The effect of flow variations to vibration tendency in a hydraulic manifold

Abstract

A hydraulic manifold is an important component in hydraulic machinery to convey hydraulic oil under high pressure into hydraulic tube and hose for cleaning purpose. Due to high pressure during operation, the process induces vibration and leakage can occur at the exit ports of hydraulic manifold. The aim of this study is to determine the effects of pressure and velocity variations in hydraulic manifold with respect to vibration tendency. In this study, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is used to simulate the hydraulic manifold fluid behaviours, under various operating conditions. The result shows that fluctuations in pressure and velocity occurs at each branch in a mainstream due to changes of the area and geometrical shape. We also observed surge of pressure but reduction in velocity at each branch. Overall, the results show the most affected areas are those near the inlet. Areas further downstream are not significantly changed by the increments.