Numerical and experimental investigation of leakage behavior at null position of high-pressure electro-pneumatic servo valve

The high-pressure electro-pneumatic servo valve(HESV)is a core element of the high-pressure pneumatic servo system.The annular clearance and the rounded corner of the spool-sleeve can cause the leakage at null position,thereby affecting high-precision control and stability of the servo system.This paper investigates the effects of the clearance structure on leakage behavior at null position of the HESV.A numerical approach was employed to evaluate the effects,and then a mathematical model was established to obtain the variation law of leakage flow rate at null position.The results indicate that the leakage flow rate at null position varies linearly with supply pressure and rounded corner radius,and is nonlinear as a quadratic concave function with annular clearance.The leakage flow rate of the annular clearance and the rounded corner varies with the valve opening in an invariable−nonlinear−linear trend.A test rig system of leakage behavior at null position of the HESV was built to confirm the validity of the numerical model,which agrees well with the conducted experimental study.

Effect of hole arrangement patterns on the leakage and rotordynamic characteristics of the honeycomb seal

The honeycomb seal is a vital component to reduce the leakage flow and improvethe system stability for the turbomachines. In this work, a three-dimensional model is established for the interlaced hole honeycomb seal (IHHCS) and the non-interlaced hole honeycombseal (NIHHCS) to investigate its leakage and rotordynamic characteristics by adopting computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Results show that the hole arrangement patterns have littleimpact on the pressure drop and turbulence kinetic energy distribution for the seals, and theIHHCS possesses a slightly lower leakage flow rate than the NIHHCS. Moreover, the numericalresults also show that the NIHHCS possesses a better rotordynamic performance than theIHHCS at all investigated conditions. Both seals show a larger k and a lower Ceff with the increase of the positive preswirl ratios and rotational speeds, while the negative preswirl ratioswould reduce the k and improve the Ceff. The NIHHCS possesses a higher absolute value ofFt for all operating conditions, this could explain the distinction of Ceff for both seals atdifferent working conditions.