Topology optimization design of hydraulic valve blocks for additive manufacturing

Abstract

The hydraulic valve block is a core component of an integrated hydraulic system. In practical usage, it exhibits problems such as material waste, long manufacturing cycle, significant energy loss, and leakage. Based on the aforementioned existing problems, this study presents the design of the hydraulic system valve block based on the valve block design principle. The internal valve channel of the hydraulic valve block is optimized for additive manufacturing technology to avoid auxiliary drilling, solve the problem of potential liquid leakage, and shorten the manufacturing cycle. Thus, it is more suitable for the production of customized complex hydraulic valve blocks. The multiobjective topology optimization method is applied to the lightweight design of the hydraulic valve block to save resources and decrease energy consumption. The results indicate that when compared with the original model, the minimum reduction rate of pressure loss in each oil circuit orifice after optimization of the hydraulic valve block corresponds to 32.02%, the maximum corresponds to 71.38%; the maximum stress of the final design corresponds to 542.9 MPa, which satisfies the material strength requirement; and the mass is decreased by 68.9%. Thus, the lightweight design of the hydraulic valve block is realized.

Machine Learning for Additive Manufacturing

“…Using hydraulic manifolds as an example, traditional designs may use drilled out through holes and plugs to create the required internal channels. This creates undesirable energy and pressure losses whilst resulting in parts with unnecessarily large masses [11]. By redesigning the manifolds for AM, without the constraints of straight, orthogonally intersecting channels, pressure losses have been found to reduce by up to 29.6% [11] and part mass has been reduced by as much as 91% [12].…”

“…This creates undesirable energy and pressure losses whilst resulting in parts with unnecessarily large masses [11]. By redesigning the manifolds for AM, without the constraints of straight, orthogonally intersecting channels, pressure losses have been found to reduce by up to 29.6% [11] and part mass has been reduced by as much as 91% [12]. Despite this, recognising which features require redesign as well as how to go about said redesign is very often dependent on the expertise of the designer.…”

Scientometric Review for Research Patterns on Additive Manufacturing of Lattice Structures

“…With the increasing need for better materials, there are increased techniques and technologies in material processing, materials developments, more customised materials, and newer engineered lattice-structured materials called additive manufactured materials [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]. Additive manufacturing (AM) has been practised for over 15 years in numerous manufacturing industries with the aid of 3D printing, referred to as additive manufacturing technology [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ]. The medical, automotive, aerospace, and materials industries have all benefited from the innovation that additive manufacturing (AM) has brought forth [ 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ].…”

Intelligent Design Optimization System for Additively Manufactured Flow Channels Based on Fluid–Structure Interaction

“…Flow channels are the core structures in hydraulic components. The traditional flow channels are usually right-angle channels with process holes due to the limitations of processing and design methods, which causes the appearance of vortices and energy loss of the flow [1]. To solve this problem effectively, it is essential to seek a kind of superior processing technology and optimize the flow channels [2] inside the hydraulic components accordingly [3].…”