Features of the Valve Manufacturing Process

24 Jun.,2024

 

Features of the Valve Manufacturing Process

Valves seem like fairly uncomplicated equipment in the machinery industry, right? They simply open and close to start and stop the flow of fluids and other mediums. They must be fairly easy to manufacture, right?

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When you take a closer look, you&#;ll find that every residential and industrial pipeline system would immediately fail without functioning valves, leading to floods, environmental disasters, and collapsing supply chains. Our society and economy truly depend on valves of all types to prevent these catastrophes. For these reasons, manufactured valves undergo rigorous regulation and testing before installation, ensuring they&#;ll function safely and dependably.

Contrary to what you might think, valve core sealing components have complex requirements to ensure proper performance and longevity. In fact, the valve manufacturing process is complicated and technically sophisticated, especially the stainless steel sanitary valves used in food and drug production lines. There are many obstacles and difficulties to overcome throughout the process of valve manufacturing. If you&#;re curious about how sanitary valves are made, we&#;ll break down the sanitary valve manufacturing process into three comprehensible points. 

How are valves manufactured?

1. The complex valve blank manufacturing and inspection process

Valve castings are formed by heating metals to thousands of degrees Fahrenheit, at which point they melt into liquids. The liquid metals are poured into molds, where they cool and take the shape of a specified valve.

Valve cast blanks are structurally complex, thin-walled shell parts. Valve casting blanks are required to have a smooth surface, a clear character casting, and integral density. In order to meet the above requirements, a series of processing measures should be taken during casting, such as the selection of high refractory molding material and the control of sand moisture, the layering during molding to ensure the hardness of the sand, the use of reasonable casting cap systems and strict control of pouring speed and temperature. Due to its high technical requirements, the casting process of the valve blank is far more complicated than that of general castings.

The finished valves are initially inspected for proper size, position accuracy, and appearance. Then, they are inspected more closely for microstructure, mechanical properties, corrosion resistance, and non-destructive probing. Even the valve inspection, testing process, and quality assurance steps of manufacturing are rather complicated and exhaustive.

2. Valve Installation on Machine Tools

The structure and shape of the main parts of the valve are very complex. Some parts are thin-walled and slender, with poor rigidity. When they are machined with industrial tools, positioning and clamping can be very difficult, and complicated special fixtures are often needed.

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For some sanitary valve parts, the positioning base has low accuracy and high surface roughness. Sometimes even non-machining surface positioning is used. But there are very high requirements for the accuracy and surface roughness of the processed sealing surface, so it&#;s very hard to ensure the processing quality. Therefore, to meet the processing needs, it is often necessary to increase the accuracy of the positioning base and reduce the surface roughness, or to produce a positioning surface on a non-processing surface, which only increases the complexity of the valve manufacturing process.

3. Complex Mechanical Processing

Due to the wide variety of valve materials, except for various cast iron and carbon steel, the shearing performance of most high strength, corrosion-resistant, and high-hardness materials is very poor, making it difficult to achieve the specified machining accuracy and surface roughness. And there are very high requirements for the geometrical precision and surface roughness of the sealing surface of the valve, so it&#;s even more difficult to perform mechanical processing on valves. Meanwhile, the poor shearing performance of valve materials causes quite a few new problems for the processing methods, cutting tool materials, excessive shearing, and valve processing equipment.

Conclusion &#; Essential Valve Manufacturing

Valve manufacturing is not as simple as we thought. There are several complex issues to overcome when building a capable and dependable valve. The high requirements for valve sealing during the manufacturing process ensure that it is not prone to leakage during use. These critical pieces of equipment are truly essential to manufacturing, storing, and transporting a massive number of products across our economy. If you want to learn more about how valves are made, please visit Adamant Valves for more information.

How is a Forged Ball Valve Made?

If your industrial application involves high pressures, high pressures, and other severe conditions, a forged ball valve may be better suited to your needs. A forged valve is fabricated differently than many other types of ball valves, which are typically cast. In this article, we will explore the differences in the manufacturing process and also some reasons why you may choose a forged valve for your purposes. 

Forged Ball Valve Manufacturing Process

When you need a forged ball valve, the fabrication process works a little differently from cast ball valves. Just like cast valves, forged valve manufacturing begins with the design and engineering for the valve. You can choose many different design factors to suit your needs. Our team creates forged ball valves in a range of sizes, pressure classes, alloys, and trim packages. For instance, you can order our forged severe service ball valves in sizes ranging from ½&#; to 20&#; and classes from 150# to # ANSI. 

Once finalizing the valve design, our experts begin the fabrication process. Valve forging involves shaping metal components through mechanical forces, often using heat to make the steel more malleable. Valve bodies and internal components are all forged to provide strong, heavy duty, and reliable valves for your application.

During the forging process, typically we heat the metal and then compress, bend, and shape it to fit the forged ball valve design using a die forging machine. The die helps form the metal into the specific shape while the machine applies pressure to force the metal into the right shape. For larger valves, we may need to weld together different components. In some cases our team may need to also machine the components to enhance shape. Our valve experts may also treat the surfaces with specialized coatings based on your needs. Once all the components are properly forged and shaped, the valve is assembled, inspected, and tested to ensure quality control. 

Why Choose Forged Valves?

Forged valves may be better for some severe service applications. If your application is particularly demanding, such as through high temperatures and pressures, you need strong, durable valve solutions. Forged valves are typically much stronger than cast valves. The forging process for a high performance ball valve helps  reduce vulnerability to issues like cracking, porosity, and shrinkage. Forged valves are also typically better able to handle temperature changes. Therefore, forged valves are typically much more durable, reliable, and often lower maintenance compared to cast options. 

Copeland Valve &#; Your Source for High Performance Ball Valve Solutions

When you need quality valves for your industrial severe service applications, our team at Copeland Valve is here for you. We offer valve design, manufacturing, repair, and coating services. We are proud to manufacture all our products in the U.S.A. for quality control. Get in touch with our experts for a free quote for your valve needs.

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