A study on cycle performance variation of a linear compressor considering valve behavior

Abstract

The suction valve of a linear compressor is a reed valve and the discharge valve is a circular plate valve. The reed valve moves in three dimensions while the discharge valve translates in one dimension. Thus, the reed valve needs a FSI model but the discharge valve can use a rigid body model. In this study, both the FSI model and the rigid body model were applied to the suction valve to find out if they are appropriate for the cycle analysis of the linear compressor. The effects of the valve dynamics on the cooling capacity, the compression power, and EER were investigated for each valve model. The results show that both models are in good agreement with the experiments although the FSI model is more appropriate for the prediction of the valve lift or closing time. However, the computation time of the FSI model is approximately 10 times greater than that of the rigid body model. Therefore, if the structural analysis of the valve is not necessary, the rigid body model can be effectively used to predict the cycle performance such as EER or compression work.