Flexures large deflection analysis.

 

The helium electrovalves mounted in the control system that regulates the flow of hydrogen and oxygen in the main engine of the european launcher Ariane 5 use a series of flexible laminae in Elgiloy (0.07 mm in thickness) of annular shape. They are fixed at one end and simply supported at the other end. During the opening phase, the thin sheet loses gradually the contact while the reaction force on the fixed support varies the point of application, the intensity and orientation. The orientation of the pressures acting on the surfaces varies as well. This way of working is tipically non-linear. The analyses were performed using the large deflection option of ANSYS and the contacting problem was resolved with gap elements.