Reliable, high-frequency miniature valves for smart material electrohydraulic actuators

A key element in developing high-performance smart material electrohydraulic actuators is the design of improved check valves for high-frequency fluid rectification. One method to create valves with fast frequency response is to replace the single-reed valves typically used in these systems with an array of miniature-reed valves. A robust miniature-reed design is presented to overcome the fatigue and fabrication limitations observed in previous approaches. The fluid-structure interaction between an individual valve and hydraulic fluid is modeled using the multiphysics software COMSOL; the results are validated with experimental testing on an array of miniature reeds. The performance of this array in a smart material actuator is compared with a larger, single-reed valve design. The miniature-reed array is shown to reliably rectify flow in the high-pressure and high-frequency environment of a smart material pump.