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Plots

This section shows some of the common plots used in the spool valve simulation. The steps to create the plots are:

1. Click Load Results in the Simulation Panel.
2. Select the required result file in the ensuing Load Results dialog box, click Open.

Mass Flux

The mass balance is monitored with the mass flux plots.

1. Select port_inlet and port_outlet under Boundaries in the Geometric Entities Panel.
2. Click Add XY-Plot icon in the Toolbar.
3. Click Click for Variable List icon, select Mass Flux under Flow in the Plot Panel.
4. Click Plot Selected Variables icon.
5. Click Plot Property icon, the Plot Property dialog box opens. Enable Moving Average and enter 400, click OK.
6. Click Combine Entity Data into a Single Curve to obtain the net mass flux.

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Note:  The moving average is used in transient simulations to obtain the average behavior over the entire simulation time. It can be specified as, click Click for Variable List icon in Plot Property and enable Moving Average. The value in the Moving Average input is number of preceding time steps (sampling interval) for calculating the average.

Displacement

To plot the displacement of the valve:

1. Click Add XY-Plot icon in the Toolbar.
2. Select Translation (1 DOF) in the Model Panel.
3. Click Click for Variable List icon in Plot Panel, select Displacement.
4. Click Plot Selected Variables icon.

 

Pressure

The pressure is plotted at the monitoring points as follows:

1. Select highpressureportinlet_point, highpressurechamber_point and lowpressurechamber_point under Points in the Geometric Entities Panel.
2. Click Add XY-Plot icon in the Toolbar.
3. Click Click for Variable List icon in Plot Panel toolbar, select Pressure from the Flow list.
4. Click Plot Selected Variables icon.

 

Forces

The forces acting on the spool valve are plotted as follows:

1. Click Add XY-Plot icon in the Toolbar.
2. Select Translation (1 DOF) in the Model Panel.
3. Click Click for Variable List icon in Plot Panel toolbar.
4. Select Fluid Force and click Plot Selected Variables icon. Similarly, plot Spring Force and Net Force.