Ch.

3- Hydraulics

EET 337
Pneumatics and Hydraulics System
 Contents

1) Introduction
2) Hydraulic Power Applications
3) Basic Principles of Hydraulic Power
4) Hydraulic Power System Components
5) Types of Hydraulic Power Systems

2
 Objectives

By the end of the chapter, you will able to:

Give example of hydraulic power system applications
Explain the basic hydraulic systems
List and discuss the operation of basic components of
hydraulic systems
Explain types of hydraulic systems

3
 1. Intro. to fluid power system

 Fluid power is the transmission of forces and motions

using a confined, pressurized fluid.
– In hydraulic fluid power systems the fluid is oil, or
less commonly water,
– While in pneumatic fluid power systems the fluid
is air.

4
 Advantages

 Fluid power is ideal for high speed, high force, and

high power applications.
 Compared to all other actuation technologies
– Highest force and power density
– Higher bandwidth than electric motors and can be
used in applications that require fast starts, stops
and reversals, or that require high frequency
oscillations
– Hydraulic systems can be finely controlled for
precision motion applications.
– Cylinders are relatively small and light for their
5 weight
 Disadvantages

 Fluid power is not all good news. Such are the

challenges
– Hydraulic systems can leak oil at connections and
seals.
– Fluids can cavitate and retain air resulting in
spongy performance and loss of precision.
– Fluids can be contaminated with particles and
require careful filtering.
– Hydraulic power is not as easy to generate as
electric power and requires a heavy, noisy pump.

6
 2. Hydraulic Power Applications

 Hydraulics power system dominates high power

application such as
– The brakes in cars
– Every large agriculture, construction and mining
machine including harvesters, drills and
excavators.
– They are also common in air craft systems.

7
 The largest mining truck

 Uses fluid
power for
many of its
internal
actuation
systems,
including
lifting the
fully loaded
bed.

8
 The largest forging press

 A 40,000- ton
forging press that
weighs over 5.2
million pounds
 Powered by
hydraulics
operating at 6,600
psi requiring 24 700
hp pumps.

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 The MAST system

 Used to conduct three-

dimensional, quasi-static
testing of large scale
civil engineering
structures, including
buildings, to determine
behavior during
earthquakes.
 Has eight hydraulic
actuators that can each
push or pull with a force
of 3910 kN.
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 Excavators

 Used in the construction

industry for large
digging and lifting
operations
 The 345C L operates at
a hydraulic pressure of
5,511 psi to generate a
bucket digging force of
60,200 lbs and a lift force
of up to 47,350 lbs.

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 A feller buncher

 A large
forestry
machine that
cuts trees in
place

12
 Roller coasters

 Some of the fastest

roller coasters in the
world get their initial
launch from
hydraulics and
pneumatics.

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 Hydraulic systems in aircraft

 Provide a means for

the operation of
aircraft components.
 The operation of
landing gear, flaps,
flight control
surfaces, and
brakes is largely
accomplished with
hydraulic power
systems.
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 3. Basic Principles of Hydraulic
Power

 Pressure and Flow

– Fluid power is characterized by two main variables,
pressure and flow, whose product is power.
– Pressure P is force per unit area and flow Q is
volume per time.
– Because pneumatics uses compressible gas as the
fluid, mass flow rate Qm is used for the flow variable.
– For hydraulics, the fluid is generally treated as
incompressible, which means ordinary volume flow
Q can be used.

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 Pascal’s Law

 States that in a
confined fluid at
rest, pressure acts
equally in all
directions and
acts perpendicular
to the confining
walls

 I.e. all chambers, hoses and spaces in a fluid power

system that have open passageways between them are
16 at equal pressure so long as the fluid is not moving.
 A simple hydraulic amplifier

 The piston on the right is 25 times the area of the piston

on the left. Pushing down with 10 lbs on the left piston
will lift a 250 lb load on the right because the pressure of
10 psi is the same everywhere.

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 High fluid forces

 The crowning glory of fluid power is the ability for small,

light fluid power cylinders to produce extremely large
forces.
 Consider the Caterpillar 345D hydraulic excavator
having the bore (diameter) of the cylinder that drives the
stick is 7.5 in. and the maximum working pressure is
5511 psi. The peak force in the cylinder is therefore
F = P × A = 5511 × π × (7.5/2)2 = 243,468 lbs
 Or it is over 120 tons! It is impossible to produce this
force using electric motors.

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 Increasing the force further

 Force can be increased two ways,

– Raising the pressure or
– Increasing the bore of the cylinder.
 Force is proportional to pressure but goes as the square of
the bore, which means small increases in cylinder size results
in large increases in force.
– For example, consider a small pneumatic cylinder with a 7/16 in.
bore running at 60 psi. This cylinder can push with 9 lbs of force.
But force goes up as bore squared and a 4 in. bore cylinder at
the same 60 psi can push with 754 lbs of force.
 Of course the extra force does not come free. A larger
cylinder requires a greater volume of fluid to move the load
than a smaller cylinder.
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 Hydraulic fluids

 The main purpose of the fluid in a fluid power system is to

transmit and distribute forces to various units to be actuated.
 All liquids are able to do this because they are almost
incompressible.
 However, there are other practical considerations that dictate
the specific fluids used in real hydraulic systems.
– The fluids must cool the system by dissipation of heat in a
radiator or reservoir
– Must help with sealing to prevent leaks
– Must lubricate sliding and rotating surfaces such as those in
motors and cylinders,
– Must not corrode components and
20 – Must have a long life without chemical breakdown.
 Hydraulic fluids behavior measure

 Expressed in terms of viscosity and bulk modulus.

 The viscosity of a fluid is its resistance to flow.
– Water is thin and has low viscosity while honey is thick and has
high viscosity.
– The fluids for hydraulic systems are a compromise. Too low
viscosity causes a volumetric loss of efficiency, while too high
viscosity causes a loss of mechanical efficiency
 The bulk modulus of the fluid is the property that indicates the
springiness (compressibility) of the fluid and is defined as
the pressure needed to cause a given decrease in volume.
– In many engineering applications, liquids are assumed to be
completely incompressible even though all materials can be
compressed to some degree.
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 Hydraulic fluids change behavior

 When air bubbles are entrained in the hydraulic oil, the

bulk modulus drops and the fluid becomes springy.
– You may have experienced this when the brake pedal in your car felt
spongy. The solution was to bleed the brake system, which releases
the trapped air so that the brake fluid becomes stiff again.
 Another way that the fluid can change properties is if the
pressure fall below the vapor pressure of the liquid
causing the formation of vapor bubbles.
– When the bubbles collapse, a shock wave is produced that can erode
nearby surfaces.
– Cavitation damage can be a problem for propellers and for fluid power
pumps with the erosion greatly shortening the lifetime of components.

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 4. Hydraulic Power Components

 This section describes

– the most common components found in typical fluid power
systems.
– Standard symbols for the schematic representation of fluid power
components are also introduced. Fluid power symbols are
referenced in ISO standard 1219-1:2006.
 The components
– Oil pumps, reservoirs, filters, pressure regulators, relief
valves, reducer valves, instruments, accumulator, tubing and
fittings
– Hydraulic Valves- manual valves, check valves, sequence valves,
flow control valves
– Electrohydraulic components – solenoid valves, push buttons,
limit switches, pressure switches, relays & timers
23 – Actuators- Cylinders and hydraulic motors
 Basic Hydraulic Systems

 Every
hydraulic
system has a
minimum
number of
basic
components
in addition to
tubing and
fittings
through which
the fluid is
transmitted.
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 Hydraulic Pumps

 Hydraulic power unit of DL 0402 HTS

and its symbol
 It has pumps driven by electric motor,
tanker, relief valve, pressure gauge,
oil level indicator, input filter, and
pressure and return line.
 Ratings
– Flow rate: 4.5L/min
– Tank capacity: 35L
– Operating pressure: 1-6 MPa
– Max pressure: 10MPa

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 Reservoir/oil tank

 The main function of the reservoir is to provide a source of

room temperature oil at atmospheric pressure (treated as
source of zero pressure).
 Conceptually, a reservoir is nothing more than an oil storage
tank connected to atmosphere through a breather and
having pump and return lines to deliver and accept oil.
 In practice, it has additional functions including de-aerating
and acting as a heat exchanger.
 Symbol of a oil tank is shown below

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 Filter

 Oils can get contamination from

– The oil manufacturing process,
– Wear of sliding metallic surface,
– Rust from metals and
– Polymer particles from seal wear.
 These dirt particles are tiny grit that cause
– Additional abrasive wear and can lead to corrosion
– Clogging tiny clearances in precision valves and
cylinders.
 All practical hydraulic systems require a filter in the circuit.

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 Filter

 In-line filters have a fine mesh

media formed from wire, paper or
glass fiber, formed to create a large
surface area for the fluid to pass
through.
 The oil filter used in car is an
example of a hydraulic filter.
 Sometimes the filter is included
inside the reservoir or is part of an
integrated power supply unit
along with the motor, pump and
reservoir.
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 Piping, Fittings and Connectors

 In hydraulic power systems the flow of oil is through flexible

hoses with right-angle fittings to make connection between
components.
 DL 0402 HTS has the following hoses and connectors with
fittings

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 Pressure measurement

 Pressure is measured with a

mechanical dial type pressure
gage or with an electronic
pressure transducer that outputs
a voltage proportional to pressure.
 Almost all pressure transducers
report gauge pressure because
they expose their reference
surface to atmosphere.
 DL 0402 HTS pressure gauge and
its symbol shown below

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 Flow measurement

 Flow is measured with

a flow meter placed
in-line with the fluid
circuit. The common
methods are that use
turbine and an
orifice.
 DL 0402 HTS inline
flow meter
(1-7.5L/min) and its
symbol.
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 Accumulators

 Used for temporarily storing

pressurized oil. I.e. they are used
– to supply transient peak power,
which reduces the flow rate
requirement for the power supply
and
– to act as shock absorbers for
smoothing out pressure wave
spikes.
 The oil enters a chamber and acts
against a piston or bladder to raise a
weight, compress a spring or
compress a gas.
32
 Accumulators

 DL 0402 HTS accumulators

– Air bag withstand pressure: 10MPa
– Pre set pressure: 3MPa
– Rated capacity: 1L
 Its symbol also shown below together
with selector valve, relief valve and
pressure gauge.

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 Pressure Control Valves

 The safe and efficient operation of fluid power systems,

system components, and related equipment requires a
means of controlling pressure.
 There are many types of automatic pressure control
valves.
– Some keep the pressure in a system within a required
range (Pressure regulators)
– Some of them are an escape for pressure that exceeds a
set pressure (Relief valves)
– And some only reduce the pressure to a lower pressure
system or subsystem (Pressure reducers)
 See the hydraulic circuit in the next side to see where these
34 components are located
35
 Relief Valves
 Used to limit the amount of pressure
being exerted to prevent failure of
components or rupture of hydraulic
lines under excessive pressures.
Thus, in effect, it is a system safety
valve.
 Its design incorporates adjustable
spring-loaded valves.
 They are installed in such a manner
as to discharge fluid from the
pressure line into a reservoir return
line when the pressure exceeds the
predetermined maximum for which
the valve is adjusted.
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 Relief Valves

 DL 0402 HTS relief

valve and its symbol
– Max Pressure:
10MPa
– Operating
Pressure: 6 MPa
 DL 0402 HTS also
has pilot operated
relief valve.
– See figure below
and its symbol

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 Pressure Reducers

 Used in hydraulic systems where it is necessary to lower the

normal system operating pressure by a specified amount.
 Provide a steady pressure into a system that operates at a
lower pressure than the supply system.
 Normally be set for any desired downstream pressure within
the design limits of the valve. Once the valve is set, the
reduced pressure is maintained regardless of changes in
supply pressure (as long as the supply pressure is at least
as high as the reduced pressure desired) and regardless of
the system load, if the load does not exceed the designed
capacity of the reducer

38
 Pressure Reducers

 DL 0402 HTS
pressure reducer
(balance valve) and
its symbol
– Max Pressure:
21MPa
– Operating
Pressure: 6 MPa
 DL 0402 HTS also
has pilot operated
pressure reducer.
– See figure below
39 and its symbol
 Pressure Reducers

 DL 0402 HTS
pressure reducer
(balance valve) and
its symbol
– Max Pressure:
21MPa
– Operating
Pressure: 6 MPa
 DL 0402 HTS also
has pilot operated
pressure reducer.
– See figure below
40 and its symbol
 Directional valves
 Valves for directing fluid flow to one or the other side of a cylinder or
motor
 Characterized by the number of ports and by the number of operating
positions that the valve can assume.
– The ports are labeled with letters with A,B,C, . . . indicating
working lines, P indicating the pressurized supply line and T or R
indicating the return (tank) line connected to the reservoir.
– Lines with arrows inside the boxes indicate the path and direction
of flow.
– Squares or boxes are used to indicate number of working position
 The icons on the side of the symbol indicate how the valve is
actuated.

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 Directional valves

 DL 0402 HTS has the

following manual
selector valves with
spring return
– 3/2 way
– 4/2 way
– 4/3 way with center
closed or ‘O’
– 4/3 way with center
return or ‘Y’

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 Check valves
 Direction control valves that allow fluid to flow
unimpeded in one direction, but prevents or
restricts fluid flow in the opposite direction.
 A check valve may be an independent
component situated in-line somewhere in the
hydraulic system or it may be built-in to a
component.
 A typical check valve consists of a spring loaded
ball and seat inside a housing. The spring
compresses to allow fluid flow in the designed
direction. When flow stops, the spring pushes
the ball against the seat which prevents fluid
from flowing in the opposite direction through the
valve.
43
 Check valves

 DL 0402 HTS check

valve and its symbol
– Working pressure:
6MPa
 DL 0402 HTS has
also pilot operated
check valve (see
figure below and its
symbol)

44
 Pressure Sequence Valve

 DL 0402 HTS direct

acting sequence valve
– Working pressure:
6MPa
 DL 0402 HTS has
also pilot sequence
(see figure below and
its symbol)

45
 Solenoid valves

 DL 0402 HTS has the

following solenoid
operated spring return
valves
– 2/2 way NC
– 3/2 way NO
– 4/2 way
– 4/3 way with center
‘M’
– 4/3 way with center
open or ‘H’

46
 Pressure to electric converter

 DL 0402 HTS manually adjustable pressure to electric

converter switch

47
 Cylinders

 DL 0402 HTS double

acting hydraulic cylinder
– Diameter: 32mm
– Stroke: 200mm
– Operating pressure:
6MPa
– Max pressure:
16MPa
 It has also double acting
cylinder equipped with
proximity sensors and a
load.
48
 Hydraulic motors

 Hydraulic motors are the rotary equivalent of

cylinders.
– Pressurized oil flows through the motor and
produces rotation of the output shaft.
– A motor is simply as a pump driven in reverse
direction
– The symbol for fixed displacement, uni-
directional motors
 DL 0402 HTS hydraulic motor
– Min rotate speed:40RPM
– Max flow 20L/min

49
 Open Center Hydraulic Systems

 One having fluid flow, but no pressure in the system when

the actuating mechanisms are idle.
 The pump circulates the fluid from the reservoir, through the
selector valves, and back to the reservoir.
 The selector valves are always connected in series with each
other.

50
 Open Center Hydraulic Systems

 When one of the selector valves is positioned to operate an actuating

device, fluid is directed from the pump through one of the working
lines to the actuator
 The flow of fluid through the valve to the reservoir is blocked and
pressure builds up to move the piston.
 Fluid from the opposite end of
the actuator returns to the
selector valve and flows back to
the reservoir.
 The relief valve set pressure
until the selector valve is
manually returned to the neutral
position that allows the system
51 pressure to drop to line
resistance pressure.
 Closed-Center Hydraulic Systems

 The fluid is under pressure whenever the power pump is

operating.
 The selector or directional control valves are arranged in
parallel

52
 Comparison

 Center open
– Uses constant displacement pump
– Continuous pressurization of the system is eliminated
– Since the pressure is built up gradually after the selector valve is
moved to an operating position, there is very little shock from
pressure surges and smoother operation of the actuating
mechanisms
– But due to this slower than the closed-center system
 Closed center
– Require variable displacement pump
– Since pressure is available the moment the selector valve is
positioned widely used in applications that require instantaneous
operation or faster response
53