Study of Unsteady Orifice Flow Characteristics in Hydraulic Oil Lines

A technique to measure fluctuating differential pressures with high fidelity has been developed first. When applied to detecting differential pressures generated by an accelerated or decelerated liquid column, the technique turned out to be effective in finding unsteady flow rates. An experimental study has been carried out on periodically changing hydraulic oil flows through an orifice. The results support the validity of the traditional standpoint that characteristics of an unsteady orifice flow can be approximately represented by those of a steady-state one. When inspected in detail, however, a net pressure loss across an orifice in a periodical flow is delayed against a change of the flow rate. The resulting relation between the pressure loss and the flow rate describes a loop with a counter-clockwise hysteresis and a nonlinear twist along the steady-state one. Pressure recovery in a pulsating orifice flow varies with the flow rate almost along the steady-state relation, which is confirmed when the change is not fast.