Ball valve and manufacturing method thereof
By forming a reinforced layer with refined grains on the surface of the aluminum alloy valve core ball, the problems of heavy weight, high cost and low hardness of traditional stainless steel valve core balls are solved, achieving lightweighting and improved durability of ball valves.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- HANGZHOU SANHUA RES INST CO LTD
- Filing Date
- 2024-10-15
- Publication Date
- 2026-04-17
AI Technical Summary
Traditional stainless steel valve core materials are expensive and heavy, which is not conducive to energy conservation, emission reduction and lightweight design. In addition, its low hardness makes it difficult to meet the durability and internal leakage requirements of ball valves.
Using aluminum alloy as the base material, a reinforcing layer is formed on the surface of the valve core ball through microsphere shot peening. The grain size of the reinforcing layer is smaller than that of the base material, and rare earth elements are combined to refine the grains, thereby improving hardness and wear resistance.
This achieves lightweighting and cost reduction of the valve core ball, while improving service life and wear resistance, meeting the durability and internal leakage requirements of ball valves.
Smart Images
Figure CN121876186A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This application belongs to the field of fluid control device technology, specifically, it relates to a ball valve and its manufacturing method. Background Technology
[0002] Ball valves are essential multi-functional and reliable flow control devices in industrial applications. The valve core ball is the key component that controls the opening and closing of the ball valve to precisely control the flow rate. Traditionally, valve core balls are mostly made of stainless steel, which, while possessing high strength and corrosion resistance, is costly and heavy, hindering energy conservation, emission reduction, and lightweight design. In recent years, with the development of materials science, aluminum alloys have gradually gained attention due to their lightweight, high strength, good thermal conductivity, and corrosion resistance. However, in related technologies, valve core balls still suffer from the drawback of relatively low hardness. Summary of the Invention
[0003] The purpose of this application is to provide a ball valve, including a valve core ball and a valve seat, wherein the valve core ball and the valve seat are fitted together, the valve core ball includes a substrate, and at least a portion of the surface of the substrate has a reinforcing layer; both the reinforcing layer and the substrate include grains, and the average grain size of the reinforcing layer is smaller than the average grain size of the substrate.
[0004] In this application, the valve core ball includes a substrate, at least a portion of the surface of the substrate has a reinforcing layer, the average grain size of the reinforcing layer is smaller than the average grain size of the substrate, thereby increasing the surface hardness of the valve core ball and thus increasing the service life of the valve core ball.
[0005] This application also provides a method for manufacturing a ball valve, the ball valve including a valve core ball, the manufacturing method comprising the following steps:
[0006] Provide valve core ball base;
[0007] The valve core ball substrate is surface treated using a microsphere shot peening process to form a reinforcing layer on at least a portion of the surface of the valve core ball substrate. The average grain size of the reinforcing layer is smaller than the average grain size of the substrate.
[0008] In this application, a reinforcing layer is formed on at least a portion of the surface of the substrate by a microsphere shot peening process, and the average grain size of the reinforcing layer is smaller than the average grain size of the substrate, thereby increasing the surface hardness of the valve core ball and thus increasing the service life of the valve core ball. Attached Figure Description
[0009] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of one embodiment of the ball valve in this application;
[0010] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of the valve core ball and valve seat in this application;
[0011] Figure 3 This is a cross-sectional structural schematic diagram of one embodiment of the ball valve in this application;
[0012] Figure 4 This is an exploded structural diagram of one embodiment of the ball valve in this application;
[0013] Figure 5 This is a surface morphology diagram of the reinforcing layer of the valve core ball in this application;
[0014] Figure 6 The image shows the surface morphology of the reinforcing layer thickness of the valve core ball in this application.
[0015] Figure 7 This is a surface crystalline phase structure diagram of the valve core ball in this application;
[0016] Figure 8 This is a surface morphology diagram of the valve core ball in Embodiment 1 of this application;
[0017] Figure 9 This is a surface topography view of the valve seat in Embodiment 1 of this application;
[0018] Figure 10 This is a surface morphology diagram of the valve core ball in Embodiment 2 of this application;
[0019] Figure 11 This is a surface topography diagram of the valve seat in Embodiment 2 of this application. Detailed Implementation
[0020] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this application clearer, the technical solutions of this application will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the embodiments of this application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of this application, not all of them. Based on the technical solutions and embodiments provided in this application, all other technical solutions obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this application. The terminology used in the embodiments of this application is for the purpose of describing specific embodiments only and is not intended to limit this application. The singular forms "a," "described," and "the" used in this application are also intended to include the plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
[0021] Where specific conditions are not specified in the implementation methods, conventional conditions or conditions recommended by the manufacturer shall apply. Reagents or instruments used in this application whose manufacturers are not specified are all commercially available conventional products. The endpoints and any values of the ranges disclosed in this application are not limited to the precise ranges or values; these ranges or values should be understood to include values close to these ranges or values. For numerical ranges, the endpoint values of each range, the endpoint values of each range, or individual point values, and individual point values can be combined with each other to obtain one or more new numerical ranges.
[0022] Ball valves are essential multi-functional and reliable flow control devices in industrial applications, such as controlling the flow of refrigerant. In related technologies, the valve core ball in ball valves is mostly made of stainless steel. While this material offers high strength and corrosion resistance, it is also costly and heavy, hindering energy conservation, emission reduction, and lightweight design. Therefore, selecting suitable materials is a crucial step in the research of valve core balls. Besides meeting the requirements for lightweight design, energy conservation, emission reduction, and cost reduction, ball valves must also meet internal leakage standards. Specifically, the durability index of the ball valve should be 100,000 cycles, and the internal leakage rate of fluids such as refrigerant should be less than 50 mL / min. Furthermore, the valve core ball must be able to withstand high and low temperatures and pressures, such as those of refrigerant. Therefore, the valve core ball needs excellent mechanical properties to ensure a long service life and meet the requirements for use in ball valves, thereby reducing internal leakage.
[0023] Figures 1 to 4 The schematic diagram shown is a ball valve conforming to this application, including a valve core ball 101 and a valve seat. The valve core ball 101 and the valve seat are fitted together. The valve core ball 101 includes a substrate, and at least a portion of the surface of the substrate has a reinforcing layer. The average grain size of the reinforcing layer is smaller than the average grain size of the substrate.
[0024] In this application, the valve core ball 101 includes a substrate, and at least a portion of the surface of the substrate has a reinforcing layer. The average grain size of the reinforcing layer is smaller than the average grain size of the substrate, which improves the surface hardness of the valve core ball 101 and thus improves the service life of the valve core ball 101.
[0025] like Figure 6As shown, in some embodiments, the surface of the base A of the valve core ball has a reinforcing layer B, wherein the thickness of the reinforcing layer is 35-50μm, specifically selected from 38μm, 40μm, 42μm, 44μm, 46μm, 48μm, or other values within the range, which are not limited here. The thickness of the reinforcing layer has a certain influence on the hardness and wear resistance of the valve core ball. Generally speaking, the higher the thickness of the reinforcing layer, the better its wear resistance and the higher the surface fatigue strength. However, the higher the thickness of the reinforcing layer, the lower the wear resistance may occur. Therefore, a reinforcing layer of appropriate thickness improves the hardness of the valve core ball, giving it better wear resistance, thereby improving the durability of the ball valve and reducing refrigerant leakage.
[0026] In some embodiments, the valve core ball is made of aluminum alloy, that is, both the reinforcing layer and the substrate are made of aluminum alloy, and the aluminum alloy is selected from at least one of 3-series aluminum alloy, 6-series aluminum alloy and 7-series aluminum alloy; it should be understood that the 3-series aluminum alloy, 6-series aluminum alloy and 7-series aluminum alloy in this application are all compositions specified in GB / T 3190-2020; the materials of the reinforcing layer and the substrate in this application are selected from at least one of 3-series aluminum alloy, 6-series aluminum alloy and 7-series aluminum alloy, and the average grain size of the reinforcing layer is smaller than the average grain size of the substrate, which improves the surface hardness of the valve core ball 101, thereby improving the service life of the valve core ball 101. On the other hand, the use of aluminum alloy material reduces costs and makes the valve core ball lighter.
[0027] In some embodiments, the aluminum alloy also includes rare earth elements selected from at least one of lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, erbium, and scandium. Adding appropriate amounts of rare earth elements to the aluminum alloy not only refines the grain size but also reduces the harmful effects of trace impurities, improves the alloy's thermal stability, and enhances its mechanical properties. Rare earth elements have much larger atomic radii than aluminum, and their crystal structure is a close-packed hexagonal lattice. Rare earth elements are almost insoluble in the aluminum matrix, and due to their high electronegativity, they possess high chemical permeability. Rare earth elements are highly reactive; they can largely accumulate at the grain boundaries of the aluminum phase, filling surface defects and forming a surface-active film. This effectively inhibits the growth of columnar crystals and secondary dendrites, thereby promoting the formation of fine equiaxed crystals. The type and content of added rare earth elements have a significant impact on the aluminum alloy matrix. When the rare earth element content is low, the grain refinement may not be achieved. When the rare earth element content is high, the grains will gradually increase in size, and the grain refinement effect tends to saturate. That is, after a certain optimal addition amount, further increasing the rare earth element content cannot significantly further refine the grains. Excessive rare earth elements may form coarse compound phases, which are not conducive to grain refinement and may instead lead to grain growth or other adverse effects. Furthermore, excessive rare earth elements may form a large number of second phases, which can accumulate at grain boundaries or other locations, potentially increasing the alloy's brittleness and reducing its mechanical properties. When designing high-performance aluminum alloys, it is necessary to consider not only the grain refinement effect but also the overall performance of the alloy, such as strength and machinability. Excessive rare earth elements may negatively impact these properties, therefore, the optimal addition amount needs to be determined through experimentation and optimization. In short, the addition amount of rare earth elements in aluminum alloys requires precise experimentation and optimization to find a suitable addition range that maximizes the grain refinement effect while maintaining the optimization of other properties. In this application, adding a specific proportion of rare earth elements to the aluminum alloy can refine the grain size of the aluminum alloy and improve the hardness of the valve core ball. Compared to stainless steel valve core balls, this allows the valve core ball to maintain good overall performance while being lighter, and also reduces costs.
[0028] In this application, the aluminum alloy contains 0.1-0.35 wt% rare earth elements, specifically selected from 0.15 wt%, 0.2 wt%, 0.25 wt%, 0.3 wt%, and 0.35 wt%, or other values within the range, which are not limited here. Rare earth elements can mostly accumulate at the grain boundaries of the aluminum phase in the aluminum alloy, filling the surface defects of the aluminum phase, forming a surface active film, effectively inhibiting the growth of columnar crystals and secondary dendrites, thereby promoting the formation of fine equiaxed crystals, improving the mechanical properties of the valve core ball, reducing the weight of the valve core ball, and also improving the wear resistance of the valve core ball, so that the ball valve has a longer service life.
[0029] In some embodiments, the rare earth element is selected from scandium (Sc). Adding scandium to the aluminum alloy can form fine Al3Sc precipitates. Both the Al3Sc precipitates and the α-Al matrix have face-centered cubic lattice structures, resulting in low mismatch and low interfacial energy between them, which facilitates heterogeneous nucleation. Therefore, the Al3Sc precipitates can act as heterogeneous nucleation sites in the aluminum alloy to generate more fine grains, thereby achieving the effect of grain refinement. Furthermore, the Al3Sc precipitates can be distributed in the α-Al matrix as fine particles, playing a role in dispersion strengthening, which in turn gives the valve core ball higher hardness and makes the valve core ball lighter.
[0030] In some embodiments, the aluminum alloy composition further includes: silicon (Si): ≤0.35wt%, iron (Fe): ≤0.45wt%, copper (Cu): 0.25-0.45wt%, manganese (Mn): 0.20-0.40wt%, magnesium (Mg): 1.2-2.2wt%, zinc (Zn): 5.2-7.2wt%, zirconium (Zr): 0.07-0.15wt%, titanium (Ti): 0.02-0.1wt%, and the balance Al. The aluminum alloy in this application contains specific amounts of each metallic element, which, while ensuring the lightweight of the valve core ball, still possesses good mechanical properties. The valve core ball exhibits good wear resistance during prolonged use, reducing internal leakage of the ball valve and meeting the usage requirements of the ball valve. The aluminum alloy in this application may be a melt-mixed mixture of various raw material components, or it may be melt-mixed in an alloying manner as is well known in the art, in order to obtain the aluminum alloy containing specific content and composition in this application; in addition, it should be noted that "wt%" refers to weight percentage or mass percentage.
[0031] In some implementations, the roughness Ra of the reinforcing layer is less than 0.5, meaning the surface roughness of the valve core ball is low. This reduces surface machining defects, improves tribological properties, and enhances the wear resistance of the valve core ball. Specifically, for example... Figure 5 As shown, it should be noted that Figure 5 and Figure 6 All measurements were obtained using an optical microscope.
[0032] In some embodiments, the average grain size of the reinforcing layer is 3-6 μm, while the average grain size of the matrix is 10-25 μm. The lower average grain size of the reinforcing layer compared to the matrix increases its hardness, resulting in better wear resistance. In some embodiments, the crystalline phase structure of the reinforcing layer exhibits an irregular lamellar structure, containing crystalline phases including an α-Al matrix, a second phase such as AlFeSiMn phase, and a dispersed phase MgZn2. The dispersed phase plays a crucial reinforcing role in the aluminum alloy valve core ball. By dispersing within the α-Al matrix, it hinders dislocation movement, thereby increasing the strength of the valve core ball and providing better wear resistance, thus extending the service life of the ball valve. The surface crystalline phase structures of matrix A and reinforcing layer B, as measured by scanning electron microscopy, are shown in the following figures. Figure 7 As shown.
[0033] It should be noted that the average grain size test method of this application involves metallographic preparation of the valve core ball aluminum alloy sample, including steps such as cutting, mounting, grinding, polishing and etching, to obtain a clear microstructure image; observation using a scanning electron microscope, and measurement of the size of the selected grains using measuring tools (such as a ruler or measuring software). Ten grains are randomly selected under the scanning electron microscope to ensure that the selected grains are representative and to avoid selecting grains that are too large or too small, abnormally shaped or located at the boundary; the sizes of the 10 grains are added together and then divided by 10 to obtain the average grain size.
[0034] This application also provides a method for manufacturing a ball valve, the ball valve including a valve core ball, the manufacturing method including the following steps:
[0035] S1. Provide valve core ball base;
[0036] S2. The valve core ball substrate is surface treated using a microsphere shot peening process to form a reinforcing layer on at least a portion of the surface of the valve core ball substrate; wherein the average grain size of the reinforcing layer is smaller than the average grain size of the substrate.
[0037] In this application, a reinforcing layer is formed on at least a portion of the surface of the valve core ball substrate by a microsphere shot peening process, and the average grain size of the reinforcing layer is smaller than the average grain size of the substrate, thereby increasing the surface hardness of the valve core ball and thus increasing the service life of the valve core ball.
[0038] In some embodiments, the valve core ball substrate can be obtained by conventional machining or by other processing methods; the valve core ball substrate is made of aluminum alloy, which includes rare earth elements, and the rare earth elements are selected from at least one of lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, erbium and scandium; specifically, scandium.
[0039] Microsphere shot peening uses compressed air to accelerate microspheres to a high speed, which then impacts the surface of the component being treated, forming a high-hardness reinforced layer. In this application, the valve core ball substrate is an aluminum alloy, and the main phase of the aluminum alloy matrix is the α-Al phase. The shot peening process does not change the phase composition of the aluminum alloy matrix, but it introduces a surface hardening effect. During the shot peening process, the high-speed sprayed microspheres apply high pressure to the surface of the valve core ball substrate, causing plastic deformation. This deformation forms a compressive stress layer on the surface of the valve core ball and refines the grains. The surface hardness after shot peening is significantly improved. Simultaneously, in... The surface can form a fine, recessed oil layer to reduce the coefficient of friction, enhance the material's wear resistance, and increase the residual negative stress on the surface, thereby improving the fatigue resistance of the surface layer and giving the valve core ball a longer service life. In addition, during the shot peening process, the valve core ball substrate surface undergoes plastic deformation due to the impact of the shot. This deformation results in a very good bond between the surface layer and the substrate. In other words, by introducing high strain and compressive stress during the shot peening process, a good bond between the reinforced layer and the substrate is ensured, and the formation of the reinforced layer does not lead to interface failure.
[0040] In addition, in the microsphere shot peening process, the shot peening material, shot size, shot pressure and other experimental parameters are all key factors that have an important influence on the surface hardness and morphology. Therefore, the selection of appropriate shot peening material, shot size, shot pressure and other experimental parameters has a key impact on the physicochemical properties of the valve core ball.
[0041] In some embodiments, the microspheres used in the microsphere shot peening process are tungsten gold microspheres; the average particle size of the tungsten gold microspheres is 0.025-0.05 mm, and the density of the tungsten gold microspheres is ≥15 g / cm³. 3 The shot peening pressure is 0.1-0.5MPa, the peening distance is 120-180mm, and the coverage is 100-200%.
[0042] In some embodiments, after surface treatment of the valve core ball substrate using microsphere peening, the following step S3 is further included: polishing the valve core ball substrate after surface treatment using microsphere peening.
[0043] In some embodiments, the polishing material used in the polishing process is a non-metallic elastic pellet, such as glass or ceramic, with a polishing flow rate of 1-10 mL / min, a polishing speed of 50-70 r / min, and a polishing distance of 30-50 mm. Polishing can further optimize the surface morphology of the valve core ball and reduce its roughness.
[0044] In some embodiments, the ball valve includes a first valve seat 102 and a second valve seat 103, with a valve core ball 101 located between the first valve seat 102 and the second valve seat 103, and the valve core ball 101 is fitted to the first valve seat 102 and the second valve seat 103; the valve core ball 101 has a through first through hole 1011, and both the first valve seat 102 and the second valve seat 103 have through second through holes 1021; the ball valve has a first state and a second state, in the first state, at least part of the first through hole 1011 and the second through hole 1021 are connected, and in the second state, the first through hole 1011 and the second through hole 1021 are not connected. In some embodiments, the ball valve includes a valve body 104, the valve body 104 having a chamber 1041, with the valve core ball 101, the first valve seat 102, and the second valve seat 103 all located within the chamber 1041.
[0045] In some embodiments, the ball valve further includes a shaft seal seat 13, a valve stem 14, and a control unit 15. The shaft seal seat 13 is fixedly connected to the valve body, the control unit 15 is fitted into the shaft seal seat 13, and the valve stem 14 passes through the shaft seal seat 13 and is fixedly connected to the control unit 15. The valve core ball 101 has a groove 1010, and the valve stem 14 is fixed or confined within the groove 1010. The valve stem 14 can be used to control the rotation of the valve core ball 101, and can drive the valve core ball 101 to rotate clockwise or counterclockwise. That is, the valve stem 14 can be used to control the ball valve to be in a first state or a second state.
[0046] In some embodiments, the ball valve includes a cover 16 and a seal 17. The cover 16 is fixedly connected to the valve body 104 and connected to the second valve seat 103. The cover 16 has a third through hole 1031 that extends through the cover 16. At least a portion of the second through hole 1021 communicates with the third through hole 1031. The seal 17 is connected between the second valve seat 103 and the cover 16 to reduce internal leakage of fluid. The first through hole 1011, the second through hole 1021, and the third through hole 1031 can all be used to flow fluid.
[0047] It should be noted that the valve seat material in this application is a thermoplastic polymer material, specifically polyetheretherketone (PEEK), and the sealing element 17 is an O-ring, which can be selected from rubber or graphite materials; the ball valve includes, but is not limited to, floating ball valves, fixed ball valves, three-way ball valves, electric ball valves, etc. The ball valve can be used to control various media fluids, including but not limited to refrigerants, water, oil, gas, steam, etc., wherein the refrigerant includes, but is not limited to, R22, R32, R290, R410A, etc.
[0048] In some embodiments, the hardness of the reinforcing layer in this application is ≥240Hv. The ball valve in this application can be used to control the flow rate of refrigerant. The ball valve has undergone 100,000 cycles of durability testing, and the refrigerant internal leakage data is not higher than 36mL / min, which meets the usage requirements of the ball valve.
[0049] The manufacturing method of the ball valve is described below with reference to specific embodiments.
[0050] Example 1
[0051] A method for manufacturing a ball valve, the ball valve including a valve core ball, the manufacturing method comprising the following steps:
[0052] S1. Fix the aluminum alloy substrate on a machine tool, select a suitable cutting tool to machine the aluminum alloy substrate to obtain the valve core ball substrate. The components and contents of the aluminum alloy are as follows: Si: 0.08wt%, Fe: 0.10wt%, Cu: 0.33wt%, Mn: 0.33wt%, Mg: 1.95wt%, Zn: 5.91wt%, Zr: 0.82wt%, Ti: 0.06wt%, Sc: 0.10wt%, balance Al.
[0053] S2. Inspect and repair the valve core ball base to ensure that the size and shape of the valve core ball meet the requirements of the ball valve.
[0054] Example 2
[0055] A method for manufacturing a ball valve, the ball valve including a valve core ball, the manufacturing method comprising the following steps:
[0056] Step S1 is the same as in Example 1;
[0057] S2. The valve core ball substrate is placed in a shot peening device for microsphere shot peening treatment. In this process, the microspheres are tungsten gold microspheres; the average particle size of the tungsten gold microspheres is 0.035 mm, and the density is 20 g / cm³. 3 The shot peening pressure was 0.3 MPa, the peening distance was 150 mm, and the coverage was 200%.
[0058] S3. The valve core ball substrate, after surface treatment using microsphere shot peening, is polished. The polishing material used is zirconium oxide with a density of 5.85 g / cm³. 3 The polishing physical flow rate was 4 mL / min, the polishing speed was 60 r / min, and the polishing distance was 35 mm.
[0059] Test methods
[0060] ① Hardness test
[0061] The hardness of the valve core ball in Examples 1 and 2 was tested using a nanoindentation instrument;
[0062] ②Durability
[0063] The inlet and outlet of the ball valve were connected in parallel by pipes. The control part of the ball valve was rotated clockwise and counterclockwise for 15 seconds. The inlet of the ball valve was connected to the inlet of the durability test bench, and air at 2 MPa was introduced. The outlet was connected to the outlet of the durability test bench. The internal leakage of the ball valve in Example 1 after 10,000 cycles and the ball valve in Example 2 after 100,000 cycles were tested and are shown in Table 1. The surface morphology of the valve core ball and valve seat after the durability test was tested using a scanning electron microscope.
[0064] Table 1. Test results of the surface hardness of the valve core ball and the internal leakage of the ball valve.
[0065] Group Hardness (Hv) Internal leakage rate (mL / min) Example 1 170 118.5 Example 2 245 36
[0066] As can be seen from Table 1, the surface hardness of the valve core ball in Example 2 is higher than 200 Hv, which is much higher than that in Example 1. Furthermore, the internal leakage of the ball valve in Example 2 after 100,000 cycles is less than 50 mL / min, which meets the requirements for the use of the ball valve. In contrast, the internal leakage of the ball valve in Example 1 after 10,000 cycles is higher than 115 mL / min, which is much higher than that in Example 2 and does not meet the requirements for the use of the ball valve.
[0067] Figure 8 , Figure 9 The images show the surface morphology of the valve core ball and the valve seat after 10,000 cycles of durability testing in Example 1, respectively. Figure 10 and Figure 11 These are surface morphology images of the valve core ball and the valve seat after 100,000 cycles of durability testing in Example 2, respectively; Figure 8 and Figure 9 It can be seen that the surface of the valve core ball is severely worn, and the wear marks on the valve seat are higher than 1mm; Figure 10 and Figure 11 It can be seen that after 100,000 cycles of durability testing, the surface of the valve core ball still has little wear, and the wear mark on the valve seat is less than 1 mm. Therefore, the refrigerant valve obtained using the technical solution of this application has excellent wear resistance and durability.
[0068] In summary, this application employs microsphere shot peening to strengthen the surface of the valve core ball, thereby increasing its surface hardness and giving it excellent wear resistance. This, in turn, improves the durability of the ball valve, resulting in lower internal leakage and better meeting the usage requirements of the ball valve.
[0069] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate this application and are not intended to limit the technical solutions described in this application. The understanding of this application should be based on those skilled in the art. Although this specification has described this application in detail with reference to the above embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still make modifications or equivalent substitutions to this application. All technical solutions and improvements that do not depart from the spirit and scope of this application should be covered within the scope of the claims of this application.
Claims
1. A ball valve, the ball valve comprising a valve core ball (101) and a valve seat (102, 103), the valve core ball (101) and the valve seat (102, 103) being fitted together, characterized in that: The valve core ball (101) includes a substrate, at least a portion of the surface of which has a reinforcing layer; the average grain size of the reinforcing layer is smaller than the average grain size of the substrate.
2. The ball valve according to claim 1, characterized in that The thickness of the reinforcing layer is 35-50 μm.
3. The ball valve according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, Both the reinforcing layer and the substrate are made of aluminum alloy, and the aluminum alloy is selected from at least one of 3-series aluminum alloy, 6-series aluminum alloy and 7-series aluminum alloy.
4. The ball valve according to claim 3, characterized in that The aluminum alloy also includes rare earth elements; the rare earth elements are selected from at least one of lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, erbium and scandium.
5. The ball valve according to claim 4, characterized in that The content of the rare earth elements is 0.1-0.35 wt%.
6. The ball valve of claim 5, wherein, The aluminum alloy further comprises: Si: ≤0.35wt%, Fe: ≤0.45wt%, Cu: 0.25-0.45wt%, Mn: 0.20-0.40wt%, Mg: 1.2-2.2wt%, Zn: 5.2-7.2wt%, Zr: 0.07-0.15wt%, Ti: 0.02-0.1wt%, and the balance Al.
7. The ball valve according to any of claims 1-2 and 4-6, characterized in that: The roughness Ra of the strengthening layer is less than 0.5; the crystal structure of the strengthening layer exhibits an irregular lamellar morphology.
8. A method of manufacturing a ball valve comprising a valve core ball, characterized by, The manufacturing method includes the following steps: Provide valve core ball base; The valve core ball substrate is surface treated using a microsphere shot peening process to form a reinforcing layer on at least a portion of the surface of the valve core ball substrate. The average grain size of the reinforcing layer is smaller than the average grain size of the substrate.
9. The manufacturing method according to claim 8, characterized in that, In the microsphere shot peening process, the microspheres are tungsten gold microspheres; the average particle size of the tungsten gold microspheres is 0.025-0.05 mm.
10. The manufacturing method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that, After surface treatment of the valve core ball substrate using microsphere shot peening, the following steps are also included: The valve core ball substrate, after surface treatment using microsphere shot peening, is then polished.