Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulation and Optimization of Hydropneumatic Spring Damper Valves for Heavy Vehicle Applications

To satisfy the design requirements for a hydropneumatic spring damper valve, the inlet-outlet pressure drop (& UDelta;P) and the axial force on the spool (F-Z) of a valve were investigated using fluid-solid coupling simulations and multi-objective optimization, along with the effects of the diameters of three internal holes (D-A, D-B, and D-C) in the valve on the & UDelta;P and the F-Z. First, a meshed computational fluid dynamics model of a damper valve was established based on its geometric structure. Next, the effects of the flow rate (Q) and the diameter of the damping hole in the internal structure on the & UDelta;P and the F-Z of the damper valve were investigated. The results showed that the & UDelta;P and the F-Z varied nonlinearly with Q. For a given Q, the & UDelta;P decreased as D-A, D-B, and D-C increased. For a given Q, the F-Z was not related to D-A and D-C, but it decreased as D-B increased. Finally, the structure of the damper valve was optimized by defining the & UDelta;P and the F-Z as the response variables and D-A, D-B, and D-C as the explanatory variables. The results showed that the best configuration of the hole diameters was D-A = 8.8 mm, D-B = 5.55 mm, and D-C = 6 mm. In this configuration, & UDelta;P = 0.704 MPa and F-Z = 110.005 N. The & UDelta;P of the optimized valve was closer to the middle value of the target range than that of the initial valve design. The difference between the simulated and target values of the F-Z decreased from 0.28% to 0.0045%, satisfying application requirements.