Fluid structure interaction in electrohydraulic servovalve: a finite element approach

Abstract

Electrohydraulic servovalves (EHSV) promise unique application opportunities and high performance, unmatched by other drive technologies. Typical applications include aerospace, robotic manipulators, motion simulators, injection molding, CNC machines and material testing machines. EHSV available are either a flapper/nozzle type or a jet pipe type. In the present paper an attempt has been made to study the dynamics of jet pipe EHSV with built-in mechanical feedback using Finite Element Method (FEM). In jet pipe EHSV, the dynamics of spool greatly depends on pressure recovery and hence the fluid flow at spool ends. The effect of pressure recovery on spool dynamics is studied using FEM by creating the fluid-structure-interaction. The mechanical parts were created using general purpose finite elements like shell, beam, and solid elements while fluid cavities were created using hydrostatic fluid elements. The analysis was carried out using the commercially available FE code ABAQUS. The jet pipe and spool dynamics are presented in the paper.