Everything You Wanted To Know About Hydraulic Cylinders

Hydraulic Cylinders

A hydraulic Cylinder is a mechanical actuator that uses the force created by a pressurized liquid in a sealed container. The hydraulic cylinders have a variety of application such as in manufacturing machines, heavy construction machines and garbage dump trucks. The fluid used in these cylinders is basically oil. The back and forth movement of the piston inside the cylinder barrel exerts pressure on the fluid and thereby produces force which is about ten times greater than the force exerted on the fluid. A hydraulic cylinder can be divided into following parts:  

Cylinder barrel: The main cylinder body is called cylinder barrel. Its main function is to keep the cylinder pressure intact.

Cylinder base or cap: Enclosed end of the cylinder is known as the cylinder base or cap. 

 Cylinder head: The main function of the head is to enclose the pressure chamber from the other end.

Piston: The back and forth moving object inside the cylinder barrel is called piston. Its function is to vary the pressure inside the barrel.

Piston rod: Piston rod is basically a hard piece of chrome plated rod attached with the piston that extends from the cylinder to the end of rod-head.

Seal gland: seal gland is fixed at the cylinder head to prevent the leakage of pressurised oil and to keep the pressure intact within the barrel.

There are a lot of hydraulic cylinder manufacturers in the market that manufactures different types of hydraulic cylinders with different operating pressure. Based on its components and specifications, the hydraulic cylinders can be classified into Plunger Cylinders or Ram Clylinders, Telescopic hydraulic cylinder
 or Mulstistage Hydraulic Cylinders and Cable Cylinders. 

With of so many choices available in the market, one might get confused while selecting the appropriate hydraulic cylinder. In order to select an appropriate cylinder one must consider the specifications such as bore diameter, maximum operating pressure, rod diameter and stroke or the distance traveled by the piston.