developed model is first validated with the published
results. By using the numerical model, the effect of valve opening angle
differences of HPV and LPV on the cooling power and COP of a single
stage GM cryocooler is investigated. Additionally, the influence of the
waiting period on cooling power and COP of the cryocooler is in-
vestigated. The following influential conclusions have been perceived:
- With an increase in waiting period COP increases, becomes max-
imum at about 70° of the waiting period and then drops. Whereas
cooling power is maximum at about 10° of the waiting period.
- With an increase in positive opening angle difference between HPV
and LPV, the cooling power decreases continuously. At about 0°
differences between HPV and LPV, the cooling power is maximum
and at 100° it is minimum.
- With an increase in positive opening angle difference between HPV
and LPV, the COP increases and is able to attain its maximum per-
formance at about 30° and then decreases.
- With an increase in negative opening angle difference between HPV
and LPV, the cooling power is maximum at about −10° and then
drops.
- With an increase in negative opening angle difference between HPV
and LPV, the COP increases, and attains its maximum value at about
−60° and then declines.
Acknowledgement
Financial assistance received from MHRD, Govt. of India is grate-
fully acknowledged.
(A.2)
D. Panda, et al. Vacuum 168 (2019) 108836

The discretized energy equation of fluid (for ith node and kth time step) takes the following form, which may be solved using penta-diagonal
matrix algorithm.

(A.3)
k k k k k
1, i Ti 2 + 2, i Ti 1 + 3, i Ti + 4, i Ti + 1 + 5, i Ti + 2 = i

The discretized coefficients of Eq. (A-3) are written as follows:

1, i = 2, i max (mik cp, f ik, 0) (A.4a)

k fki Ai
2, i = 2, i + 1 max (mik+ 1 cp, f ik+ 1, 0) 1, i max (mik cp, f ik , 0)
xi (A.4b)

mik cv ik k k k k
k fki Ai k fki + 1 Ai + 1
3, i = + 1, i + 1max (mi + 1 cp, f i + 1, 0) 3, i min (mi cp, f i , 0) + + + hik A Li
(A.4c)
1
t xi x i+1

k k k k
k fki +1 Ai + 1
4, i = 3, i + 1min (mi + 1 cp, f i + 1, 0) + 4, i min (mi cp, f i , 0)
xi + 1 (A.4d)
k k
5, i = 4, i + 1min (mi + 1 cp, f i + 1, 0) (A.4e)
k 1 k 1 k 1 k 2 k 2 k 2
2 mi cv i Ti 2 mi cv i Ti
= + hik A Li Tski
i
t (A.4f)
Finally, the discretized form of energy equation of solid/matrix becomes:
k k k
1, i Tsi 1 + 2, i Tsi + 3, i Tsi + 1 = i (A.5)
where, the coefficients are:
k
i k si A si
=
1, i
x (A.6a)
k k k k
1 m si c si i k si As, i i + 1 k si + 1 As, i + 1
2, i = + + + hik A Li
t xi x i+1 (A.6b)
k
i + 1 k si + 1 A si + 1
3, i =
xi+1 (A.6c)
k 1 k 1
2 m si c si Tski 1 k 2 k 2 k 2
3 m si c si Tsi
= + hik A Li Tik
i
t (A.6d)
Coefficients of the discretized equations presented in Eqs. (A-4) and (A-6) contains some parameters (all Λ1,i, Λ2,i, Λ3,i, and Λ4,i) related to the grid
size, and may be computed as follows:
xi 1 + 2 xi 1
1, i =
2 xi 1 (A.7a)
xi 1
2, i =
2 xi 1 (A.7b)

x i + 2 xi + 1
3, i =
2 x i+1 (A.7c)
xi
4, i =
2 xi+1 (A.7d)

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