Cylinders & Actuators

A product developed jointly between Peninsular Cylinder and FTI Machine Worx has been named a Top Ten Finalist in the “Coolest Thing Made in Michigan” contest. The custom booster cylinder technology is a high-pressure intensifier for accelerated product pressure testing with 3,667 psi input and 11,000 psi output. It’s a one-of-a-kind item specifically made to…

By Jeremy Beale In our series on design concepts for limiting power losses in hydraulic circuits we’ve looked at various applications. These include “high-low” cylinders, displacement-controlled actuators, flow amplification, regeneration and opposite-phased cylinders. Now let’s delve into the use of hydraulic motor two-speed drives. Consider the following load-sensing hydraulic circuit: Suppose that one of the…

By Jeremy Beale One hydraulic design approach that can be used to minimize valve size/losses is to incorporate opposite-phased cylinders into an application. It is most suitable under the following conditions: 1. Pressure and flow requirements match “high-low” operations. Here cylinder motion involves a low-pressure, high-flow stage; and a second a high-pressure, low-flow stage. A…

By Josh Cosford, Contributing Editor Stainless steel air and hydraulic cylinders are used in applications where corrosion resistance is the utmost priority. Standard cylinders are made from combinations of alloy steel, such as 1018, 1045 and 4140, which are all susceptible to oxidation and rust in humid or wet applications. Even when epoxy painted, carbon…

By Jeremy Beale In our editorial series covering designs for power-limiting, open-circuit architectures, we first covered high-low cylinder applications and flow-amplification concepts. Let’s now turn to regeneration. For cylinders with small rod diameters, the flow rates on either side of the cylinder are similar. It would then be more practical to use a “regenerative” approach,…

 By Josh Cosford, Contributing Editor The symbols for hydraulic motors, especially in their simpler forms, are very similar to those of hydraulic pumps. If you haven’t already had the chance, see my article on pumps symbols here first. The directional arrow that points inward to accept fluid power energy is the primary difference between pump…

Moog has launched its new Modular Die Cushion System to extend the life of deep-drawing dies, improve system reliability and reduce commissioning time for manufacturers. Moog`s new Modular Die Cushion System includes a main cylinder (number 4 on the above illustration) with integrated position measuring technology, accumulators, a hydraulic power unit and a number of…

A common problem in industrial hydraulics is the “high-low” cylinder application. It consists of two operating conditions. The first is a low-pressure, high-flow stage. The second is a high-pressure, low-flow stage. A typical example is the compacting cylinder used in recycling machines. As this cylinder extends, pressure slowly builds due to the elastic nature of…

Researchers from Moog and IIT-Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia recently completed the design, assembly and testing of the new version of the hydraulic HyQReal quadruped robot. Its capabilities were demonstrated by pulling an 3,300-kg (7,275 lb) airplane for more than 10 m (394 in). The compact HyQReal is just 1.33 m (52 in.) long, and stands…

Hydraulics are used profusely in steel production because they offer the power density, precision and most importantly, imperviousness to heat required in this harsh environment. By Josh Cosford, Contributing Editor Perhaps more than any other industry in North America, the steel industry experiences the slacks of the economic tide, albeit at a more glacial pace.…

Accurate load tests rely on compact, quiet and efficient servohydraulic axes. Contributed by Andreas Schnurrenberger, Global Sales Manager Industrial Systems, Bucher Hydraulics Using energy more efficiently and reducing total operating costs are worthy and ambitious goals. But substantial improvements can seldom be achieved by simply changing components. Innovative hydraulic systems increasingly require new design approaches,…

Liebherr unveiled a new hydraulic cylinder series for a pressure range of up to 260 bar (3,770 psi) at bauma 2019 in Munich. Now with three distinct production series — the well-established 380 bar cylinder line, the ISO 6022-compliant industrial range, and the new 260 bar cylinders — the company has expanded its offerings of…

Cylinders — whether they are hydraulic or pneumatic — are critical components in most fluid power applications. Cylinders are the workforce in any linear application — mobile, industrial or pneumatic — and they create the mechanical force in a linear motion to move loads. That’s why it’s no surprise that three of our presentations at…

Every other year at Hannover Messe, fluid power manufacturers showcase innovative technologies that advance the industry. With this year’s theme of “Factory of the Future” smart technologies rule. Read them all here, beginning first with a new design from Bosch Rexroth. And stay tuned in the coming weeks as we take more in-depth looks at…

Milwaukee Cylinder has launched a new Quick Ship Program for its NFPA-style tie rod cylinders. The Quick Ship Program includes a wide range of bore sizes, strokes and mounts in the Milwaukee Cylinder H, LH, and A series product lines, ensuring the vast majority of customer needs can be accommodated by this program. The program…

How to maintain uptime in difficult conditions. Contributed by Chris Heberlein, Sales Director – Machine & Plant Engineering, Balluff Inc., Florence, Ky. Reliability is always important in the hydraulics industry and maintaining uptime can be especially challenging in the rugged and hostile applications typical of sawmills, foundries, steel mills and mobile machines. For fluid power…

Traditional clamp and press mode actuation applications have a rapid stroke at a low force while requiring a steep ramp-up to a high force for a short period. These demanding parameters typically result in the expensive oversizing of the hydraulic infrastructure to meet speed and force requirements. Within this large machine footprint, position and force…

The trend toward “intelligent” components, those with highly integrated sensors and control capabilities, is becoming increasingly important in hydraulic applications. Drive-systems with electronic control systems help maximize performance, energy efficiency and ease of use. However, control systems need to acquire information from various processes, which is often challenging, as sensors must be protected against harsh…

Every year, millions of cylinders are sold around the world to a wide array of industries. From foundry, metalworking, lumber and more, there is a common thread found within the inner-workings of this massive industry: cylinder configurators. A configurator provides visual previews of how a cylinder is designed including the mounting style and dimension. Powered…

Kyntronics has developed the SMART Hydraulic Actuator (SHA), a major development in power-on-demand servo-controlled, variable speed actuation. This new actuation technology combines advantages of hydraulics and electromechanical servo technology minus their disadvantages, engineered in a all-in-one, scaleable, modular assembly. New to the OEM market, the Kyntronics’ SHA advantage represents the world’s only standard, all-in-one (variable-speed…

Milwaukee Cylinder has launched its new Idea Center Videos on the Milwaukee Cylinder website. The Idea Center contains several short videos covering different cylinder designs and highlighting what these different cylinder designs can do. The Idea Center Videos help potential users visualize the different capabilities that cylinders have and how they can be used in…

Balluff has expanded its IO-Link sensor portfolio with the addition of the BTL6 rod style linear position sensor with IO-Link 1.1 interface. Ideally suited for continuous hydraulic cylinder position feedback, the BTL6 rod style sensor uses field-proven, time-tested magnetostrictive technology to provide accurate, continuous position and velocity measurement at stroke lengths up to 180 in.…

The University of Michigan’s new athletic facility features a hydraulically operated running track that can be elevated and banked. To create the track, Beynon Sports Surfaces, a manufacturer of athletic surfaces and indoor running tracks, went to long-time partner, Mitchell Machine Works. MMW is responsible for creating the hydraulics system that adjusts the shape of…

With issues such as temperature extremes, washdown capabilities and cleanliness considerations, components for this industry must be thoughtfully selected. By Richard McDonnell, Market Development Manager, Motion Systems, Parker Hannifin Corp. Recently, a food processing OEM was designing and installing a new line of extremely high-speed filling machines intended to deliver higher performance with a smaller…

Researchers at the Technical University (TU) of Munich have developed a new test stand for examining the behavior of concrete bridge beams. To better calculate the load-carrying capacity of these beams in future constructions, six hydraulic cylinders from Liebherr Components, Nussbaumen, Switzerland, are used to press down with full force until the element breaks. The…