Numerical simulation of the temperature rise and cavitation flow in a hydraulic slide valve

Abstract

The cylindrical slide valve is an essential component of the hydraulic system, which regulates and controls the oil. When hydraulic oil flows through the slide valve port, cavitation often occurs due to a sharp pressure drop, affecting the hydraulic system's stability. Therefore, the study of cavitation phenomena in valves is an important topic. This paper conducts a transient numerical simulation of the three-dimensional multi-physics field in the valve under different inlet pressure and oil temperature conditions and studies the effects of different inlet pressures and oil temperatures on the oil's temperature rise and cavitation phenomenon at the valve port. The results show that under high-pressure differences, the temperature of hydraulic oil rises significantly. In addition, the increase in oil temperature will significantly affect the cavitation intensity in the valve. When the oil temperature is 330 K, the severity of cavitation in the valve under a pressure of 5 MPa is roughly the same as when the oil temperature is 300 K, and the inlet pressure is 15 MPa. Under different inlet pressure and oil temperature conditions, the pressure pulsation in the slide valve is also very different. Under certain working conditions, the peak power spectrum density of the pressure pulsation is close to the hydraulic natural frequency, which may cause the slide valve to self-excited oscillation. Therefore, it is recommended that under actual working conditions, the oil temperature should be lowered in time to reduce the adverse effects of valve port cavitation.