Reducing Valve Test

Operate this hydraulic reducing valve simulation

Suggested exercises and observations

Select the 'Pressure reducing valve' from drop-down menu 6. Click the question mark (?) and sound button for additional advice.

♦ Increase the mass load to about 50%.

♦ Increase the supply pressure until the load starts to lift.

♦ Observe how the pressure at the supply and cylinder are roughly the sam

♦ Now lower the reducing valve setting until the cylinder starts to fall

♦ Observe how the reducing valve has stopped the flow to the cylinder and the pressure at the cylinder is less than at the valve.

♦ Experiment with other load an supply settings to fully understand how the reducing valve functions.

Experiment 1: Pressure reducing valves are used to maintain a lower pressure downstream than upstream.

Question 1: What happens if the downstream pressure increases above the upstream pressure?

It depends on what valve you are using. Some will allow a higher pressure than the set pressure but reducing-relieving valves will still be able to maintain the reduced pressure setting.

Experiment 2: Pressure reducing valves are available in direct and pilot operated versions.

Question 2: Do all versions require a third drain line?

Reducing valves always require a pilot drain line to provide the reference zero pressure.

Experiment 3: In many applications it will be important to know whether a reducing valve is most likely to fails to a high pressure or low pressure condition.

Question 3: Do reducing valves fail to high pressure or low pressure?

Failure conditions depend on the valve type and most likely failure situation. Each application should have been considered individually by the design engineer.

Reducing Valve Test

Experiment with reducing valves

Operate this hydraulic reducing valve simulation

Suggested exercises and observations