This SAE Aerospace Recommended Practice (ARP) is intended as a guide to aid in the specification and testing of electrohydraulic servovalves.

The recommendations are confined to interface definition and input/output characteristics. This ARP does not restrict or attempt to define the internal characteristics of servovalves. As such, the recommendations are equally applicable to valves having different internal functioning, different ratings, different physical size, and valves used with different fluids. In certain instances, standards for valve design are recommended for the purpose of interchangeability, as for example, valve polarity, mounting bolt and fluid port locations.

The ARP provides extensive guidance for the preparation of Procurement Specifications and for functional testing. A sample Procurement Specification is provided in Appendix A. The primary focus of this ARP is on four-way valves. Threeway valves are discussed to a limited extent and terminology for pressure control valves is presented in Appendix B.

This ARP is applicable to fluid power systems in all types of flight vehicles, and it is applicable to Military, Civil and Space design/certification standards. Additional specifications or specialized test procedures may be necessary to define special requirements for specific control systems, and such considerations are beyond the scope of this ARP.