Experimental and numerical investigation of fluid flow of truncated conical poppet valve

Poppet valve development requires study of the complex flow inside it. This needs an advanced technology, such as particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique and CFD flow simulation. The main keys of this work are experimental investigation of the flow structure through a truncated conical poppet valve by using PIV technique. A numerical model of the valve is validated using experimental results. This validation gives the ability to modify the valve geometry and improve the flow structure, furthermore, and minimize the energy losses. The experiments have been done using the three flow rate values (Q) (25, 35, 45) L/min, each of them with three poppet displacements (Xv) (3.5, 5.5, 7.5) mm. The vortex radius and intensity, which is an indicator of losses magnitude, increased with the increasing of flow rate and decreasing of poppet movement Xv. The experimental results showed a good agreement with the numerical one, beyond some difference for flow out of the metering area. The three-dimensional effects may be the reason of this difference. The results provide good information to design process.