Turbulence Modeling Applied to Flow over a Hydraulic Ball Check Valve

This paper describes an experimental, theoretical model, and a numerical study of concentrated vortex flow past a ball in a hydraulic check valve. The phenomenon of the rotation of the ball around the axis of the device, through which liquid flows, has been found. That is, vibration is caused by the rotation of the ball in the check valve. We observe the rotation of the ball around the longitudinal axis of the check valve. This rotation is induced by vortex shedding from the ball. We will discuss computational simulation and experimental investigations of this strong ball rotation. The frequency of the ball vibration and interaction with the check valve wall has been measured as a function of a wide range of Reynolds numbers. The validity of the computational simulation and of the assumptions on which it is based has been proved experimentally. This study demonstrates the possibility of controlling the vibrations in a hydraulic system and proves to be a very effective suppression of the self-excited vibration.