CFD analysis of flow forces and energy loss characteristics in a flapper–nozzle pilot valve with different null clearances

A well understanding on the flow forces and energy loss characteristics in a flapper–nozzle pilot valve is necessarily important in the performance improvement of a two-stage electrohydraulic servo-valve. This paper presents the CFD analysis of flow forces and energy loss characteristics in a flapper–nozzle pilot valve with different null clearances. Five different flapper–nozzle structures with three different null clearances of 0.1 mm, 0.05 mm and 0.033 mm are considered in this analysis. For every flapper–nozzle structure, the systematic CFD simulations of flow forces and energy loss characteristics are performed for seven different flow conditions varying nozzle inlet pressures from 1 MPa to 7 MPa. Experimental measurements are also conducted for energy loss characteristics and then compared with simulated results. Meanwhile, the CFD flow force results are verified with the results of exiting simplified flow force models and vice versa. From each nozzle side, the main flow force acting on the flapper is accompanied by four tiny lateral forces resulted from the impact of radial jet reattachment on the flapper curved surface. For each of given null clearances, the main flow force and lateral forces linearly increase with the increment of nozzle inlet pressure. For the same null clearance, applying larger flapper can give 1.5–13.6% larger lateral force in drag direction and 1.5–10.2% larger lateral force in lift direction compared to deploying smaller flapper. Compared to the main flow force, the magnitudes of the lateral forces on each corner of the flapper are found in the range of 0.8–3.2% in drag direction and 1.6–7.5% in lift direction. For main flow forces, the CFD simulated results show a good agreement with that of flow force model based on momentum conservation. Both existing flow force models are undoubtedly applicable in the prediction of flow forces for small null clearances (less than 0.05). Having a good agreement between each other, both experimental and numerical results show that the energy loss increases with the increment of null clearance and nozzle inlet pressure.