Hydraulic and

Pneumatic Systems
Design

1
 Course Content
 2. Control and Regulation Elements
[12Hrs.]
2.1 Pressure: statics and dynamics
2.2 Direction and flow control valve
2.3 Relief valves, non-return and safety valves
2.4 Actuation systems
2.5 Examples (Design Study: From flow control
and regulation perspective)

2
 Control Valves
 In fluid power, controlling elements are called
valves.
 Directional control valves (DCVs);
 Determine the path through which a fluid trans-
verses a given circuit.
 Pressure control valves;
 Protect the system against overpressure, which may
occur due to a sudden surge as valves open or close
or due to an increase in fluid demand.
 Flow control valves:
 Control the amount of fluid flowing in hydraulic cir-
cuit
 Shock absorbers are hydraulic devices designed to
smooth out pressure surges and to dampen hy- 3
draulic shock.
 Directional Control
Valves
 Control the direction of fluid flow in hydraulic
system by changing the position of internal
movable parts.
 Purposes of a DCV;
 To start, stop, accelerate, decelerate and change the
direction of motion of a hydraulic actuator.
 To permit the free flow from the pump to the reser-
voir at low pressure when the pump’s delivery is not
needed into the system.
 To vent the relief valve by either electrical or me-
chanical control.
 To isolate certain branch of a circuit.

4
 Directional Control
Valves
 Classification of DCVs based Fluid Path
 Based on fluid path, DCVs can be classified as
follows:
Check valves.
Shuttle valves.
Two-way valves.
Three-way valves.
Four-way valves.

5
 Directional Control
Valves
 Classification of based on Design Charac-
teristics
An internal valve mechanism that directs
the flow of fluid. Such a mechanism can ei-
ther be a poppet, a ball, a sliding spool, a
rotary plug or a rotary disk.
Number of switching positions (usually 2 or
3).
Number of connecting ports or ways.
Method of valve actuation that causes the
valve mechanism to move into an alternate
position.
6
 Directional Control
Valves
 Classification based on the Control
Method
Direct controlled DCV
A valve is actuated directly on the valve
spool. This is suitable for small-sized
valves.
Indirect controlled DCV
Valve is actuated by a pilot line or using
a solenoid or by the combination of elec-
trohydraulic and electro-pneumatic
means.
Use of solenoid reduces the size of the
valve. 7
Suitable for large-sized valves.
 Directional Control
Valves
 Classification based on the construction of internal
moving parts
 Rotary spool type;
Spool is rotated to change the direction of fluid. It
has longitudinal grooves.
Rotary spools are usually manually operated.

8
 Directional Control
Valves
 Classification based on the Construction of Internal
Moving Parts
Sliding spool type;
Consists of a specially shaped spool and a
means of positioning the spool.
Spool is fitted with precision into the body bore
through the longitudinal axis of the valve body.
Lands of the spool divide this bore into a series
of separate chambers.
Ports of the valve body lead into these cham-
bers and the position of the spool determines
the nature of inter-connection between the
ports. 9
Directional Control
Valves

10
 Valve Schematic
 Symbols;
P – Pressure port (high pressure oil inlet
from pump)
T – Tank or return port connected to tank
A,B – Ports connected to actuator (eg., pis-
ton side and rod side of cylinder)
Rectangular blocks represent positions of
possible actuation of valve. For example,
two rectangular blocks represent two posi-
tions of possible actuation of valve
A,B,P and T are the 4 ports of the valve
connected to different components.
11
4/2 valve symbol

12
Valve symbols

13
Valve symbols

14
Valve symbols

15
Valve symbols

16
Valve symbols

17
Valve symbols

18
Valve symbols

19
Valve symbols

20
Valve symbols

21
Valve symbols

22
 Directional Control
Valves
 Check valve
Simplest DCV allows flow in one direction,
but blocks the flow in the opposite direc-
tion.
Two-way valve because it contains two
ports.

23
 Directional Control
Valves
 Ball-type check valve
Light spring holds the ball against the valve seat
Flow coming into the inlet pushes the ball off the
seat against the light force of the spring and con-
tinues to the outlet.
Very low pressure is required to hold the valve
open in this direction.
If the flow tries to enter from the opposite direc-
tion, the pressure pushes the ball against the
seat and the flow cannot pass through.

24
Directional Control
Valves

25
Directional Control
Valves

26
Directional Control
Valves

Application of Check
Valve

27
Directional Control
Valves

28
 Directional Control
Valves
 Poppet check valve
Poppet is a specially shaped plug element
held on a valve seat by a light spring.
Fluid flows through the valve in the space
between the seat and poppet. In the free
flow direction, the fluid pressure overcomes
the spring force. If the flow is attempted in
the opposite direction, the fluid pressure
pushes the poppet in the closed position.
Therefore, no flow is permitted

29
Directional Control
Valves

Closed position

30
 Directional Control
Valves
 Shuttle valve
Shuttle valve allows two alternate flow sources
to be connected in a one-branch circuit.
Valve has two inlets p1 and p2 and one outlet.
Outlet a receives flow from an inlet that is at a
higher pressure.
In figure, if the pressure at P1 is greater than
that at P2, the ball slides to the right and allows
P1 to send flow to outlet A. If the pressure at P2
is greater than that at P1, the ball slides to the
left and P2 supplies flow to outlet A

31
Directional Control
Valves

Shuttle valve

32
 2/2-Way DCV - Normally
Closed
 Spool valve consists of a cylindrical spool that
slides back and forth inside the valve body to
connect or block flow between the ports.
 Larger diameter portion of the spool, the spool
land blocks flow by covering the port.
 Particular valve has two ports labeled P and A.
 P is connected to the pump line and A is con-
nected to the outlet to the system.
 Normal state, valve remains closed.
 Valve is held in this position by the force of the
spring.

33
2/2-Way DCV - Normally
Closed

34
 2/2-Way DCV (Normally
Opened)
 Spring holds the valve in a position in which ports P
and A are connected
 When the valve is actuated, the flow is blocked from
going to A

35
2/2-Way DCV

36
 2/2-Way DCV

Application of 2/2 DCV

A pair of two-way valves is used to
fill and drain a vessel.
In Fig, valve 1 is shifted to the open
position, while valve 2 remains
closed. This fills the vessel.
Valve 2 is shifted to open position
and valve 1 remains closed. This
drains the vessel.

37
 2/2-Way DCV

Application of Two way DCV valves 38

2/2-Way DCV

39
 Three-Way Direction Control
 3/2-Way DCV (Normally Closed)
Three-way valves either block or allow flow from
an inlet to an outlet.
They also allow the outlet to flow back to the
tank when the pump is blocked, while a two-way
valve does not.
A three-way valve has three ports, namely, a
pressure inlet (P),an outlet to the system(A) and
a return to the tank(T).
In the normal position, the pressure port P is
blocked and outlet A is connected to the tank.
In the actuated position, the pressure port is
connected to the tank and the tank port is
40
blocked.
Three-Way Direction
Control

41
Three-Way Direction
Control

Ports A and T are connected when force is not

applied

Ports A and P are connected when force is

applied (valve actuated). 42
Three-Way Direction Con-
trol
3/2-Way DCV (Normally
Opened)
In the normal position, the valve
sends pressure to the outlet and
blocks the tank port in the normal
position.
In the actuated position, the pressure
port is blocked and the outlet is
vented to the tank.

43
Three-Way Direction Con-
trol

Ports A and P are connected when force is not ap-

plied (valve unactuated).

Ports A and T are connected when force is ap-

plied (valve actuated).
44
 Applications of 3/2 DCV
 3/2 DCV is used to control a single-acting cylinder.

Re- Ex-
tract tend

45
 Applications of 3/3 DCV
 Three-way, three-position DCV may be used to
fill and drain a vessel.
 In this application, the closed neutral is re-
quired to hold the vessel at some constant
fluid level

46
Hold Fill

47
Drain

48
Application of 3/3 valve –controlling a single-
acting cylinder.

49
50
 Application of 3/2 valve – controlling a
double-acting cylinder

51
 Four-Way Direction Control
Valves
 Four-way DCVs are capable of controlling dou-
ble-acting cylinders and bidirectional motors
 Four-way has four ports labeled P,T,A and B. P is
the pressure inlet and T is the return to the
tank;
 A and B are outlets to the system.
 In the normal position, pump flow is sent to out-
let B. Outlet A is connected to the tank.
 In the actuated position, the pump flow is sent
to port A and port B connected to tank T.
 In four-way DCVs, two flows of the fluids are
controlled at the same time, while two-way and
three-way DCVs control only one flow at a time.52
.
Four-way DCV
53
 4/2-way valve
 Application of 4/2-way valve to control a
double-acting cylinder
 Four-way DCV is used to control a double-acting cylinder.
 When the valve is in the normal position, the pump line is
connected to the end of the cylinder and the blind end is
connected to the tank. The cylinder retracts when the
cylinder is in this position.
 When the cylinder is fully retracted, the pump flow goes
over to the pressure relief valve and back to the tank.
 During extend, the pump line is connected to the blind
end of the cylinder and the rod end is connected to the
tank. This causes the cylinder to extend. When the cylin-
der is fully extended, the pump flow again goes over the
pressure relief valve to the tank.
54
Application of 4/2-way valve

Return Extend
55
Application of 4/2-way valve

56
 Application of 4/2-way valve

 Application of 4/2 DCV for controlling bi-direc-

tional motors
A four-way DCV is also used to control bi-di-
rectional hydraulic motors.
Unlike the cylinder, the motor rotates con-
tinuously and does not force the fluid over
the pressure relief valve.

57
 Application of 4/2-way valve

Application of 4/2-way valve – control of a bi-directional

motor
58
Four way, Three position
DCV

59
Four way, Three position
DCV

60
Four way, Three position
DCV

Mid Position Closed Cen-

tre

61
62
 Neutral Positions
 Four-way, two-position DCVs used in the previous appli-
cations are sometimes impractical because they con-
tinually send pump flow and pressure to the actuator in
one direction or the other.
 Many cylinder and motor applications require a third
DCV position or neutral in which the actuator is sub-
jected to pump pressure.
 Four-way three-position circuits are used in many hy-
draulic circuits. Many types of neutrals are available;
the most common of them are as follows:
 Closed neutral.
 Tandem neutral.
 Open neutral.
 Regenerative neutral.

63
 Application of 4/3 DCV
 Application of 4/3 DCV (closed neutral) for controlling a double-
acting cylinder:
 Valve used in circuit is spring centered i.e. always returns to
the neutral position automatically when not actuated.
 For closed neutral, the pump line is blocked so that the flow
must pass over the pressure relief valve when the pressure is
at the system maximum. This is wasteful thing and wasted
energy in the system goes as heat. This is undesirable be-
cause the hydraulic fluid becomes thinner (less viscous) as it
heats up and does not lubricate effectively.
 Outlet lines to the cylinder are blocked, so the cylinder is held
trimly in position. This is because the lines are full of hy-
draulic fluid that is incompressible.
 Just like cylinder, the motor is held tired in position when the
valve is in the neutral.

64
Application of 4/3 DCV

Application of 4/3-way valve – closed 65

neutral.
 Application of 4/3 DCV
 Application of 4/3 DCV (tandem neutral) for controlling a
double-acting cylinder:
 Here, the pump flow is allowed to flow back to the tank
through the DCV when it is in the neutral.
 This is a very desirable situation because only pressure
in the pump line is due to the flow resistance of the
lines and DCV.
 Keeps the pressure low when the valve is in the neu-
tral.
 In this situation, the system is said to be unloaded be-
cause the power consumption is reduced. This wastes
much less energy than does a closed central neutral
that forces the fluid over the pressure relief valve at a
high pressure. The cylinder is held in position with a
tandem neutral because the outlet port is blocked.
66
Application of 4/3 DCV

 Application of 4/3-way valve – tandem

neutral. 67
 Application of 4/3 DCV
 Application of 4/3 DCV (open neutral) for con-
trolling a double-acting cylinder:
Flow always follows the path of least resis-
tance, so the pump flow goes back to the
tank.
Because the outlets are also connected to
the tank, the cylinder floats when this valve
is in neutral.

68
 Application of 4/3-way valve – open
69
neutral
 Application of 4/3 DCV
 Application of 4/3 DCV (regenerative neutral) for controlling a
double-acting cylinder:
 Regenerative term is used to describe a system in which
the waste is feedback into the system to supplement the
input power.
 In this neutral, the pressure port is connected to both out-
lets and the tank port is blocked.
 When this valve is shifted to the neutral, the pump pressure
is applied to both sides of the piston. Because the piston
area in the rod side of the cylinder is smaller than that on
the blind side, there is a net force applied to extend the pis-
ton rod.
 As the piston extends, it forces the outlet flow from the rod
side back into the valve, where it combines with the pump
flow and goes to the blind end of the cylinder, causes the
considerable increase in cylinder speed.
 This is the purpose of the regenerative neutral that instead70
of sending the return flow back to the tank, it sends it into
 Application of 4/3-way valve – regenerative neutral.71
 Solenoid-Actuated Valve
 Solenoid-Actuated Valve
 When the electric coil (solenoid) is energized, it creates a
magnetic force that pulls the armature into the coil. This
caused the armature to push on the spool rod to move the
spool of the valve
 The advantages of a solenoid valve is that the switching
time is less. Like mechanical or pilot actuators, solenoids
work against a push pin, which in turn actuates a spool.
 There are two types of solenoid designs used to dissipate
the heat developed in electric current flowing in the coil.
 first type dissipates the heat into surrounding air and is re-
ferred to as an “air gap solenoid.”
 In the second type “wet pin solenoid,” the push pin con-
tains an internal passage way that allows the tank port oil
to communicate between the housing of the valve and the
housing of the solenoid. 72
Solenoid-Actuated Valve

Solenoid
valve.

73
Pilot-Operated Direction Control
Valves
 Pilot-operated DCVs are used in a hydraulic
system operating at a high pressure.
 Due to the high pressure of the system, the
force required to actuate the DCV is high.
 In such systems, operation at a high pressure
uses a small DCV that is actuated by either a
solenoid or manually.
 This pilot DCV in turn uses the pressure of the
system to actuate the main DCV.

74
Pilot-Operated Direction Control
Valves

 Pilot-operated
DCVs.
75
 Applications of Pilot-Operated Valve
to Control the Table of a Surface
Grinder

 Table of surface grinder is fitted with adjustable stops

 Pilot valve is a DCV that is actuated by a push button.
 During the operation when stop S1 hits push button B1,
the pilot valve sends a pilot signal to the main valve to
shift the configuration shown in the right envelope of
the main valve and actuates the double-acting cylinder
to extend.
 At the end of the extension, stroke S2 hits push button
B2, which causes the pilot signal directions to be re-
versed and the main valve moves to the configuration
shown in the left envelope of the main valve. This in
turn actuates the double-acting cylinder to retract.
 Thus, a pilot valve controls a main valve and the main
valve used to control the double-acting cylinder.

76
Application of pilot-operated DCVs.
77
 Piston Overlap
 Switching characteristics of a valve are de-
cided by the piston overlap.
Positive,
Negative and
Zero overlap.
 Overlap is defined as the longitudinal differ-
ence between the length of land and that of
the port.
 Magnitude of overlap changes during unoper-
ated and operated conditions.

78
 Piston Overlap
 Positive switching overlap:
 During the reversing procedure, all parts are briefly closed
against one another. Hence, switching imparts “pressure
peaks” and make hard advance.
 Negative switching overlap:
 During the reversing procedure, all ports are briefly inter-
connected. Pressure collapses briefly (load drops down).
 Zero overlap:
 Edges meet. Important for fast switching, short switching
paths.
 Pressure advanced opening: The pump is first of all connected
to the power component and then the power component is
discharged into the reservoir.
 Outlet advanced opening:The outlet of the power component
is first discharged to the reservoir before the inlet is con-
nected to the pump 79
 Piston Overlap

Positive overlap; (b) negative over- (c) zero overlap

lap;

80
Miscellaneous Industrial Cir-
cuits
 Weight pulls the cylinder down,
causing pressure in the rod end
line. The pressure causes a small
amount of leakage within the
DCV, and the cylinder begins to
creep downward. This can be
remedied by placing a pilot-to-
open check valve in the rod end
line, as shown.
 The pilot-to-open check valve
does not allow flow out of the rod
end of the cylinder unless
pressure is applied to the pilot
line, thereby preventing cylinder
creep.
Hold cylinder  Check acts to counterbalance 81
the weight.
 Miscellaneous Industrial
Circuits
 Raising and lowering large weights:

 When the DCV is

shifted to extend the
cylinder (lowering the
weight), the pump
pressure from the
blind end line holds
open the check and
allows flow to return
to the tank from the
blind end.

82
Extend cylinder
Miscellaneous Industrial Cir-
cuits

 When the cylinder is

retracted (the weight
is raised), flow from
the pump goes
through the check to
the rod end. The
check has no effect in
this direction.

Return cylinder
83
Use of shuttle valves to control single-act-
ing cylinders (return). 84
Use of shuttle valves to control single-act-
ing cylinders (forward). 85
Use of shuttle valves to control single-acting
cylinders (forward). 86
 Regenerative
circuit (position
1)

87
 Regenerative
circuit (position
2)

88
 Regenerative
circuit (position
3)

89
 DCV Specifications
 Most critical specification to select a DCV is
its maximum pressure and flow ratings.
 Ratings of 3000–5000 psi are typical for
High pressure rating, while lower value to
tank port has ratings of 500–1000 psi.
 Operating above the maximum pressure rat-
ing leads to increased leakage and also
permanent damage to the valve.

90
 DCV Specifications
 Flow rate is determined by the size of the valve
itself.
 Larger valves can handle larger flow rates but
are heavy and expensive.
 Standard valves have ratings 10–250 gpm.
 Operating a DCV above its maximum flow rating
most likely results in a large pressure drop across
the valve.
 Lost energy is converted into heat and leads to
increased component wear as the oil becomes
thinner and does not lubricate.
 Operating above the maximum flow rating leads
to permanent damage to the valve itself.
91
 DCV Specifications
 Another parameter is pressure drop across the
valve at a particular flow rate.
 Manufacturers typically provide graphs that relate
pressure drop to flow rate through valve for each
model.
 Separate curves are given for different port-to-
port connections. These curves represent data for
a particular fluid and viscosity, most commonly
standard hydraulic oil at around 20 centipoise.
Manufacturers often give a correction factor for
fluids at other viscosities.
 A fluid with a higher viscosity has a higher pres-
sure drop at a given flow rate because a thicker
fluid is more difficult to move through the valve.92
 Material for DCVs
 Following are the materials for DCVS:
Valve body:
Made of carbon steel, ductile cast iron
and stainless steel.
Aluminum alloys are also preferred for
low-pressure applications.
High-strength aluminum alloys are used
for aircraft applications.
Stainless steel is used for corrosive envi-
ronment.
Sometimes plastics are also used for
low-temperature applications.
93
 Material for DCVs
 Valve spool:
Made of hardened steel, ground and pol-
ished 15 Ni2Cr1Mo15 of hardness 60- 62
HRC, machined to 2–3 μm tolerance.
Valve spool bore clearance is usually in the
order of 5– 10 μm.

94