HYDRAULIC

ACTUATORS &
MOTORS
POWER CONVERSION IN
HYDRULIC SYSTEM
 ACTUATORS
• Hydraulic systems are used to control & transmit power
A pump driven by prime mover (electric motor) creates flow of fluid.
• An actuator is used to convert the energy of the fluid back into
mechanical power
Amount of output power developed depends upon the flow rate,
pressure drop across the actuator & its overall efficiency
TYPES OF ACTUATORS
9 Linear actuator (hydraulic cylinder)
- Provides motion in straight line
- Linear displacement depends on stroke length (length of actuator)
- Usually referred to as cylinders, rams (single acting cylinders) or
jacks (cylinder used for lifting)
9 Rotary actuators (Hydraulic motors)
- Produces continuous rotational motion
- Pump shaft is rotated to generate flow, a motor shaft is caused to
rotate by fluid being forced into the driving chambers
 ACTUATORS
9 Semi rotary actuators
- Produces non-continuous rotational motion
- Limited to less than one revolution (<360°)
- Used to produce oscillatory motions in mechanisms

LINEAR HYDRAULIC ACTUATORS (CYLINDERS)

Common Types
™ Single acting cylinder
™ Double acting cylinder
™ Displacement cylinder
Special Types
1. Plunger or ram 2. Telescoping 3.Cable
4. Diaphragm 5. Bellow 6. Tandem
7. Duplex 8. Rotary
SINGLE ACTING CYLINDER
OPERATION OF SINGLE ACTING CYLINDER
OPERATION OF SINGLE ACTING CYLINDER
• Produces linear motion in one direction
• Consists of cylinder (barrel), piston, piston-rod (ram) & inlet port at
piston end or blank end (other end is known as rod end)
• Cylinder is machined to high surface finish (honing)
• Fluid enters through inlet port into piston end or blank end –pressure
build up- force generation on piston- movement of piston –
EXTENSION or FORWARD STROKE
• RETRACTION or RETURN by compression spring or under the
influence of gravity (only in case of vertical mounting)
• Usage of seals – Piston seal (imparts clearance between piston &
cylinder for clear movement), Rod seal or End seal (prevention of
leakage from cylinder), Bearing (supports piston rod) & Wiper
(prevention of dirt/dust entry into the cylinder)
• Drain hole helps in removing the leaked oil across piston seal
• Widely used in hydraulic systems
DOUBLE ACTING CYLINDER
DOUBLE ACTING CYLINDER
 DOUBLE ACTING CYLINDER
• Produces linear motion in two directions
• May be single rod ended or double rod ended
• Piston is connected to smaller diameter piston rod
• Fluid pressure acts on either side of piston alternatively
• Both sides of piston has oil ports
• Parts of double acting cylinder
• Fluid enters through left port causing extension stroke while when it
enters through right port causes retraction stroke, for present case
• For a given pressure double acting cylinder (single rod type) exerts
greater force when extending than when retracting
CONSTRUCTIONAL FEATURES
OF CYLINDER
 CONSTRUCTIONAL FEATURES
OF DOUBLE ACTING CYLINDER
• Five basic parts – Base cap & Bearing cap with port connections, a
cylinder barrel, piston & piston rod
• End caps are secured to barrel through welding or threaded connection
• Smooth inner surface of barrel (seamless drawn tube) to prevent wear
& leakage
• Pistons (separates high & low pressure zones) are usually made of
cast iron or steel
• Function of End seal, bearing & wiper seal
DOUBLE ROD CYLINDER
 DOUBLE ROD CYLINDER
• Consists of two rods

• It is of double acting type

• Suitable for extracting work from both sides at a time

• For the same rod diameters force remains same

• Used when required to exert equal forces & speed in both

directions

• This type of cylinder is center mounted and is normally

used when the same task is performed at either end on
staggered cycles
TANDEM CYLINDER
 TANDEM CYLINDER

• Also known as combination cylinder

• Two separate pistons are mounted on same rod

• Two double acting cylinders are connected in series

• Suitable for higher force (2 cylinders – twice force)

generation with smaller cylinders

• High volume of oil is required to drive the cylinders

TELESCOPIC CYLINDER
TELESCOPIC CYLINDER
 TELESCOPIC CYLINDER
• Multiple cylinders mounted concentrically within one another
• Suitable for longer strokes with shorter retraction
• Operates on displacement principle
• Stop rings limit the movement of each section
• When the cylinder extends, all the sections move together until the
outer section is prevented from further extension by its stop ring
• Remaining sections continue out-stroking until the second outermost
section reaches the limit of its stroke and so on until all sections are
extended, the innermost one being last of all
• For a given input flow rate, the speed of operation will increase in
steps as each successive section reaches the end of its stroke,
• For a specific pressure the load lifting capacity reduces for each
successive section
• Example : high lift fork truck, tilting of truck dump bodies
JA/131/Ex. 4.2
 Cushioning of Hydraulic Cylinder
 Cushioning of cylinders means gradual deceleration of the
piston near the end of its stroke.
 It is very helpful to reduce shock or impact of load on the
cylinder end covers specially when heavy load is connected to
the rod or the cylinder is working at very high speed.
 A cushioning screw is used to control the cushion bore as shown
in fig.
 One must keep in mind that the cushion is not a speed
controlling device but a shock alleviator (reducer).
 The cushion assembly consists basically of a small passage to
allow entrapped oil to the part with a cushion needle with an
integral ball check valve to allow free flow of oil during next
start of piston travel.
Cushioning of Hydraulic Cylinder
Cushioning of Hydraulic Cylinder
COUSHIONED CYLINDER

AP/124/Fig. 5.10
 COUSHIONED CYLINDER
• End caps (base cap) have to withstand shock loads (fluid pressure or
from kinetic energy of the moving parts) at extremes of piston travel

• Reduction of shock loads with the help of cushion valves build in end
caps

• Exhaust fluid flow is unrestricted until plunger enters the cap

• As plunger enters end cap port fluid experiences blockage, passes

through deceleration valve (adjustable needle valve) which in turn
reduces speed & the end of travel impact

• Deceleration valve is adjustable to allow the deceleration rate to be set

• A check valve is included in the end cap to bypass the deceleration

valve & give near full flow as the cylinder extends
PRESSURE DISTRIBUTION IN COUSHION

JA/142/Fig. 4-12
 COUSHIONED CYLINDER
PRESSURE DISTRIBUTION IN CUSHION
• During deceleration extremely high pressure may develop
within a cylinder cushion

• The action of cushioning device is to set up a back

pressure to decelerate the load

• Ideally the back pressure will be constant over the entire

cushioning length to give a progressive load deceleration

• In practice, cushion pressure is highest when the piston rod

has just entered the cushion
CYLINDER MOUNTING ARRANGEMENTS
Various types of cylinder
mountings permit versatility
in the anchoring of cylinders
Cylinder mounting is
determined by application

Clamp requires simple

fixed mounting
Pusher requires a cylinder
mount which can pivot

AP/127/Fig. 5.14
 MOUNTING TYPES
For the rod end of cylinder
1. Plain 2. Threaded 3. Clevis
4. Flange 5. Tongue or Eye
For the cylinder body
1. Plain 2. Foot 3. Square bracket or pedestal
4. Trunnion – Cap or head ended 5. Trunnion – center
6. Flange – rectangular or square 7. Clevis
8. Tongue & bracket
All the above mountings can basically be categorized as:
CENTER LINE MOUNTING
¾ Best way to support a cylinder
¾ Mounting bolts in this case will be under shear or simple stress
¾ No compound force acts on the bolts
¾ Styles – Rectangular / Square flange connected to cap / head end
 MOUNTING TYPES
FOOT MOUNTING
¾ Subjected to turning moments when loaded
¾ Mount tends to rotate or bend the cylinder about its mounting bolts
¾ Used where cylinders are mounted on to the surfaces parallel to the
axis of cylinder
¾ Compared to center line mounted cylinders these type of cylinders are
subjected to higher stresses
¾ Various styles – Side end angle mounting, Flush mounting etc.

PIVOT MOUNTING
¾ Cylinder have rotational freedom while it reciprocates
¾ Different styles available are
Clevis mounting
Trunnion mounting – Cap end
Trunnion mounting – Head end
Trunnion mounting – Intermediate
MOUNTING TYPES

AP/128/Fig. 5.15
CLEVIS MOUNTING (PIVOT)

SRM/272/Fig. 8.8
 MOUNTING TYPES
FOOT MOUNTING
Designed to give a limited amount of movement on one foot only

ROD END FLANGE or FRONT FLANGE

Withstands extend stroke fluid pressure

REAR or BACK or HEAD END FLANGE

Load acts through the fluid onto the rear flange
Presence of hoop stress

TRUNNION MOUNTING
Allows angular movement

EYE or CLEVIS MOUNTING

Jack-knife under load
AE/199/Fig. 6-4
MECHANICAL LINKAGE COMBINATION
WITH HYDRAULIC CYLINDER

SRM/277/Fig. 8.15
MECHANICAL LINKAGE COMBINATION
WITH HYDRAULIC CYLINDER

SRM/277/Fig. 8.15
MECHANICAL LINKAGE COMBINATION
WITH HYDRAULIC CYLINDER

SRM/277/Fig. 8.15
MECHANICAL LINKAGE COMBINATION
WITH HYDRAULIC CYLINDER

SRM/277/Fig. 8.15
MECHANICAL LINKAGE COMBINATION
WITH HYDRAULIC CYLINDER

SRM/277/Fig. 8.15
MECHANICAL LINKAGE COMBINATION
WITH HYDRAULIC CYLINDER

SRM/277/Fig. 8.15
CYLINDER FORCE, VELOCITY & POWER

AE/202/Fig. 6-7 (a)

 CYLINDER FORCE, VELOCITY & POWER
The output force (F) & piston velocity (υ) of double acting
cylinders are not same for extension & retraction strokes
EXTENSION STROKE
Fluid enters the blank end of cylinder through the
entire circular area of the piston AP
CYLINDER FORCE, VELOCITY & POWER

AE/202/Fig. 6-7 (b)

 CYLINDER FORCE, VELOCITY & POWER
RETRACTION STROKE
Fluid enters the rod end of cylinder through the
Smaller annular between the rod & cylinder bore “AP- Ar”

Extension force is greater than the retraction

force for the same operating pressure
Retraction velocity is greater the extension velocity
for the same input flow rate
 CYLINDER FORCE, VELOCITY & POWER

CYLINDER POWER
Power developed by hydraulic cylinder equals the product of its
force and velocity during a given stroke
Power = p X Qin

AE/222/6-14M, 6-17M
 CYLINDER LOADINGS THROUGH
MECHANICAL LINKAGES
• In many applications, the load force that a hydraulic cylinder must
overcome does not act along the axis of the hydraulic cylinder

• Load force & the hydraulic cylinder force are in general not equal

• Following slides presents an analysis on how to determine the

hydraulic cylinder force required to drive nonaxial loads using the
first, second & third class lever systems

• Cylinder rod & load rod are pin connected by a lever that can rotate
about a fixed hinge pin
FIRST CLASS LEVER SYSTEM

AE/209/Fig. 6-12
 FIRST CLASS LEVER SYSTEM
• Characterized by the lever fixed hinge pin being located between the
cylinder & load rod pins
• L1 = Length of lever portion from cylinder rod pin to the fixed hinge
• L2 = Length of lever portion from the load rod pin to the fixed hinge
• At equilibrium two moments about fixed hinge pin are equal in
magnitude

When L1 is greater than L2, the cylinder force is less than load force
Load stroke is less than the cylinder stroke
 FIRST CLASS LEVER SYSTEM
• Cylinder is clevis-mounted
• If the centerline of the hydraulic cylinder becomes offset
by an angle Φ from the vertical, then

When Φ is 10º or less, the value of cos Φ is nearly unity

(cos 0º = 1 & cos 10º = 0.985)
SECOND CLASS LEVER SYSTEM

AE/210/Fig. 6-13
 SECOND CLASS LEVER SYSTEM
• Characterized by load rod pin being located between the fixed hinge
pin & cylinder rod pin of the lever
• L1 = Length of lever portion from cylinder rod pin to load rod pin
• L2 = Length of lever portion from the fixed hinge pin to load rod pin
• At equilibrium two moments about fixed hinge pin are equal

Smaller cylinder force is required to drive a given load force for a

given lever length if second instead of first class lever system is used
Results in smaller load stroke for a given cylinder stroke
Usage of second rather than first lever system reduces the required
cylinder piston area for a given application
THIRD CLASS LEVER SYSTEM

AE/211/Fig. 6-14
 THIRD CLASS LEVER SYSTEM
• Cylinder rod pin lies between the load rod pin & fixed hinge pin
• L1 = Length of lever portion from cylinder rod pin to load rod pin
• L2 = Length of lever portion from fixed hinge pin to cylinder rod pin
• At equilibrium two moments about fixed hinge pin are equal

Cylinder force is greater than the load force

Load stroke is greater than the cylinder stroke, at the expense of larger
cylinder diameter

AE/224/6.25M
 ROTARY
ACTUATORS
GEAR MOTOR
VANE MOTOR

AP/138/Fig. 5.27
SWASH PLATE TYPE PISTON MOTOR
BENT-AXIS TYPE PISTON MOTOR
Radial Piston Motors
SEMI-ROTARY
ACTUATORS
 SEMI-ROTARY ACTUATORS
VANE TYPE

PISTON TYPE or LEVER ARM

RACK & PINION TYPE

CHAIN & SPROCKET

HELICAL SCREW TYPE

 VANE ACTUATOR

Single Vane Double Vane

JA/152/Fig. 4.20
PISTON TYPE or LEVER ARM ACTUATOR

JA/154/Fig. 4.22
RACK & PINION TYPE ACTUATOR

AP/139/Fig. 5.29 (b)

CHAIN & SPROCKET ACTUATOR

JA/154/Fig. 4.23
HELICAL SCREW ACTUATOR

JA/155/Fig. 4.24