Effect of valve plug shapes on vortex-induced vibration characteristics through a multistage pressure-reducing valve

Vortex-induced vibration of a regulating valve not only wastes the energy of the control system, but also causes serious damage to the valve trims. It is very important to suppress vortex-induced vibration of the flow field in a valve by optimizing the valve trim structure. In this paper, a multistage pressure-reducing valve is proposed, and the flow fields in the valve with the lightweight, flat bottom, circular truncated cone and cylinder valve plug are simulated using the ANSYS Workbench. To verify the reliability of the simulation, a flow test device for the valve is established and the flow rates at different openings are measured. The test result shows that the valve designed by simulation conforms to the specified flow characteristics. By monitoring the lift coefficient of the vortex cross flow, the amplitude and main frequency of vortex-induced vibration are evaluated. The effect of the valve plug shapes on the vortex-induced vibration characteristics is studied. The results show that the shape of the valve plug has an obvious effect on the amplitude of vortex-induced vibration. The conical valve plugs can play the role of flow guiding, the amplitude of vortex-induced vibration of the valve is smallest, it is about 1/4 of that of other valve plugs at medium and high openings. This work is of significance for suppressing the vortex-induced vibration of the multistage pressure-reducing valve.