Performance Investigation of a Cylindrical Valve Featuring Electro-Rheological Fluids

전기유동유체를 이용한 실린더형 밸브의 성능 고찰

A multi-cylindrical hydraulic valve incorporating with an electro-rheological(ER) fluid is developed in this study. Field-dependent Bingham properties of the ER fluid are exploited to devise the valve system which features fast system response as well as simple mechanism. The fast response is accrued from almost instant response characteristics of the ER fluid itself, and the mechanism configuration is simplified since no nechanically moving parts are required. The material properties of the ER fluids to be utilized for modeling of the proposed valve system are firstly tested with a couette-type electroviscometer. The design and manufacturing processes are then undertaken on the basis of model parameters. The performance characteristics of the valve system are evaluated in terms of pressure variations with respect to the intensity of employed electric fields and flow rates.