Quantification of additive manufacturing induced variations in the global and local performance characteristics of a complex multi-stage control valve trim.

Singh, Dharminder; Charlton, Matthew; Asim, Taimoor; Mishra, Rakesh; Townsend, Andrew; Blunt, Liam

Abstract

Control valves that are used in severe service applications have trim cages that are geometrically quite complex. Most of these trims are manufactured using traditional manufacturing methods which are expensive and time-consuming. In order to reduce manufacturing costs and shorten the product development cycles, Additive Manufacturing (AM) methods have been gaining popularity over the traditional manufacturing methods. Selective Laser Melting (SLM) is one of the most popular AM techniques. In this paper, the effect of the conventional Electron Discharge Machining (EDM) method and the SLM method on the performance characteristics of a complex multi-stage disc stack trim is investigated. Experimental tests conducted on the SLM trim showed that the flow capacity reduced in comparison to the EDM manufactured trim. Surface profile measurements indicated that the surface roughness of the SLM trim was significantly higher than the EDM trim. In order to evaluate the effect of surface roughness on performance in detail, well validated numerical simulations were conducted to compare the local performance of the valve trims manufactured by the two methods. The simulation results showed that the wall shear stress increases by 1.9 times on the trim manufactured by the SLM method due to the increased roughness.

Citation

SINGH, D., CHARLTON, M., ASIM, T., MISHRA, R., TOWNSEND, A. and BLUNT, L. 2020. Quantification of additive manufacturing induced variations in the global and local performance characteristics of a complex multi-stage control valve trim. Journal of petroleum science and engineering [online], 190, article ID 107053. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2020.107053

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 9, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Feb 12, 2020
• Publication Date: Jul 31, 2020
• Deposit Date: Feb 11, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 13, 2021
• Journal: Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering
• Print ISSN: 0920-4105
• Electronic ISSN: 1873-4715
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 190
• Article Number: 107053
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2020.107053
• Keywords: Additive manufacturing; Selective laser melting; Control valves; Surface roughness; Computation Fluid Dynamics (CFD); Flow capacity
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/854614