This paper submits a new design of a pressure-compensated flow control valve for water hydraulics. The operating pressure difference range and flowrate range of the developed valve are 1 - 14 MPa and 2.7 - 17 l/min, respectively. A pressure-compensator valve and a metering valve are connected in series, placing the former at the upstream side. The major features of the designed valve are that the pressure-compensator valve has two throttles to prevent cavitation, a ring for flow force compensation, and a viscous damper to stabilise the motion of the valve. Valve dimensions were determined based on dynamic and static analysis. An experimental study was carried out for a produced valve. No cavitation noise was observed for operating pressures up to 14 MPa. Mounting the flow force-compensating ring reduced flowrate variation from 8 % to 4 % of reference flowrate, while it increased hysteresis from 0.5 % to 2.5 % of reference flowrate.

Keywords: water hydraulics, flow control valve, pressure compensation, double throttle, flow force compensation, cavitation, hysteresis