Butterfly Valve Torque Shaping

The project’s objective is to design, analyze, and test a butterfly outflow valve that is aerodynamically loaded when closed. Air inside a pressurized cabin circulates constantly and new air must be cycled in to maintain oxygen levels, but adding more air to a fixed cabin volume increases cabin pressure. The butterfly outflow valve maintains cabin pressure by allowing air to flow out of the cabin to the atmosphere. Pressure on the valve plate at some opening angles causes valves as currently designed to be aerodynamically loaded when open, which means the valve would stay open, causing a loss of cabin pressure, should an actuator or other system fail. Redesigning the valve plate to be aerodynamically loaded when closed means that pressure across the valve plate keeps the valve closed in the event of a failure, thus avoiding sudden loss of cabin pressure.