• CASE STUDY •
When the FEA results indicated the design and material combination could withstand the highest shock, physical testing of the seat prototypes could begin.
The project roadmap had highlighted the requirement for physical testing. Given the tight timeframe, shock testing a full valve assembly for each seat design iteration would not be feasible. Whilst the material selection and seat design was in progress, a parallel design task for the engineering team was set in motion for a bespoke test rig to simulate the seat shock in the worst case orientation.
The test rig only required new prototype seats for each test run and concept seat designs could be manufactured and tested with the results analyzed by the design team – all within the same day.
Outcomes of the physical testing corroborated the results acquired from the FEA, validating the approach and enabling greater refinement of the geometry and understanding of the mechanisms at play.
Having settled on the optimal hybrid seat design, which was proven to seal post shock using internal testing methods, a full assembly was prepared with the new seats and shock tested at the customer’ s facility. Flowserve Engineers and the OEM were delighted to find that the valve operated at the original torque level and maintained the bubble-tight seal post shock, all achieved within the nine-month timeframe.
These test outcomes coupled with the OEM and Operators’ familiarity with seat replacement during routine maintenance, meant that Flowserve was able to proceed to design seats across the full valve size range in scope, for implementation throughout the legacy platform.
The investigation and solution delivered by the Worcester Engineering team enabled the customer to extend their platform beyond the original specification and for Flowserve to expand their knowledge and in-house test capabilities. As the owner of the hybrid seat design, Flowserve was granted a patent for the innovation and can offer the solution to all customers with demanding shock requirements.
•
• ABOUT THE EXPERT •
Jill Lawton is a Senior Engineer at Flowserve, supporting the company’ s Worcester ball valve brand, focusing on the Defence Industry. Jill has delivered on multi-million-dollar projects requiring robust technical solutions, whilst working within a framework of sensitive specifications. She holds a Master’ s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Leeds, UK, and is a Chartered by the UK’ s Institute of Mechanical Engineers.
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30 Valve World Americas | November 2025 | www. valve-world-americas. com