Steady State Characteristics of a Flapper-Nozzle Relief Valve

The static and dynamic characteristics of flapper-nozzle type electromagnetic relief valves have not so far been investigated analytically in depth, although they have been widely used for hydraulic load pressure control. In this paper a non-linear model of the relief valve is formulated explicitly, based upon rigid-body motion and fluid dynamics. Model parameters such as discharge coefficients, effective area of the nozzle and the electromagnetic constant were identified from the steady state characteristics and physical dimensions of the valve. Based upon this constructed model the static characteristics such as the pressure override and the relationship between input current and main pressure were obtained analytically and compared with those obtained experimentally. The comparison shows that this constructed analytical model can precisely predict such characteristics.