Reliability sensitivity analysis for set pressure tolerance of the direct-operated relief valve in a vibration environment

This work provides novel insights into the uncertainty quantification and reliability sensitivity analysis of a direct-operated relief valve undergoing vibration. A reliability model for pressure tolerance failure of the relief valve is developed based on the criterion that the pressure tolerance exceeded the allowable value, incorporating the vibration and multiparameter uncertainty. The Simulink simulation is employed to analyze the nonlinear behaviors of the valve. To avoid excessive nonlinear calculations, a Kriging-based strategy is adopted for reliability sensitivity analysis, allowing for rapid estimation of nonlinear responses. The results are compared with those obtained by MCS to verify the performance of the proposed method. The sensitivity results indicate that the proposed method saves 98 % of computational time without much loss of accuracy. Furthermore, more attention should be paid to the spring stiffness, valve element mass, and controlled chamber volume in the structural reliability design of relief valves.