As we all know, hydraulic cylinders have a variety of structural forms, so you may worry about how to select the suitable hydraulic cylinders when buying new hydraulic cylinders or replacing old ones for your factories. If you don’t know how to take measurements, please follow the 10 steps in this guide.
1. What are the basic parameters of a hydraulic cylinder?
It is important to understand the basics of hydraulic presses, and it will be very useful for you to learn how to measure hydraulic presses. A hydraulic cylinder has four basic parameters,cylinder diameter, rod diameter, stroke and operating pressure. Next, this guide will introduce them to you one by one.
● What is cylinder diameter?
Cylinder diameter is the inner diameter of the cylinder barrel in a hydraulic press. It is a critical parameter in hydraulic presses, directly affecting their output force and speed. Standard cylinder bore sizes are categorized into three types: small, medium, and large.
Small cylinder bores come in 9 sizes, with common dimensions including 8mm, 10mm, 12mm, and 16 mm. Medium cylinder bores come in 5 sizes, with common dimensions including 63mm, 80mm, and 100mm. Large cylinder bores come in 6 sizes, with common dimensions including 200mm, 250mm, and 300mm.
● What is rod diameter?
Rod diameter refers to the diameter of the piston rod in a hydraulic cylinder. It is also a key parameter of the hydraulic cylinder and it decides the load-bearing capacity of the hydraulic cylinder. Common rod diameter sizes include 20 mm, 40 mm, or 60 mm.
The larger the rod diameter, the stronger the bending resistance of the hydraulic press,and this also requires a larger cylinder diameter to match.
● What is stroke?
Stroke of a hydraulic press refers to the maximum distance that the piston rod can move in the hydraulic cylinder, and it directly affects the range of applications for the hydraulic press.
● What is operating pressure?
Operating pressure of a hydraulic press usually refers to the maximum pressure the hydraulic press can achieve under normal operating conditions. Its units are usually expressed in MPa or bar. The operating pressure of a hydraulic press is decided by design structure and material strength.
For example, the operating pressure range for ordinary industrial hydraulic presses is 10–25 MPa, and large-scale equipment hydraulic presses can reach up to 35 MPa.
In summary, cylinder diameter, rod diameter, stroke, and operating pressure,these four technical parameters together form the core performance indicators of hydraulic cylinders.Rod-type, rolling mill-type, and welded-type hydraulic cylinders can be single-acting or double-acting.
2. What are the steps for measuring a hydraulic cylinder?
● What are the preparations for measuring a hydraulic cylinder?
Before starting the measurement, you should prepare the measurement and recording tools, including a ruler, calipers, thread gauges, a table for recording measurement results, and a pen. And safety tools such as safety helmets and steel-toed shoes.
● What are the 10 steps for measuring a hydraulic cylinder?
If you have prepared your tools, you can follow these ten steps to begin measuring. Here’s a step-by-step guide:
Step 1: Check the hydraulic cylinder information.
First,check the information of the hydraulic cylinder.The information usually on the top of equipment.If you can’t find it ,please skip step 1 and go on.If you find it,you can know the basics parameters of hydraulic cylinder.
Step 2: Measure the cylinder diameter.
Put the caliper on the cylinder barrel when you measure. During the operation, you should make sure the caliper remains horizontal and vertical to the cylinder barrel.
Step 3: Measure the rod diameter of hydraulic cylinder
When measuring the diameter of the rod, place the caliper on top of the rod and measure its outer diameter, and you should take care not to measure areas that are worn.
Step 4: Measure the stroke of hydraulic cylinder
If you don’t pull it out completely,measurement results will be wrong. After measuring the distance the cylinder rod extends, you can calculate the stroke. Your hydraulic cylinder stroke is the result of extension length minus retraction length.
Step 5: Extended length measurement
When you measure extended length,you should pull the cylinder rod completely, and use calipers to measure the distance between the two mounting holes.
Step 6: Retracted length measurement
Measuring the retracted length of a hydraulic cylinder and extended length of a hydraulic cylinder is the same step.You must make sure it retracted completely.After confirmation,you can measure the length between the two holes.
Step 7: Determine the thread type at the rod end.
There are many types of threaded rod ends for hydraulic cylinders,so it’s important to measure it.
Step 8: Determine the installation method.
Hydraulic cylinders have many installation methods. Normally,industrial hydraulic cylinders are installed using flanges, and mobile hydraulic cylinders are installed using pivots.
Step 9: Determine the hose size.
You can use calipers to measure the dimensions of your hydraulic hose. Common hose sizes have 4 mm, 6 mm, and 8 mm.
Step10: Determine the working pressure.
You can know the working pressure of the hydraulic press depending on your work environment and hydraulic system. You can measure the maximum pressure at the interface of the hydraulic cylinder,then know pressure that the hydraulic cylinder can produce.
3. Why is it important to measure hydraulic cylinders accurately?
● Improves hydraulic system performance
If the hydraulic cylinder dimensions are wrong, it will damage your equipment and reduce factory efficiency. Correct measurement of hydraulic cylinder dimensions can avoid these problems.
● Ensures safe operation
If the hydraulic cylinder dimensions are wrong, it will not only damage your equipment, but also can hurt your workers. Correctly measuring the dimensions of hydraulic cylinders can protect your workers.
● No need to exchange or return goods
If the hydraulic cylinder size is wrong, returning or exchanging it can be very troublesome and waste your time. The correct hydraulic cylinder size can improve your efficiency and save you time.
4.What are the common errors that will happen when measuring hydraulic cylinders?
The detailed steps for measuring hydraulic cylinders have already been provided above. Now we will introduce the common errors that may occur during the measurement process. If the data you measure is incorrect, please refer to the following four scenarios to confirm and correct the issue.
● You don’t consider equipment wear
Because of time factors, hydraulic cylinders may cause wear, particularly components such as rods. It can affect your measurement results. Therefore, you must take potential wear and tear into consideration when performing measurements.
● You don’t specify the type of hydraulic cylinder.
It is very important to determine the type of your hydraulic cylinder, otherwise it will cause incorrect measurement results.
● You mix the cylinder bore and the outer cylinder diameter.
There are a lot of people who often mix the cylinder bore and the outer cylinder diameter. You must know that the cylinder bore is the inner diameter of the hydraulic press cylinder barrel, not the outer diameter of the cylinder. Be sure to pay attention to this when measuring.
Conclusion
This article provides you with a detailed introduction of basic hydraulic cylinders. And teach you how to accurately measure them step by step. The 10 steps in the article can help you to buy or replace the right hydraulic cylinders for your business. If you are still unsure how to measure or if your measurements are incorrect, we have experienced professionals who can assist you. Please feel free to contact us at any time!
