Characteristics of High-Frequency-Response Gas Flow Control Valve Using Piezoelectric Actuator

This paper proposes a new structure of a gas flow control valve that uses a piezoelectric actuator. The proposed valve has a moving seat driven by a piezoelectric actuator, which moves very quickly on the order of milliseconds, and controls the gas flow precisely. The motion of the moving seat and the squeeze effect between two flat seats are investigated theoretically and experimentally. It was demonstrated that the proposed valve was very effective for precisely and quickly controlling the gas flow and the squeeze effect prevents surface damage of the valve seats. Furthermore, it was found that the calculation method presented here predicted well the motion of the moving seat and the gas flow rate.