Improving the performance of a two way flow control valve, using a 3D CFD modeling

The paper introduces a methodology aimed to optimize the performance of hydraulic components; in particular the design of a new two way flow control valve studying the valve internal fluid-dynamic behavior will be introduced. The methodology is based on the definition of a CFD tridimensional fluid-dynamic model. In fact, the model can help engineers to develop the best geometry, to optimize the valve performance, reducing the prototyping requirement and finally the time-to-market and, consequently, the development costs. At first, the original spool internal geometry has been evaluated and studied to tune the mathematical model and to validate it comparing its results with the data obtained through an experimental campaign. Then, the same approach has been applied to investigate several different internal spool geometries to define the best one in all operating conditions. A limited number of solutions have been prototyped and tested to verify the mathematical model predictions, in order to find the best configuration whose performances are consistent with the assigned objective for the component.