Week 4

I was assigned two projects for the summer to be completed in parallel with each other. The first was to construct a pilot operated check valve demonstrator out of acrylic that utilizes air pressure to overcome the check valve seal to release the fluid back to tank. This demonstrator will be used in hydraulic classes here at the University of Minnesota to help visualize how pilot operated check valve systems work. The second project is to use a laser tracking system to track the movement of different check valve poppet-styles (disk, ball, poppet, cartridge, in-line) to model their behavior. This model will help us understand why check valves leak and this knowledge will be used to better engineer and improve efficiency of all hydraulic systems utilizing check valves.