Lesson 6

Directional Control Valves

Lesson Objectives:
At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to:
1. take a look of the different kinds of control valves;
2. discuss various techniques used to shift the spool; and
3. take a look at a special kind of directional control valve that controls direction and
flow rate at the same time.

Let us begin by looking at directional control valves found in many industrial systems.

Directional Control Valves work by shifting in internal movable part which is called as
a spool.

This movable spool will open or closes various passages of ports in the valve.

Directional control valves perform only three functions:

1. stop fluid flow

2. allow fluid flow
3. change direction of fluid flow

These three functions usually operate in combination

Directional control valves are designated as 2-way, 3-way, 4-way valves or 5-way
valves, depending on the number of ports they have.

A 2-way directional control valve is generally used to connect isolate parts of a

pneumatic system. It stops flow or allows flow.
With the spool on one position, the valve passages block and air cannot pass.

When the spool is shifted to the other position, the passages open and the valve becomes
passing.
The 2-way valves have two flow pipe connection and can switch into two different
positions.

Similarly, 3-way directional control valve are used.

This valve has 3 ports, one going to pump, another one going to tank, and the third one
is going to an actuator.

In most cases, one of a 3-way valve is not required, a 4-way valve is used and one of its
ports is a plug.

The most commonly used directional control valve is the 4-way valve. Its 4 ports can be
interconnected in various ways depending on the type of spool we used inside the valve.
 The 5/2-way directional valve has five connection ports and two states.

It has one pressure port (P,1), two ports (A,2) and (B,4) that connect to the device that
needs to be controlled, and two exhaust ports (EA,3) and (EB,5). The two states of the
valve are:

• Pressure port (P,1) connects to port (A,2), while port (B,4) vents through exhaust port
(EB,5)
• Pressure port (P,1) connects to port (B,4), while port (A,2) vents through port (EA,3).

Port designations

Different manufacturers use different port designations.

The ISO standard uses numbers to designate the different ports. Some manufacturers,
however, use letters to somewhat clarify the port designations.

In the figure above, ISO port 1 is also designated with a letter P from 'pressure', which is
the connecting point for the pressure line.

The outlet ports (or working ports) with the ISO designations 2 and 4 are alternatively
designated with the letters A and B.

The corresponding exhaust ports have the ISO designation numbers 3 and 5.

The alternative letter designations of these ports are respectively EA and EB, which
means 'exhaust from A' and 'exhaust from B'.

Valve symbols with a single exhaust port like, for example, 3/2-way or 4/2-way valves,
the exhaust port number 3 (ISO) is alternatively designated with the letter R
(Reservoir/Receiver)
Notice that all the ports in the directional control valve are located on the bottom of the
valve.

This is to make the servicing and installation easier and more efficient.

The body of the valve is vaulted to a precision-made subway. And the system piping is
connected to the subway.

If the valve must be removed for service, it is simply unvaulted from the subway, the lines
don’t have to be disturb.
Combinations of subways is called manifold or sometimes used when several valves are
mounted side-by-side. This reduces space requirements and allows several valves to be
controlled from a single compact operator’s station.

Some directional control valves only have 2 positions.

The spool can be shifted to one extreme of its travel or to the other.

For example, the above 4-way directional control valve opens the passage from a pump
to port A and port B to the tank.
The spool is shifted all the way from port B to tank direction and it opens a passage from
the pump to port B and from port A to the tank when the spool is shifted all the way in the
other direction.

However, many valves have a 3rd or middle position.

What they do in this middle position, or center condition as it called, depends on the kind
of spool that is used.

While many different spools are available, the 4 that are most common are the open
center, closed center, tandem center, and float center.
Open Center Spool

The open center spool connects all the passages together.

Flow returns to tank at a low pressure and the actuator is free to move in A direction.

However, once an Open Centered Spool is centered, all the actuators in the same system
will not operate, because system flows being returned to tank.
Closed Center Spool

A closed center spool on the other hand blocks 4 ports when the spool is centered. This
permits Actuators to operate independently on each other.

And it also allows cylinder to be stopped in mid stroke.

However, a cylinder rod stopped by a closed center spool will gradually drift out if the
valve is left at the center condition for more than two or three minutes. This happens
because air leaks pass the spool building up pressure at both ends of the cylinder.

Since the cap side of the piston has more area exposed to the pressure than the rod side,
the rod retracts.

A closed center spool also requires the system to generate a lot of heat even when no
work is being done. As long as the spool remain centered, flow from pump to tank is block.

So, pressure continues to rise and the valve is force open.

Tandem Center Spool

A tandem center spool can stop cylinder at mid-stroke and reduce power consumption by
dumping the pump directly back to tank.

This is possible because a passage drove the spool back to tank.

However, the passage does restrict flow and raise pressure. So, a several tandem valves
are operated in series. A key merit of a fact where it force a system to produce a lot of
heat even when in idle.
Float Center Spool

It is the 4th center condition. Motor spool is another term of float center spool.

It connects both sides of cylinder or motor to tank. Allowing the actuator to float or move
freely whenever the valve is centered.

If the actuator must be stopped for some reason, a pilot operated check valve can be
used.
Centering a float spool also block the pump passage.

This means several different actuators can be operated from the same power source
because full pump flow and pressure are diverted elsewhere from the system when any
one spool is centered.

Now, even when a 4-way directional control valve has only two positions, it may still have
what we call as crossover condition and it may affect the operation of the system.

In the figure below, the spool has a closed center crossover condition. During a shift from
one extreme position to the other, pressure would drop very little.

Now, we see what happens when valve spools are shifted. But we also need to
understand how they are shifted.
External force to shift the pool:

All directional control valves require an external force to shift the spool.

The force comes from the valve actuator, which maybe manual, mechanical,
hydraulic, pneumatic, and electric (solenoid).

Manual actuation is simply what human energy pushes a button, shift a lever, or steps on
a foot pedal.

Manual actuation is used on things like fork lift truck which require an operator to direct
the movement or to sequence the operation.

Mechanical actuation is usually accomplished with a cam which is simply a valve with a
roller or ball at the end of the extension of the spool.

The roller or ball contacts some part of a machine member like the cylinder rod extension
which moves it in and out.
Mechanical actuation is commonly used when valve shifting must occur as the machine
reaches a specific position either air pressure pneumatics or fluid pressure
hydraulics may also be used to move the spool. Usually a separate smaller valve
provides the pneumatic or hydraulic pressure used to actuate the larger valve. This is
called pilot operation.

Shifting the spool can also be done electrically with solenoids.

Solenoids are electromechanical devices which converts electrical energy into a linear
mechanical energy.

Understanding Directional Control Valves Schematic Symbols

The first thing that is really important in understanding DCV schematic symbols is to
identify how many positions the DCV has.

2-way DCV

Schematic Symbol

There has to be at least 2 positions in a DCV.

Each one of the boxes is in position, meaning it can
switch in between.
 This position is the same as the above position.

2 1
Two positions are very common in both pneumatics and hydraulics.
But there are also 3 positions which are much more common in pneumatics and
hydraulics.
3-way DCV
Schematic Symbol

3 1 2
We have the center position which we will identify as 1.
Each one of the boxes has internal arrows that directs or show which direction air will go
based of what port it is.
So, once we identify the position, the next thing we need to focus on are the number of
ways.
The 2-way DCV has two ways.
A way is called a port of the DCV.
So, if it is a 2-way DCV, means it is a 2 ports DCV.
If it is a 3-way DCV, means that it is a 3 ports DCV.
If it is a 4-way DCV, means it is a 4 ports DCV.
If it is a 5-way DCV, means it is a 5 ports DCV.
DCV Port Identification:
2-way DCV
A Actuator

P Pressure

If there are 2 ports on a DCV, this is how they are identified, P for the Pressure port, and
on the top, this is the way for an Actuator port.
So, this would be considered a 2-way, 2 position DCV. Some people would say 2 position,
2-way DCV.
A 2-way DCV is identified as 2/2 DCV.
3-way DCV
Below figure has 2 positions and 3 ways associated with it.
So, this would be a 3-way 2 position DCV.
And it is identified as 3/2 DCV.
A This is how the port is physically identified.

The P would be on the bottom left.

The T (tank) port which is sometimes referred to as a R

(Reservoir/Receiver) would be on the bottom right.
P T(R) The top port if there is only 1 port on the top, this is only identified as
the A port.

4-way DCV
Below figure also, is a 2 position DCV. It has 4 ports.
The bottom left is always P.
The bottom right is T (R).
The top left port is A
The top right port is B.
A B

P T (R)
Important Note: If we know, where the pressure port is coming, we can always identify
where the A port is schematically because it is found at the top.
It is important because people who drawing the schematic diagram will flip the figure, and
have the pressure ports going into the weird ways because maybe the person who drew
it up made a mistake or they weren’t familiar with pneumatics or hydraulics, so you always
just have to be aware of that.
Wherever your pressure ports coming in, your A port is above it schematically.
So, the figure above identified as a 4/2 DCV.
Below figure is a 3 position and it has 4 ports and labeled the same way as 4/2 DCV.
And this would be labeled the same way as 4/2 DCV.
4/3 DCV
A B

P T
So, when we begin to identify and label the ports, the figure is 4/3 DCV.
So, now that we understand the positions and the ways, the number of positions that a
DCV can go into and the number of ways, let us dissect the next part of this.
And that is, what do these positions mean?
This is very confusing for people who are new with pneumatics or hydraulics.
What the figures above shows, is where the DCV is when it is in its normal position
typically.
So, if there is a spring at the front of 3/2 DCV figure, it will hold a spool that is graphically
represented by a position in a schematic diagram below. And what it means is below
figure is in normal position.

This can be a little confusing depending on the manufacturer that we are using because
if we have a spring and a lever like the one shown in the figure below, the lever is going
to push and it changes the position allowing the air or oil to flow, the arrow in a first box
will go to A and P, and when we let the lever go the spring pushes it back, and go back
to its normal position.

Some manufacturers identified as a 2/2 NC (normally closed) DCV.

Figure below is identified as 2/2 NO (normally open) DCV.
It is a normally open DCV because in its normal position, oil will flow right away through
the Actuator.

Now that can get a little tricky the idea of normally open normally closed like in a 4/2 DCV
because there is no normally open and normally closed position and some people say,
yes , but that would indicate if the cylinder is extended or the cylinder is retracted.
And that doesn’t actually make sense because we can switch that by switching our A and
B ports .
So, let us take a look at the figure below. As we see that at the front is a schematic
symbol of a solenoid, it is another method of moving the spool and when we move the
spool, we shift it back and forth.
 a b
We want to be very careful about shifting because it’s confusing because if we look at
hydraulic or pneumatic schematics, we are not going to see all the things physically, but
only when we have an animation or simulation software.
In figure a, when we activate the solenoid or whatever actuator that we used, the spool is
going to move position like in figure b, which represents the next position.
In figure a position, P is connected to B port and A is connected to T through internal
passages.
When we activate a lever or solenoid or a push button or a key or whatever input devices
it is, the valve will shift, which shows in figure b. Then the P port is connected to A port
and B is connected to T port as shown in Figure b above, that directs where the flow is
going.

References:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npDJHWkSomA
https://www.hydraulicspneumatics.com/technologies/other-
technologies/article/21884325/book-2-chapter-8-directional-control-valves
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvRYRk549hY