Research of materials and alternative materials used in the manufacturing of gas valves used in domestic and industrial cookers

Gas valves are fixed on the inner panels of the cookers and furnaces. The main parts of gas valves are the body, the regulating element, the spindle and the cup. These parts are generally made of aluminum, brass and zamak. The gas valve is formed by assembling the parts produced by machining that require precision job from existing materials. The gas passage is provided by the gas passage holes or channel in the regulating element. The passage holes or channel are machined on the regulating element with a tolerance of ±1 µm. However, in mass production conditions, providing the precision tolerance can't provide continuity for company and causes defective products. It is important to search for alternative material suitable for gas valve standards due to the fact that production technologies are developed and productions are made in smaller tolerances and desiring to reduce energy costs by using gas efficiently in cookers and ovens and current material costs are high. In this study, the usability of ceramic material, which can be an alternative for the regulating element that has sensitive adjustment such as gas flow in the gas valve and therefore requires sensitive production, has been searched and evaluated. In this study, Al2O3 was preferred, which has better mechanical properties and cost than other ceramics. Firstly, the 3D design of the regulation element was made by flow analysis with the FLOEFD program. Then, tests were done to verify the alternative materials fit with valve standards. The manufactured regulating element were tested under test methods such as dynamic, static endurance, bending and torsion at temperature and pressure affecting the operation of the gas valve.