Technical paper

Development of Super-large Control Valve

Daisuke Kozuka

We have developed a new super-large control valve for the PC3400-11M0 mining excavator. In terms of
in-house development, we went beyond just increasing the size of an existing valve, actively adopting new
technologies such as an independent spool structure for neutral circuits and various in-house developed
electronic equipment. Adopting these made possible optimal hydraulic control according to the situation of the
machine. In addition, the use of many simulation technologies has reduced the amount of trial and error during
quality checks, and shorten the development schedule.
This paper reports on this information.

Key Words: Control valve, Super-large hydraulic excavator, ICT

1. Introduction 2. Super-large control valve

A control valve is an indispensable component for 2.1 Background
operating construction machines such as a hydraulic excavator Among the series of control valves that we previously
as if they were an extension of the operator’s body. There are mass-produced, those used for 80-ton class hydraulic
diverse variations to satisfy the specifications and requirements excavators were the largest. The rated flow is up to about 500
of each machine, and we are one of the few construction L/min per valve depending on the connected pipe size. The
machine suppliers that develop this control valve in-house. quantity of control valves is increased for models that require a
One of the advantages of in-house development is enabling higher flow rate, for example three control valves are used for
more intricate design and tuning to meet the requirements of the 125-ton class, and four control valves are used for the
each machine, helping differentiate machine performance. 200-ton class. In the same vein, a 300-ton class hydraulic
Now, we have marketed a new 300-ton class excavator, excavator must be equipped with six control valves. This
this paper introduces a super-large control valve developed severely complicates the layout of the components and the
in-house to replace the previously used control valve routing of the piping mounted on the machine, with the risk of
manufactured by other company. impairing the ease of assembly and maintainability.
On the other hand, the current mass-produced machine
before the model change has three control valves manufactured
by other company. It has already been in mass production for
more than 20 years since its initial development, and there was
an option to continue using it. However, this class of machine
has a very long model change cycle compared to medium and
small models, thus missing this model change would mean that
the next change would not come for a while. Looking ahead 20
or 30 years into the future, we determined that it would not be
possible to maintain competitiveness in the market with the
valves used in current mass-produced machines, and decided to
develop a new super-large control valve in-house.
Fig. 1 Appearance of PC3400-11M0

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 2.2 Product series and features
CLSS circuit OLSS circuit
2.2.1 Rated flow Hydraulic
In the course of development, the rated flow has been circuit

doubled from the 500 L/min of our previous product to 1,000 Pressure
compensation Spool
valve Spool
L/min, taking into account the future development of the series.
However, applying this to the equivalent design from the
previous products would result in the equipment itself being
very large, hence from designing stage we made consultation Fine control Constant due to the effect of the
with the manufacturing division to minimize the size increase. performance pressure compensation valve,

Flow rate
Flow rate
regardless of the load W

Although it is difficult to see once completed, the advantage of

W: Light
developing components in-house is also demonstrated in this
W: Heavy
regard.
Spool stroke Spool stroke

Fig. 3 Comparison between CLSS and OLSS

OLSS, as its name implies, has a neutral circuit called an

open center from the pump to the tank on each spool. Therefore,
the spool requires (1) a neutral circuit from the pump to the
tank, (2) a meter-in circuit from the pump to the actuator, and
(3) a meter-out circuit from the actuator to the tank. If this is
laid out on each spool, the overall length of the spool will
Fig. 2 Appearance of the valve in this paper inevitably increase. Increasing the total length of the spool
tends to increase the size of the valve body, which increases
2.2.2 Valve system both the whole size and the weight. This raises the technical
The control valve systems used in our hydraulic hurdles in various required aspects from machining to
excavators are roughly divided into two types: Closed-center inspection and dimensional precision of the parts. In this valve,
Load Sensing System (CLSS) and Open-center Load Sensing the neutral circuit from the pump to the tank has been made an
System (OLSS). Fig. 3 shows a comparison between CLSS and independent spool. This structure helps to achieve both
OLSS. The CLSS is capable of sending hydraulic oil to each increasing the rated flow of the valve and reducing the overall
actuator as intended by the operator irrespective of load by the length of the spool. In addition, there is potential for further
effect of the pressure compensation valve in the control valve, benefits by making the neutral circuit an independent spool.
and is characterized by excellent fine control performance and Since the neutral circuit runs from the pump to the tank, the
combined operability. On the other hand, the number of parts pump pressure can be freely controlled by its opening. By
increases and the structure becomes complicated. Meanwhile, controlling the independent neutral circuit spool of this valve,
OLSS does not have a pressure compensation valve, so it is the optimum pump pressure can be set according to the
necessary to adjust the hydraulic pressure according to the operating mode and load of the machine. This is one of the
machine situation to distribute the oil flow during combined major features of this valve because it cannot be achieved with
operation, and the rest depends on the skill of the operator. a conventional OLSS valve due to its structure.
However, it is characterized by a simple structure and superior
maintainability to CLSS. In the course of development, we
adopted OLSS to obtain strong reliability and durability.

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 Conventional OLSS OLSS in this paper
Circuit Neutral circuit
diagram

Independent spool
for neutral circuit

Fig. 4 Comparison between conventional OLSS and the OLSS in this paper

2.2.3 Compatible with information and Furthermore for example, electrical control is applied to the
communication technology (ICT) signal to the EPC valve that controls the spool to reduce the
The control valve distributes hydraulic oil sent from the shock to the machine body when operating the work equipment,
pump to each actuator by switching an internal passage with and the spool itself functions as a pseudo pressure
parts called a spool moved by hydraulic pressure. Normally, compensation valve during the aforementioned combined
the spool is driven by a hydraulic signal guided from a Pressure operation, enabling improved operability.
Proportional Control (PPC) valve installed in the cab to the These are technologies that have already been marketed in
control valve with a hose. The routing of hoses, especially in a our ICT-compatible models. In the valve from this paper, a
large model with a large number of spools, becomes spool stroke sensor was mounted on all spools so that the spool
complicated because of the increased number of hoses for movement can be monitored in real time (Fig. 5). This allows
driving spools. Therefore, this valve adopted a system that the service technician to check the spool stroke on the monitor
drives the spool by an Electromagnetic Proportional Control in the cab. The cause of trouble can easily and early be found in
(EPC) valve, and the EPC valves are mounted on the valve troubleshooting, and the machine’s down time be reduced.
itself. This eliminates the need for hydraulic piping for driving As an aside, the EPC valve and stroke sensor (Figs. 6 and
the spool, simplifies the piping around the valve and improves 7) are also in-house developed products. They are designed
maintainability. In addition, using EPC valves mounted on the especially for use in the harsh environment of construction
valve eliminates hydraulic pressure loss in the hose, thereby the machine from the first.
response of spool control is dramatically improved.

Spool stroke sensor

EPC valve
Fig. 6 EPC valve (in-house developed product)
Fig. 5 Electronic equipment mounted on the valve

Fig. 7 Spool stroke sensor (in-house developed product)

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3. Quality confirmation development of this valve, we used various simulations from
the concept and design stages, and optimal parts obtained in the
3.1 Use of simulation technology
simulation were prepared for test. By reducing test parts as
In normal development, several kinds of test parts are
much as possible, we achieved the development cost reduction
prepared, and each is mounted on a machine to check its
and shortening the schedule.
performance. It is relatively easy to select the optimum part
In particular, a new thermal strain simulation has been
from among them. In some cases, it may be possible to reach
implemented in addition to the standard structural simulation
the optimal solution more efficiently than an elaborate only one
and fluid simulation. Since it is the first application for
part tested by simulations. However, in the development of a
hydraulic equipment, there is still room for improvement in the
super-large hydraulic excavator, each part is very big, so it
precision of analysis, but the simulation technology can
takes much more time and cost from the production of a
potentially be further improved by increasing the analysis data
prototype to mounting it on the machine and checking quality,
in future development.
compared to conventional development. Therefore, in the
Pressure [MPa]

Actual
measurement

Current status

Improvement
proposal (1)

Improvement
proposal (4)

Time [sec]

Fig. 8 Example of structural simulation Fig. 9 Example of fluid simulation

Step: Step-2
Increment 90: Step time
Standard variables: CPRESS

Fig. 10 Example of thermal strain simulation

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4. Conclusion Introduction of the author
Daisuke Kozuka
The super-large control valve described in this paper is the
Joined Komatsu Ltd. in 2002.
first fully electrically controlled valve incorporating our
Hydraulic Equipment Technical Center,
various expertise from design to manufacturing. I am
Development Division
convinced that it has the potential to always meet the needs of
state-of-the-art mining sites in the future.

[A comment from the author]

Development has been completed, but we still need to get the
market’s reaction. I am looking forward to seeing how our
customers receive this control valve, which incorporates all of our
expertise. I expect it to do good work at customers’ worksite.

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