Optimization Algorithm and Joint Simulation to Micro Thermal Deformation Using Temperature Measurement in the Orifice of Hydraulic Valve

When exposed to viscous heating, hydraulic valve orifices experience thermal deformation, which causes spool clamping and actuator disorder. Quantitative research on thermal deformation can help reveal the micro-mechanism of spool clamping. In this study, miniature thermocouples are embedded into a valve orifice with an opening size of 1 mm to measure temperature distribution. An optimization algorithm based on measurement data (M-OA) for the thermal deformation of the valve orifice is proposed. The temperature and thermal deformation of the valve orifice are calculated through Fluent and Workbench joint simulation, with the measurement data serving as boundary conditions. Results show that, for a valve orifice with a valve wall length of 18 mm, when the temperature of the sharp edge is at 60 °C, thermal deformation measures 7.7 μm via observation and 7.62803 μm via M-OA, indicating that the M-OA method is reliable. The results of the joint simulation can be accepted because measurements of temperature reached an accuracy rate of 95%, and that of deformation reached 82.7%. A large drop in pressure led to a rapid increase in temperature, causing serious thermal deformation of the valve orifice. With an inlet pressure of 3 MPa, the temperature of the sharp edge reached 72.9 °C within 110 min, and radial thermal deformation can reach 8.3 μm. Such deformation poses great risk of spool clamping for a spool valve of Φ36 mm.