In the rear end of my pneumatics system I have a pressure regulator, followed by a pressure gauge, and then finally a split which goes to two different solenoids. My question is how does the air pressure split does it:
(A) The air pressure get split too, so I should have the regulator set to 120 psi so that when the split comes you get (120 psi)/2 and 60 psi to each solenoid.
Or does it:
(B) The pressure split uniformly so I show have the pressure regulator set to 60 psi because when the split comes each solenoid will get 60 psi.
P.S: Sorry if the question is badly worded or if it is hard to follow, this is my first time making a post on chief Delphi.
Air moves from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure until the pressure equalizes, so any tubing that’s connected will be at the same pressure.
As others mentioned, pressure will not be affected by the split. What will be affected is air flow, or the volume of air able to pass through each branch.
To draw comparisons to electricity (which may or may not be helpful to you, depending on your experience level), pressure is voltage and flow is current.
If you assume the system is quasi-static (moving, but always at equilibrium), then the pressure is the same in any tube connected without a component in between. What gets divided is the flow rate.
You can think of it like water flowing through the pipes in your house (after all they’re both fluids). The water pressure is the same at each tap no matter how many taps you have running. But the more open taps you have, the higher your total flow will be. Or conversely if there’s a back-up limiting your water main’s flow, the more taps you have open the less water will come out of each one.