Measurement of Angular Valve Displacement in High Vibration Environments

The primary cause of failure of Series 600 angular displacement transducers used as valve position indicators in the flow test facilities at AEDC are bearing wear. The root cause of these failures are most likely excessive load on the shaft of the transducer. Streamline Automation proposes to address this problem by developing a new shaft coupling that will reduce axial and bending loads on the transducer bearings. The new coupling will be tested on a shaker at the Applied Controls Labratory at the University of Alabama. The performance of this coupling will be compared to commercially available shaft couplings. Other design changes, including the use of passive mounts and a switch to a Series 607 transducer will be considered and assessed. During Phase 2, the redesigned and optimized shaft coupling and transducer mounting will be field tested at AEDC.