Low-Inertia Check Valve Flapper for Reduced Impact Loading
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Solution Overview
Problem
Check valve flapper components often suffer damage due to high force impacts during closing and opening events, leading to premature failure of valve plates, seats, or stops, as existing designs do not effectively manage the rapid movement and pressure changes.
Innovation Solution
A single homogeneous flapper component with a filler portion featuring a plurality of voids, reducing its density and moment of inertia, is used, which is pivotally movable between closed and open positions, and manufactured using additive techniques like powder bed fusion to minimize impact forces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the flapper valve is made with solid homogeneous material, then the valve plate strength is improved, but the impact force during closing events increases causing damage to valve components
Solution Approach 1:
The flapper valve incorporates a porous filler material with controlled voids throughout its structure. This porous construction reduces the overall density and moment of inertia of the flapper, thereby decreasing the impact force during closing events while maintaining sufficient structural strength through the distributed porous network.
Solution Approach 2:
The flapper valve is constructed as a composite structure combining a valve plate portion made of wear-resistant material with a filler portion containing voids. This composite approach allows the valve plate to maintain strength for sealing while the void-containing filler reduces overall mass and impact forces.
2Force
If the flapper valve density is reduced to lower impact forces, then the damage risk to valve components is reduced, but the valve plate strength may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The flapper valve employs local quality by making different portions serve different functions: the valve plate portion is made of wear-resistant material optimized for strength and sealing, while the filler portion contains voids optimized for reducing mass and impact forces. Each region has properties tailored to its specific functional requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The composite construction combines materials and structures with different properties - the dense, strong valve plate for sealing and the porous, low-density filler for impact reduction - allowing the overall assembly to achieve both strength and low impact force characteristics simultaneously.
3Force
If additive manufacturing is used to create the flapper valve with voids, then the moment of inertia is reduced lowering impact forces, but the manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Additive manufacturing enables precise control of the void distribution, size, and density parameters within the filler portion. By digitally designing and manufacturing the complex porous structure, the moment of inertia can be optimized to reduce impact forces while the additive process itself handles the manufacturing complexity that would be difficult with traditional methods.
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
The reduced density and stiffness of the flapper valve result in lower impact forces during operation, reducing the risk of damage to the valve components and extending their lifespan.
Implementation Method 1
The filler portion has a plurality of voids such that a density of the flapper is lower than if the voids were not present
Data Source
Figure 1A~1C
Figure 2~5
AI summary
A check valve (19) includes a valve seat (26) defining an aperture (28) and a seating surface. A flapper (32) is a single homogeneous component having a contact surface and a filler portion. The flapper is pivotally movable relative to the valve seat between a valve closed position in which the contact surface is sealably engaged to the seating surface thereby occluding flow through the aperture, and a valve open position in which the contact surface is a distance from the seating surface. The filler portion has a plurality of voids such that a density of the flapper is lower than if the voids were not present. A method is also disclosed.