THERMAL SCIENCE

International Scientific Journal

MEASUREMENT OF SMALL FLOW RATES THROUGH RADIAL CLEARANCES

ABSTRACT
In most hydraulic components, small orifices and clearances of various geometric shapes govern their operation and influence the components and the hydraulic system's efficiency and dynamic behavior. In applications requiring precise actuator positioning with small and rapid movements, mathematical modeling of fluid flow in control valves (such as servo valves and load-sensing regulators) becomes particularly important. A critical part of this modeling is accurately describing fluid flow through small orifices, especially radial clearances. The most important physical properties of fluids that affect flow through small orifices are density and dynamic viscosity. This paper presents the theoretical basis for determining the change in density and dynamic viscosity of mineral hydraulic oils as a function of the thermodynamic state (pressure and temperature), then gives an analytical expression for determining the flow rate through so-called long radial clearances taking into account the thermodynamic state of the working fluid, and finally describes the installation for experimental measurement of flow rate through small orifices (in the specific case of radial clearances).
KEYWORDS
PAPER SUBMITTED: 2025-07-07
PAPER REVISED: 2025-07-28
PAPER ACCEPTED: 2025-08-06
PUBLISHED ONLINE: 2025-09-13
DOI REFERENCE: https://doi.org/10.2298/TSCI250707148K
CITATION EXPORT: view in browser or download as text file
THERMAL SCIENCE YEAR 2026, VOLUME 30, ISSUE No. 1, PAGES [721 - 730]
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© 2026 Society of Thermal Engineers of Serbia. Published by the Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International licence