TUCSON

TECHNICAL ARTICLE

COUNTERBALANCE OUNTERBALANCE
Overcentre Valves are taking over from the archaic counterbalance in todays mobile and industrial Hydraulic industry.
With the face of hydraulics today taking a paradigm shift towards a smaller and more compact hydraulic circuits, the traditional hydraulic valves are being ousted in favour of their sleeker, lighter and hardier cartridge valve. With the ability to be mounted straight into machined manifolds that internally connect the valves rather than external piping as in the case of traditional valves, these Hydraulic Integrated Circuits (HICs) eliminate unnecessary tubes, hoses and fittings. With each fitting providing two probable leakage points there is no doubt that apart from the cost savings, the basic principles of hydraulic machinery operations are upheld to a higher standard. As with the plethora of options with traditional parts-in-body type valves, cartridge valves manifest themselves in a myriad of forms. From the humble Check valve to the state of the art Proportional Solenoid Direction Control valves.
A A/2 A A/2
C C P V V

UPGRADING THE

Fig 1 : Counterbalance Valves used to control cylinder movement

Fig 2 : Overcentre Valves used to control cylinder movement

Pressure to be developed = Area of Cap End x 150 bar = A x 150 bar = 300 bar to move Piston Rod (Fig 1) Area of Rod End A/2

The name Counterbalance came from the counterbalancing weights used in the earlier machine tools to prevent the ball screw from coming under heavy load.
The life guard, however, for any hydraulic actuator, is the Counterbalance Valve. This motion controlling marvel is usually responsible for controlled movement of cylinders.

The name Counterbalance came from the counterbalancing weights used in the earlier machine tools to prevent the ball screw from coming under heavy load. These valves were designed in the early thirties by Harry Vickers team who developed them as spool type valves and hence were not found to be zero leak. While Counterbalance Valves maintain a healthy amount of back pressure, they force the pump to develop the full set pressure on the counterbalance spring before they allow the actuator to move. As shown in Figure 1, a Counterbalance Valve attached to the full-bore (cap end) area of the cylinder and set to 150 bar, at zero load, will force the pump to develop a pressure of 300 bar at the annular (rod end) area before the cylinder is allowed to move (if the annular area is half the full bore).

With the latest in load control technology, the Overcentre Valve succeeds the Counterbalance. What the Overcentre Valve does is, it uses a pilot assist from the opposite end of the actuator to move the poppet against a spring (Figure 2). An Overcentre Valve can be described as a pilot assisted relief valve with an integrated free flow check. The performance of Overcentre Valves are at best when mounted into the actuator, whether it is a linear (cylinder) or a rotary (hydraulic motor) actuator. However, if not, they need to be connected to the actuators with rigid piping at the very least. The disparity between a Pilot Operated Check valve which is usually used to hold cylinders and Pilot Assisted Relief valve must be noted here. While a Pilot Operated Check valve opens fully as soon as the pilot port develops a pressure that is sufficient to open the

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A
VALVE
Load Safety: In the case of hose failure an Overcentre Valve mounted onto or into a cylinder will prevent uncontrolled movement of the load. When a cylinder is used in a boom (as in a crane) then hose failure protection is vital as the loss of load control could cause damage to people or property. Relief setting of the Overcentre Valve for most applications is a matter of common sense and judgment. In case where the load varies drastically and sudden impact loads are expected, the relief pressure could be 20-30% more than the load pressure. However, for horizontal cylinders this could be as low as 5-10%. This ensures that with the maximum load on the actuator the valve will remain closed until pilot pressure is applied. The pilot pressure required to open the valve will depend on the pilot ratio that is the ratio between the relief area and the pilot area. The pilot pressure can be calculated as follows
Pilot Ratio = Valve Setting - Load Pressure Pilot Pressure

TECHNICAL ARTICLE
The design of the Tucson range of Overcentre Valves is shown in Figure 4. The flow is free from Port V to Port C over the check valve, but reverse flow is blocked and can only be opened by the pilot pressure acting on Port P and the load on Port C
PRESSURE ADJUST

DETAIL A
Figure 3: Tucson's deviation from the usual spool design to a poppet and seat design ensures a Zero Leak" seal (Circled in RED). Tests conducted on the field have shown 12 ton pick-and-carry cranes hold loads for 4-5 days at a time with a 1-5 mm drop in height.

CYLINDER

SPRINGS

PISTON

poppet, in case of the Overcentre Valve, the pilot pressure has to overcome a strong spring, whose force is reduced by the simultaneous action of pressure on the cylinder port due to the weight of the load. In short, in Pilot Operated Check Valves, the pilot pressure and load pressure act against each other, while in Pilot Assisted Relief Valves, they act in the same direction against the spring. This opens the poppet gradually and causes the flow to meter. Tucsons Overcentre Valve completely seals the flow from actuator port (C) to Valve port (V) defining the term Zero Leak (Figure 3) Overcentre Valves were used mainly for the following purposes. Load Holding: The Overcentre Valve prevents the movement of a load when the directional valve is in the neutral position, permitting the use of open centre directional valves and negating leakage past the spool of closed centre directional valves. Load Control: The Overcentre Valve prevents the actuator running ahead of the pump due to the load induced energy thereby eliminating cavitation in the actuator and loss of control.

PORT P PORT V
CHECK SEAT

PORT C
Figure 4: In Tucsons Overcentre valve the poppet seals the flow from the Actuator Port (C) to the Valve Port (V). The free flow check seat allows flow from V to C. Pilot Pressure at Pilot Port (P) along with load the induced pressure at C opens up the poppet and allows a reverse controlled flow.

Graph 1 shows the pressure drop curves of two valves with different pilot ratios. The higher pilot ratio valve is more restrictive than the low pilot ratio valve. This shows that above a certain pressure the lower pilot ratio valve is more efficient than the higher pilot ratio valve. It is important that the total performance is taken into account before specifying an Overcentre Valve.

Overcentre Valves are typically mounted on the cap of a linear actuator or they can be line mounted with rigid piping between the actuator and the valve. The cylinder port of the valve is connected to one end of the actuator while the valve port is connected to the directional control valve. The pilot port is connected to the opposite end of the actuator.
Graph 1: Graph showing the relationship between flow and pilot ratio. Above a certain pressure the lower pilot ratio valve is more efficient than the higher pilot ratio valve

PILOT PRESSURE

EFFECT OF PILOT RATIO ON FLOW

3:1 PILOT RATIO

5:1 PILOT RATIO

FLOW

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pressure would no longer be high enough to keep the spring compressed shutting off the flow moving out of the cylinder. In this way, the load and its movement would be back under control by continuously metering the flow out of the cylinder. To explain the need of Overcentre valves, the perfect example would be an inverse pendulum shown in Figure 6 In this case, a cylinder is attached to a pendulum which has a load at its end. The cylinders retraction and extension helps the pendulum sway backwards and forwards. To push the pendulum from one extremity to another during its ascent, the cylinder acts against the load and the force of gravity and hence the pendulum is always in control with the pump driving the load. As the pendulum goes over its centre of gravity and starts its descent, the load becomes unbalanced with the pendulum trying to move faster than the cylinder will allow it to. Now the load ends up driving the pump since the load and gravity are acting in the same direction as the cylinder. Here the Overcentre valve would regulate the movement of the cylinder by metering the flow out of it and subsequently keeping the load in control at all times. Since the scenario is repeated in the reverse direction, a second Overcentre valve is required for the same reason on the opposite line. In this case, a Dual Overcentre valve is used which regulates the flow out of a cylinder at both ends. Dual Overcentre valves also find use in track wheels of large earth moving equipment (Figure 7) where the machines are required to climb steep inclines. Equipment needs to be able to move both forward and in reverse on steep slopes. Moving forward on a descending slope and reversing on an ascending

TECHNICAL ARTICLE
slope, the machine tends to roll forward or backward respectively.

Figure 5: An Overcentre Valve connected to a liner actuator

Let us consider the case as shown in Figure 5. When the cylinder has to be extended against the weight of the load, the oil flows to the cap end over the check valve extending the piston while the opposite end is drained of oil. For retraction, the Overcentre valve restricts the flow of oil out of the cap end which results in the pressure rising at the opposite end. This pressure is sensed at the pilot port of the Overcentre valve which, assisted by the load induced pressure, compresses the spring giving an outlet to the oil from the cap end.

Figure 7: Cases where heavy equipment on an incline may go out of control

Dual Overcentre valves connected to the hydraulic motors keep the load from running away by controlling the outward flow of oil in both directions. However, a parking break is a must for Rotary Actuators. Overcentre valves are also used on hydraulic motors in applications such as winches as elaborated in Figure 8. Reeling in the winch while lifting the load happens against the force of gravity which results in the pump driving the load.

W
C1 C2

Figure 6: The hypothetical inverted pendulum is the best example for the need for an Overcentre Valve

C2

C1

V2

V1

V1

V2

If the load were to run away, the flow out of the cap end would increase starving the rod end of oil resulting in a drop in pressure. Consequently, the pilot

Figure 8: Winches inherently require Overcentre Valves to prevent load runaway while lowering the load. This however is not a fail safe method to hold the load in place. Tucson's engineers recommend a parking break be installed to protect the load from catastrophically falling down

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While lowering, however, the load and gravity act in the same direction. This results in the load running away and a possible loss of control. Here the Overcentre Valve meters the flow out of the hydraulic motor to keep the load in place. As shown in the circuit diagram, Tucsons valve bodies are designed to pilot the Overcentre Valve internally, hence piping for an external pilot line is reduced giving a clean look to equipment. As with any hydraulic valve, there is always a functional variety. The same goes for the Overcentre. The valves come in two types of relief designs. One is a direct acting relief valve which is preferred and produced by Tucson due to their quick response and zero leak characteristic which hold the load firmly in place up to a flow of 200lpm. reseating characteristic, and is hence not generally recommended for most of the applications. Note of caution: While in the article the statement the Overcentre Valve is a load holding valve is made, it is true only in the purview of linear actuators (cylinders). This is because of the inherent leakages within the motor (the rotor of the motor will always have leakages from the high pressure to low pressure zone) due to which the motor will not hold the load. For controlling a rotary actuator, a parking brake engaged with the help of a shuttle valve, a spring loaded cylinder and perhaps a pressure reducing valve is mandatory (Figure 8). Pressure in any of the lines (A or B) will be sensed by the shuttle valve keeping the parking brake disengaged. When the pressure in both the lines is zero (when the valve is in the neutral position), the pressure stops holding back the spring in the cylinder of the parking brake and engages it with the hydraulic motor, stopping its motion. The parking brake circuit has a pressure reducing valve connected inline. Spring loaded cylinders are not usually rated to pressure as high as the ones in the system. The pressure reducing valve ensures the cylinders safety. Another point of care is that Overcentre Valves should never be connected to Directional Control Valves with a blocked centre spool. The neutral position of the valve should always be of a float centre configuration. This reduces the pilot pressure to zero in the neutral position ensuring that the piston reseats correctly. This also means that the valve can function as thermal relief and can even eliminate unwanted pressure in the cylinder port (Figure 9). Some Overcentre Valves manufactured by foreign manufacturers have a high leakage rate from the pilot

TECHNICAL ARTICLE
port to the valve port. This makes the inclusion of a hand pump in the circuit for mechanically lowering the load redundant. Customers are advised to check these leakages before selecting the valve.

Figure 9: Overcentres should never be connected to blocked centre Directional control valves. In case there is a sudden switch to the block centre (1) or a pressure spike due to temperature rise of the fluid (2), the fluid has no place to escape and can end up bursting hoses, damaging equipment or even putting the lives of the operators at risk.

Figure 8: Rotary actuators should ALWAYS have a parking brake arrangement. The brake is engaged with the help of a shuttle valve and a spring loaded cylinder. Pressure is sensed by the shuttle valve which keeps the parking brake disengaged. When the pressure is zero in both the lines, the parking brake is engaged and it brings the actuator to a halt.

The other is differential area Overcentre which gives a higher flow capacity (+300lpm) albeit with a poor

The successful application of motion control valves, particularly in areas that are demanding involves the anticipation and resolution of numerous factors only some of which can be discussed in this article. Motion control valves are adjustable and are available in several pressure ranges with many pilot ratios. Commonly available sizes range from 30 lpm to 200 lpm. The flexibility of cartridge valve technology can therefore be easily applied to bring stability and control to almost any circuit. The standard range of valves described here can be used to solve the vast majority of motion control problems and we are constantly developing new valves that will further improve stability and load control.
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