Hydraulic components

Module 3 – Part 1
 Overview
Control Valves

Directional Control Valve (DCV) Pressure Control Valve (PCV) Flow Control Valve (FCV)

Poppet Sliding Rotary Solenoid Pilot Direct Compensated

DCV DCV DCV DCV DCV PCV FCV

Pilot Non-compensated
Check Valves
PCV FCV

Shuttle Valves Needle valve

Control Valves (CV)
• Controls the direction (D), pressure (P), and flow (F) of a fluid.
• Controls the fluid flow by varying the size of the flow passage.
• Starts, stops and changes the direction of fluid.
• Direction
• Unidirectional
• Bidirectional
• Pressure
• High
• Low
• Flow
• Fast
• Slow
• In automation/robotics final control element
Directional Control Valves
(DCV)

Types
Direct operated and pilot operated
Directional Control Valve (DCV)

• Allows fluid flow (hydraulic oil, water or air) into different paths and
directions from various sources.
• Spool (piston that reciprocates) inside a cylinder that is:
• Mechanically actuated
• Electrically actuated
• Magnetically actuated
• The position of the spool restricts or permits flow.
• Valves contains ports through which fluid can enter/leave.
• If ‘n’ is the number of ports, then, it is called n-way DCV.
• 2-way DCV has 2 ports.
• 4-way DCV has 4 ports.
Directional Control Valve (DCV)
Directional Control Valve (DCV)

• DCV has two elementary parts:

• Service ports (SP) = ports that engage in transferring liquids from
one place to another
• Switch position (sp) = position of DCV
• Symbolic representation of DCV:
• A, B, … = Actuator ports
•P = Pump
•T = Tank A

P
Directional Control Valve (DCV)

• Understanding the symbolic representation:

• n arrows/lines = n service ports
• n boxes = n switch position
• Representing in sentence format:
• Service port / switch position
• In this case:
• 2 service ports
• 2 switch position
• It is called 2 / 2-way DCV
Directional Control Valve (DCV)
Circuit usage:

• What are these type of DCVs?

A B

P T
Directional Control Valve (DCV)
Directional Control Valve (DCV) in hydraulic circuit
Circuit usage:

A B

• Consists of:
• An actuator (A, B)
P T
• DCV (A, B, P, T)
• Pump (P)
• Tank (T)
Poppet DCV
• Housing bore
• Moveable cone/piston/sphere (ball)
• Pressure increases -> moveable(s) gets tightly
planted
• No leakages
• Long life

Plugs/pistons
moves to/fro
that allows/blocks
fluid flow
Check DCV
• Allows the fluid flow in one direction (unidirectional).
• Blocks the fluid flow in the opposite direction.

• A spring holds the ball towards the valve seat.

• Inlet flow pushes the ball off the seat and continues to the outlet.
• Opposite flow pushes the ball towards the seat blocking the flow.
• Finish should be good to make check valves work efficiently.
Check DCV
Check DCV

Symbolic representation: Circuit usage:

Shuttle DCV
• Works with two alternate flow sources.
• 2 inlets and 1 outlet.
• Cases:
• P1 > P2
• P2 > P1
Shuttle DCV
• Primary pump inlet (P1)
• Secondary pump inlet (P2)=backup pump if P1 loses pressure.
• Behaves like an “OR” gate (either P1 or P2 causes a pressure output
signal to be sent to A).
Shuttle DCV

Symbolic representation: Circuit usage:

Sliding DCV

• Sliding DCV = Spool DCV

• Spool valve consists of a spool (cylindrical member)
• Spool slides in a close-fitting bore of the valve body
• Less clearance between the moving spool and the housing
• The amount of leakage is dependent on the gap between spool and housing
Sliding DCV
Rotary DCV
Pressure Control Valves
(PCV)

Types
Direct operated and pilot operated
Introduction

• PCV sets / controls the pressure.

• Sets the pressure below the maximum pressure.
• If 6 atm is set, then PCV will reduce the pressure to < 6 atm.
• Breaks the circuit and removes excessive / dangerous pressure from
the pump that goes into the actuator.
• Acts as a safety device.
• A restriction is necessary to produce the required pressure control
(restriction means to restrict the flow).
Introduction

• Fluid power systems are designed to operate within ranges

(pressure ranges).
• This range is a function of the forces the actuators in the system
must generate to do the required work.
• If not controlled or limited, the fluid power components and
expensive equipment may get damaged.
• Diverting excess oil when pressures get too high is the only chance
that can prevent system from getting damaged.
• Pressure at which a relief valve first opens to allow fluid to flow is
called cracking pressure.
• The device which removes excess pressure is called relief valve.
Non-adjustable and adjustable PCV
Types of PCV

• Direct operated PCV

• Pilot operated PCV
Direct operated PCV
Direct operated PCV
• Simple in design.
• Simple in manufacturing.
• Has no adjustable screws.
• Pre-set pressure is involved – depending on the nature of compression
spring.
• 𝐹 = 𝑘𝑥 (Spring force) …1
𝐹
• 𝑃=𝐴 (Pascal’s law) …2
𝑘𝑥
• 𝑃= (After substituting eqs. ‘1’ and ‘2’)
𝐴
1
• 𝐾𝐸 = 2 𝑚𝑣 2 (Kinetic Energy)
1
• 𝑆𝐸 = 2 𝑘𝑥 2 (Spring Energy)
Direct operated PCV

• Contains poppet / ball / combination.

• Since compression spring is used, by default, no flow will take place if
pressure of the fluid < the pressure required to compress the spring.
• 𝐹 = 𝑃𝐴 = 𝑘𝑥 (at equilibrium)
• On the other side, tank port is connected to the tank that supplied extra
pressurized fluid.
• When pressure exceeds and compresses the spring, the fluid will displace
the ball / poppet.
• This allows fluid to go back to the tank / reservoir.
• The spring goes back along with the ball / poppet when fluid is released
to drop system pressure below the setting of the valve spring.
• Spring-loaded poppet valves are used for small flows.
Pilot operated DCV
Pilot operated DCV

• A pilot stage, which consists of a small, spring-biased relief valve.

• The main relief valve is normally closed when the pressure of the
inlet is below the setting of the main valve spring.
• Complex in construction.
• Controlled by the compression spring and the pilot valve.
• The main relief valve is normally closed when the pressure of the
inlet is less than the setting of the main valve spring
Directional Control Valves
(DCV)
REPRESENTATION ONLY
Normally Opened (NO)
Closed
Normally Closed (NC)
Open
3/2-way DCV
3/2-way DCV
HFD