What Are The Different Kinds Of Hydraulic Control Valves?

A hydraulic control valve can be defined as a sort of valve that controls the flow of liquid media through a hydraulic system. More often than not, the liquid in these cases is oil. These valves are used so that such work can be done properly. The direction in which the oil flows is normally determined by the position in which the spool has been placed in the valve. The importance of these valves can be guessed from the fact that the hydraulic systems cannot function without them. This is the reason why you always need to find the right valve for your work. 


Directional control valves

This type of hydraulic control valve can control the start, change, and stop of the direction in which pressure flows in a hydraulic system. This is one reason why they are also known as switching valves. The switching valves, however, do not have proportional control. These valves are available in 3 main options – spool valves, rotary slide valves, and poppet valves. However, it needs to be mentioned over here that the middle variety is no longer in use. This is because they have a rather low operating pressure. At most, they can deal with pressures of 70 bars. 

Pressure control valves

This type of hydraulic control valve operates at pressure settings that are predetermined by nature. They can perform both controlling and switching options. The switching pressure is a variable setting that you get on the valve itself. You can also change the position of these pressure control valves. These valves can be both closed and open. This, however, happens gradually or suddenly as well. In case of gradual changes, the control comes into play. If you want to do it suddenly you need to use a switch. 


Proportional control valves

This is a kind of hydraulic control valve that can control the opening in such a way that the flow is proportional. It does not happen gradually, which is how it happens with most of the usual hydraulic control valves. You have many kinds of proportional control valves. The simplest among them is a variable throttle that you can control using a manual lever only. Does your hydraulic work need the flow to be controlled in a very accurate way? In that case, you would have to equip the hydraulic valve with electronic equipment that provides you with a higher level of control over the operations. 

Flow control valves 

Such a hydraulic control valve manages flow in two ways – increasing or decreasing the throttling point opening. This helps determine the speed at which the actuators move. The simplest design of these valves is one where you mount a longitudinal slot such as a needle in a pipeline. This is then attached to a screw, which is supposed to adjust said opening of the throttling point. These are also known as throttle valves because the throttle in these cases is normally fixed. The throttle alters the actual flow in the valve. This happens at different loads. They can influence the speed of such movement as well.

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