A hydraulic cylinder (also called a linear hydraulic motor) is a mechanical actuator that is used to give a unidirectional force through a unidirectional stroke. It has many applications, notably in construction equipment (engineering vehicles), manufacturing machinery, and civil engineering.Operation
Hydraulic cylinders get their power from pressurized hydraulic fluid, which is typically oil. The hydraulic cylinder consists of a cylinder barrel, in which a piston connected to a piston rod moves back and forth. The barrel is closed on one end by the cylinder bottom (also called the cap) and the other end by the cylinder head (also called the gland) where the piston rod comes out of the cylinder. The piston has sliding rings and seals. The piston divides the inside of the cylinder into two chambers, the bottom chamber (cap end) and the piston rod side chamber (rod end / head end).
Flanges, trunnions, clevises, and lugs are common cylinder mounting options. The piston rod also has mounting attachments to connect the cylinder to the object or machine component that it is pushing or pulling.
A hydraulic cylinder is the actuator or “motor” side of this system. The “generator” side of the hydraulic system is the hydraulic pump which delivers a fixed or regulated flow of oil to the hydraulic cylinder, to move the piston. The piston pushes the oil in the other chamber back to the reservoir. If we assume that the oil enters from cap end, during extension stroke, and the oil pressure in the rod end / head end is approximately zero, the force F on the piston rod equals the pressure P in the cylinder times the piston area A:
Retraction force difference
For double-acting single-rod cylinders, when the input and output pressures are reversed, there is a force difference between the two sides of the piston due to one side of the piston being covered by the rod attached to it. The cylinder rod reduces the surface area of the piston and reduces the force that can be applied for the retraction stroke.[1]
During the retraction stroke, if oil is pumped into the head (or gland) at the rod end and the oil from the cap end flows back to the reservoir without pressure, the fluid pressure in the rod end is (Pull Force) / (piston area – piston rod area):
where P is the fluid pressure, Fp is the pulling force, Ap is the piston face area and Ar is the rod cross-section area.
For double-acting, double-rod cylinders, when the piston surface area is equally covered by a rod of equal size on both sides of the head, there is no force difference. Such cylinders typically have their cylinder body affixed to a stationary mount.
Applications
Hydraulic cylinders are used in earth-moving equipment to lift or lower the boom, arm, or bucket. These cylinders are also used in hydraulic bending machine, metal sheet sheering machine, particle board or plywood making hot press.
