2012 19th International Conference on Mechatronics and Machine Vision in Practice (M2VIP), 28-30th Nov 2012, Auckland, New-Zealand

Simulation and Experimental Research on the

Response of a Novel High-pressure Pneumatic
Pilot-operated Solenoid Valve
Dai Dong Xiaoning Li
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology,Nanjing 210094,China
Email: dongdai1986@163.com

AbstractThe high-pressure, fast response and large shown in Fig.1, which consists of two parts: the pilot valve
flow rate pneumatic solenoid valve is an important and the piston structured main valve. The sealing ring
component for driving control system used in special
field. Thus, a novel high-pressure pneumatic embedded in the main valve core is made of nylon which is
pilot-operated solenoid valve which consists of a pilot softer than the valve seat made of stainless steel. This kind
valve and a spool structured main valve is proposed to of soft-hard contact sealing can archive zero leakage. When
meet the requirement. Among the characteristics fast there is no exciting voltage signal, the main valve core is
response which we are most interested in largely compressed tightly on the valve seat by the high-pressure
determines the performance of the system. In order to
understand the performance of the valve, first, a air in the control chamber which is connected to the inlet
mathematic model of the valve is built up. Then, a through port A and port B of the pilot valve, then the valve
simulation diagram is developed by using is closed; When exciting voltage signal is given port A will
Matlab/Simulink and Fluent to analyze the opening be closed, port B and port C will be interlinked. The
response time (ORT) of the valve. The simulation results high-pressure air will flow from the control chamber into
indicate that the valve ORT increases with the increase
of the inlet pressure, large exciting voltage can reduce atmosphere through port B and port C. Then the
the opening response time of the valve, and the size of high-pressure air from the inlet can promote the main valve
the pilot valve should be optimized in order to reduce core, then the valve is opened.
the ORT. Finally, an experimental setup is established to According to the international standard ISO 5598-2008,
investigate the simulation. The experimental results the response time is described as: elapsed time between the
agree well with the simulation results.
Index TermsPilot-operated Solenoid Valve, initiation of an action and the resulting reaction, measured
Opening Response Time, High-pressure Pneumatic under specified conditions. In this paper the opening
response time (ORT) which is mainly discussed is the
INTRODUCTION elapsed time between the initiation point when the exciting
voltage is given and the point when the main valve is fully
Compared with the traditional low pressure pneumatic
opened. The dynamic behaviors of the pilot-operated
system the output force of the high-pressure pneumatic
solenoid valve are shown in Fig.2[3],[4].Opening response
system is an important development orientation in
time (t2) can be divided into two parts: the response time of
pneumatic field. It can not only improve dynamic
the pilot valve (t1) and the response time of the main valve
characteristics of pneumatic system but also decrease the
(t2-t1).
size components and mounting space [1],[2]. A driving
control system is driven by high-pressure compressed air in
which the high-pressure, fast response and large flow rate
pneumatic solenoid valve is an important component. In
this paper a novel high-pressure pneumatic pilot-operated
solenoid valve is proposed to meet the requirement. A
solenoid valve is a typical mechatronic system. The pilot
valve is driven by electromagnetic force which controls the
main valve to open or close the compressed air circuit.
The response time (especially opening response time
(ORT)) of the solenoid vale has a significant impact on the
performance of the control system. The research on the
response of the valve is very important to improve the
performance of the driving control system.
STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONALITY Fig.1 Simplified structure of the high-pressure pneumatic pilot-operated
solenoid valve
The structure of the pilot-operated solenoid valve is

Copyright AUT University Auckland,New-Zealand 480

 mtotal mass of movable parts, kg;
stiffness of the spring, N/m;
coefficient of resistance, Ns/m;
air force, N.
The balance equation of forces during the valve shutdown
process is as follows:

( ) (5)

B. Mathematical Model of the Main Vale

Fig.2 Dynamic performances of a pilot-operated solenoid valve
MATHEMATICAL MODEL
A Mathematical Model of the Pilot Vale
The pilot valve is a direct action solenoid valve which is
driven by electromagnetic force through a pushrod. Its
performance mainly depends on the performance of the
electromagnet.Its structure is shown in Fig.3.
Fig.3 Pilot valve simplified structure
Equations describing the motion dynamics of the pilot
valve are given under the following simplifying
assumptions[5]:
a) the phenomenon of magnetic hysteresis is negligibly
small, and
b) no saturation of the magnetic circuit occurs.
The equations of the electrical circuit are as follows:
( )
After transformation of Eq.1 we can obtain:
( )
( )
The air flow which is a variable mass system in the
high-pressure pilot-operated solenoid valve is a complex
thermodynamic process. According to the energy equation,
continuity equation and dynamic equation, we can build up
the mathematical model of the air flow. When the pressure
of the air is less than 20MPa, the gas compressibility factor
has little deviation from 1(<5%) [8],so high-pressure air
could be simplified to the ideal gas. The time of the main
valve startup process is very short, so the exhaust process of
the control chamber could be simplified to an adiabatic
process[6].
Before the main valve modeling, the following
simplifying assumptions are made [7]:
a) A constant stable gas supply is considered;
b) Flowing process of gas through each port is adiabatic
and isothermal;
c) Gas inertia and pressure loss are neglected;
d) Only the steady state flow forces are considered while
the dynamic flow forces are neglected.
The equation of the air pressure in the control chamber
can be described as follows:
( / )
(6)
The balance equation of the forces acting on the main
valve core is expressed as follows:
( ) ( ) (7)
Similarly we can obtain the equations describing the
process of valve shutdown:
(1) ( / )
(8)
(2) ( ) ( ) (9)

The equation of electromagnetic force is as follows: The mass flow rate equations can be expressed as:
( )
(3) ( ) (10)
( )

The balance equation of forces is as follows:

( )
( ) (11)
( ) (4)
0.2588 , 0.528
Where:
( ) (12)
uexciting voltage of the electromagnet coil, V;
ithe electromagnet coil current, A; , 0.528
( )inductance of the electromagnet coil , H; Where:
ydisplacement of the armature, m; air pressure in the contol chamber, Pa;
electromagnetic force, N; air pressure between the valve seat and the

481
valve core, Pa;
adiabatic exponent of air, k=1.4;
Current
gas constant, R=287.1J/kgk; 25 Exciting voltage

Exciting voltage u (V)

exhaust mass flowrate of the control
chamber, kg/s; 20 2

Current i (A)
sectional area of the main valve core, m2;
inflation mass flowrate of the control 15
chamber, kg/s;
10 1
mass of the main valve core and the spring, kg;
frictional resistance acting on the main valve 5
core, N;
volume of the control chamber, m3; 0 0
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04
stiffness of the spring, N/m; Time (s)
coefficient of resistance, Ns/m; Fig.5 Curves of exciting voltage u and the electromagnet coil current i
temperature of the air, K;

Pilot valve spool displacement y (mm)

downstream air pressure, Pa; 25 0.6
Exciting voltage
upstream air pressure, Pa. Dispalcement 0.5
20

Exciting voltage u (V)

SIMULATION AND EXPERIMENT
0.4
15
A. Simulation 0.3
During the process of the main valve startup which has 10
nonlinear relation to the displacement of the main valve 0.2
core in case of the constant inlet pressure is not constant 5
stable. It is very difficult to calculate the pressure through 0.1
mathematical model. In this paper we proposed a method to
0 0
solve the problem. Firstly, a series of air flow field model 0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04
are bult up according to different opening of the main valve Time(s)
core x by using the software Gambit. Secondly, we calculate Fig.6 Curves of exciting voltage u and the pilot valve core displacement y
the average at different openings by using CFD software
Main valve core displacement x (mm)

Fluent. Thirdly, in Matlab/Simulink we could use the tool 4

Lookup-Table to express the relationship between p and
x.The simulation diagram was formed by Matlab program 3
pack, using Simulink. A calculation diagram was made in
Simulink basing on the mathematical model[9]-[11]. The
main parameters in the diagram are as follows: 2
N=800, R=15, U=24V, P=6MPa, A1=1.1304mm2,
A2=314mm2, M=0.05kg, =50N/mm, =50N/mm, 1
m=0.042, Dd=1.2mm.
0
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04
Time (s)
Fig.7 Curve of the main valve core displacement x

0.5
Main valve core velcity v (m/s)

0.4

0.3

0.2
Fig.4 Block diagram built up by Matlab/Simulink
The simulation resulted in obtaining time curves of the 0.1
electromagnet coil current i, the pilot valve core
displacement y, the main valve core displacement x and the 0
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04
main valve core velocity v, shown in Fig.5- 8. Time (s)
Fig.8 Curve of the main valve core velocity v
Fig.6 shows that the pilot valve response time is 7.55ms,
the ORT of the whole valve is 29.2ms shown in Fig.7.

482
B. Experiment which will be detected by the laser sensor. The core
To verify the feasibility of the valve structure and the experiment processes are as follows:
validity of the mathematical model, experiments were a) Open the valve 4 and fill the tank 5 with compressed
carried out. Experimental pneumatic circuit is shown in air of certain pressure set by the reducing valve 3;
Fig.9.A laser sensor 8 is used to detect the displacement of b) Use the computer to collect the pressure signal and
the main valve core which is transferred by a pushrod displacement signal when opening the solenoid valve.
connected with the main valve core. When the main valve c) Set a new pressure and repeat a and b.
core is promoted, it will push the pushrod to a new position

Fig.9 Experiment setup and pneumatic circuit for response time test of the high-pressure pilot-operated solenoid valve
1high-pressure air source 2dryer 3high-pressure reducing valve 4manual valve 5tank 6,9pressure sensor 7tested valve 8displacement measurement device
10silencer 11DAQ card 12Computer
Main valve core displacement x (mm)

4 DISCUSSION
Experiment In order to improve the design of the solenoid valve, we
3 Simulation should find the main influence factors of the ORT. By
changing the parameter values in the simulation model we
2 could find the main factors that could influence the ORT of
the solenoid valve.
1
A. Influence of the Exciting Voltage u
0 Under the same simulation condition as ever but
changing the value of the exciting voltage u, we discover
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 that the ORT decreases while u gets bigger, but the
Time (s) amplitude is becoming smaller. The cause is that when the
Fig.10 curve of the main valve core displacement x detected and simulated voltage of the coil gets bigger the current increases more
rapidly. So the response of the electromagnet is becoming
0.6
faster. The ORTs of the solenoid valve at the voltage u of
Main valve core velcity v (m/s)

24V, 36V and 48V are 29.2ms, 26.7ms, 25.5ms,

Experiment
0.4 respectively, shown in Fig.12.
Simulation
4
0.2
24V
Displacement x (mm)

3
36V
0 48V
2
-0.2
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05
Time (s) 1
Fig.11 curve of the main valve core velocity v detected and simulated
As shown in Fig.10, the ORT of the main valve detected 0
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04
is 29ms which agrees well with the simulated result which Time (s)
is 29.2ms. Fig.11 shows the main valve cores velocity Fig.12 Curves of the main valve core displacement x at the voltage of 24V,
simulated and detected. The experiment results indicate that 36V and 48V
the simulation model reflects the dynamic properties of the
solenoid valve sufficiently well and the modeling method is B. Influence of the Pilot Valve Size Dd
applicable. The pilot valve size is a effective value of the sizes
including the whole size which connect the inlet with the
control chamber, the size of the exhaust port C and the

483
between the pilot valve core and the body. It is a very
important factor for the whole valve. It not only determines
the amount of the electromagnetic force but also control the
air charging and exhaust flow rate of the control chamber
when the inlet pressure is fixed. Simulated results shown in
Fig.13 indicated that if the size is too large (red, Dd=2.1mm)
or too small (blue, Dd=1.2mm) the response time will
increase. In other words, there is a optimal pilot valve size
Dd to make the response time smallest when other factors
are fixed.
C. Influence of the Inlet Pressure
When we only change the inlet pressure of the solenoid
valve in the simulation, the results indicated that the
response time increased with the rise of the inlet pressure,
shown in Fig.14. The response times simulated are 26.8ms,
29.2ms and 31.2ms at the inlet pressures of 4MPa, 6MPa
and 8MPa, respectively. Experimental results also validate
the simulated results.
4 no.2, pp.85-87.
D =1.2mm
d University of Technology Press,1991.
Displacement x (mm)
3 D =1.8mm
d
D =2.1mm
d Dynamic
2 vol.133/011011-1-7.
1 Tech. (Natural Science Edition), 2010,38(10),109-111.
0
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04
Time (s)
Fig.13 Simulated displacement curves of the main valve core at different
pilot valve sizes
Fig.14 Simulated and experimental displacement Curves of the main valve
core at different inlet pressures
CONCLUSION
In this paper, we proposed a self-designed high-pressure
pneumatic pilot-operated solenoid valve. The mathematic
model is built up to analyze the response of the
high-pressure pneumatic pilot-operated solenoid valve. The
simulation diagram is also developed by using
Matlab/Simulink and Fluent. The simulation show that
exciting voltage, pilot valve size and inlet pressure could
influence the ORT of valve. When the exciting voltage gets
bigger the ORT decreases. The ORT increases as the inlet
484
pressure increasing. In order to get the ORT shorter the pilot
valve size should be optimized. An experiment is also
carried out. The experimental results validated the results of
the simulation and showed that the ORT of the valve at the
inlet pressure of 6MPa is 29ms.
REFERENCES
[1] Zhipeng Xu, Xuanyin Wang, Jia Cheng, High-pressure pneumatic
technology:present,future, Proceedings of the 7th International
Conference on Frontiers of Design and Manufacturing,
Guangzhou,China,2006.
[2] Yize Chen, Xuanyin Wang, Zhipeng Xu, Pilot leakages influences
on the performances of extra high pressure proportional pneumatic
valve, Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering: English
Edition,2005(18),208-211.
[3] Zhong Xiang, Research on the Key Technologies of Pneumatic
High-Speed On/Off Valve, Zhejiang University, 2010, 34-40.
[4] Quankui He, Keqing Zhu, Ziqiang Chen, Peisheng Sun, Lin Yang,
Research on Responsibility of Solenoid Valve Drive Circuit For
High Pressure Common Rail Diesel Engine, Chinese Internal
Combustion Engine Engineering, 2007,28 (3), 15-19.
[5] Janusz Zieba, Simulation of a Solenoid Actuator for a Device for
Investigating Dynamic Air Permeability Through Flat Textile
Products, FIBRES &TEXTILES in Eastern Europe, 2003, vol.11,
[6] Jianfan Li, Pneumatic Transmission System Dynamics, South China
[7] Zhipeng Xu, Xuanyin Wang, Development of a Novel High
Pressure Electronic Pneumatic Pressure Reducing Valve, Journal of
Systems, Measurement, and Control, 2011,
[8] Gang Yang, Jingmin Du, Baoren Li, High-pressure Pneumatic
Solenoid Valves with large Flow Rate, J. Huazhong Univ. of Sci. &
[9] Guangzheng Jia, Xuanyin Wang, Guoliang Tao, Ying Chen, Genmao
Wu, Study on Dynamic Property of Extra-high Pressure Pneumatic
On-off Control Valve, Proceedings of 4th International Symposium
on Fluid Power Transmission an Control (ISFP), Wuhan, China,
2003, 342-347.
[10] Guangzheng Jia, Xuanxin Wang, Zuxian Chen, Simulation Design
of High-pressure Pneumatic Valve Based on MATLAB/Simulink,
Chinese Hydraulics & Pneumatics , 2003,11,21-23.
[11] Jia G. Z., Wang X. Y., Simulation and Experiment on the
High-pressure Pneumatic On-off Valve, Word Engineers
Convention,Shanghai, China, 2004, 301-307.