Which valve maintains a flow rate constant regardless of load?

• A. Flow regulating valves
• B. Two-way flow regulating valve
• C. Meter-out
• D. One-way control valve

Answer: (B)

The key idea is constant flow control with compensation. To move a hydraulic cylinder at a steady speed, the flow going to or from the actuator must stay the same even as the load on the piston changes and the pressure required to push it up or hold it varies. A two-way flow regulating valve is designed to do this in both directions: it modulates the flow to keep a set rate regardless of downstream pressure, so the actuator speed remains essentially constant as load changes.

Simple flow regulating valves without compensation can have their output shift as load pressure changes, so the speed wouldn’t stay constant. A meter-out arrangement controls flow on the outlet side, which helps with speed control in some setups but doesn’t guarantee a true constant flow across all load variations. A one-way control valve can regulate flow in only one direction, leaving the other direction uncompensated. So the two-way, compensated flow regulator best achieves constant flow regardless of load.