Annular Valve Seat Segmentation for High Flow Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional annular valves experience unstable behaviors and damage due to high flow rates, particularly in large-sized valves, leading to delays and unintended motions, which conventional designs fail to adequately address.
Innovation Solution
The annular valve design incorporates a seat portion with surface contact in multiple regions, a valve body with enhanced stiffness through a connection portion with a high spring constant, and a valve-body shroud portion to stabilize motion and prevent cavitation, featuring a valve-body shroud portion that covers the outer surface and forms a gap for smooth fluid flow.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the annular valve is designed for large size to handle high flow rates, then the flow capacity is improved, but unstable behaviors and valve damage occur due to high flow rates
Solution Approach 1:
The valve body is divided into multiple contact regions with the valve seat (first annular region at outer circumferential edge, second annular region at inner circumferential edge, and third annular region in between). This segmentation distributes the sealing load and stabilizes valve motion during operation, preventing unstable behaviors while maintaining large flow capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
Different annular regions of the valve body have different contact characteristics with the valve seat. The outer and inner annular regions provide sealing contact, while the intermediate region allows controlled clearance for stability. This local differentiation optimizes both sealing performance and motion stability under high flow conditions.
2Reliability
If sealing ridges are added to ensure secure closure, then the sealing performance is improved, but the valve structure becomes more complex and prone to damage
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using traditional sealing ridges, the invention segments the sealing function across three annular regions. The first and second annular regions at the edges provide sealing contact, eliminating the need for protruding sealing ridges while maintaining secure closure.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts and eliminates the sealing ridge structure from the valve body. By using annular contact regions at the edges, the harmful protruding structure is removed, reducing complexity and damage risk while preserving sealing functionality.
3Productivity
If the valve body is made larger to increase flow rate, then the productivity is improved, but shock and erosion increase causing valve damage
Solution Approach 1:
The segmented annular contact regions distribute the fluid flow impact across multiple zones rather than concentrating it at single sealing points. This reduces localized shock and erosion on the valve body while maintaining large flow capacity through the annular opening.
Solution Approach 2:
The valve body design creates different local characteristics: dense contact at outer and inner edges for sealing, and controlled clearance in the intermediate region for shock absorption. This local quality differentiation reduces erosion while preserving flow rate.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration stabilizes the valve's motion, reduces shock and erosion, and prevents cavitation, thereby restricting unstable behaviors and damage, ensuring stable operation even at high flow rates.
Implementation Method 1
the motion of the annular valve body is stabilized by the damping effect achieved by the squeeze film in the surface-contact region between the seat portion and the annular valve body
Implementation Method 2
a valve-body shroud portion that covers the outer surface and forms a gap for smooth fluid flow
Data Source
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AI summary
An annular valve (50, 70) includes an annular valve seat (51) including a seat portion (52) formed by an outer circumferential edge (34a) and an inner circumferential edge (34b) of an annular opening (34), a rod (53) configured to be movable along a direction orthogonal to the seat portion (52), an annular valve body (54) disposed so as to face the annular valve seat (51) and fixed to the rod (53), and a valve-body moving unit (55) for moving the annular valve body (54) between: a valve-closed position in which the annular valve body (54) contacts the seat portion (52) of the annular valve seat (51) so that the annular opening (34) is closed by the annular valve body (54); and a valve-open position in which the annular valve body (54) is positioned away from the seat portion (52) of the annular valve seat (51) so that the annular opening (34) is open. The seat portion (52) of the annular valve seat (51) is configured to be in surface contact with the annular valve body (54) in the valve-closed position in a first annular region (52a) including the outer circumferential edge (34a) of the annular opening (34) and in a second annular region (52b) including the inner circumferential edge (34a) of the annular opening (34).