Novel Ball Type Fluid Components

Abstract

A unique fluid oscillator and a timed valve have been designed and they both incorporate a ball in a simple cone-shaped cavity. The design of the fluid oscillator is based on the fluid dynamic force and inertia effect of the fluid in the discharge tube. The general form of the oscillator consists of a cone-shaped chamber having a fluid inlet from the top and two outlet discharge tubes from the bottom. A ball is placed inside the chamber controlling the water discharge through these tubes. A wide range of frequencies can be obtained by simply varying the outlet tube diameter and length. An analytical model has been developed using momentum exchange analysis and the results substantiated by experimental data. The operating principle of the timed valve is based on the vortex flow phenomenon. The vortex timed valve consists of a cone-shaped cavity with tangential inlet and a ball seating above a central exit port. In operation, the ball is first pushed away from its seating position and the time interval in which the ball will again move back to its original position is dependent on the inlet swirl flow condition.