MAGM 280

Hydraulic Fundamentals

Mr. Conrado

Hydraulic Fundamentals
Hydraulic systems are everywhere from:
Large excavation equipment Steering in your car Shocks Power trains

Hydraulic Fundamentals
Using liquids to transfer force
They conform to their container Practically incompressible Apply pressure in all directions Flow in any direction through lines and hoses.

Hydraulic Fundamentals
Liquids for all practical purposes are incompressible.
When a substance is compressed it generally takes up less space. A liquid does not do this even under large pressures. The space any substance occupies is called displacement.

Hydraulic Fundamentals
Gases are compressible
When a gas is compressed it takes up less space and its displacement is less. For this reason liquids are best used for hydraulic systems.

Hydraulic Fundamentals
Hydraulics doing work.
Pascals law Pressure exerted on a confined liquid is transmitted undiminished in all directions and acts as an equal force on all equal areas. Thus if a force is exerted on any part of a confined liquid the liquid will transmit that force (pressure) in all directions within the system.
In this example a 500 pound force acting upon a piston with a 2 inch radius creates a pressure of 40 psi on the fluid. This same liquid with a pressure of 40 psi acting on a piston with a 3 inch radius can support 1130 pounds.

Hydraulic Fundamentals
Pascals Law
To understand how this works we must understand a very simple but fundamental formula. To find one of the three areas two of the others must be known.
Force The push or pull acting on a body usually expressed in pounds. Pressure The force of the fluid per unit area. Usually expressed in pounds per square inch or psi. Area A measure of surface space. Usually calculated in square inches. To calculate the area of a circle use the formula Area = Pi (3.14) x radius squared.
Ex: For a 2 radius piston A=3.14x(2x2) or A= 12.5 sq. in.

Hydraulic Fundamentals
Pascals Law
With the knowledge of the surface area it is possible to determine how much system pressure will be required to lift a given weight. The pressure needed for a 500 pound given weight is calculated with the formula
Pressure = Forced Area P = 500lbs (force) 12.5 Sp. In. (area) P = 40 psi

Hydraulic Fundamentals
Mechanical Advantage
Here we see and example of how a hydraulic system can create a mechanical advantage. We can calculate the items in question by using the systems known items and Pascals law.
For system pressure we use P=FA
So P=50lbs1sq.in (cylinder #2) P= 50psi

Now we know the system pressure we can calculate the load force for cylinders 1 & 3 and the piston area for 4. Do so on a separate piece of

paper and wait for instructions.

Hydraulic Fundamentals
50psi
Cylinder One
Solve for Force
F=P x A F= 50psi x 5 in Cancel out square inches to leave pounds and multiply F = 250lbs.

Hydraulic Fundamentals
Cylinder One
Solve for Force
F=P x A F= 50psi x 5 in Cancel out square inches to leave pounds and multiply F = 250lbs.

250 pounds

Hydraulic Fundamentals
Cylinder Three
Solve for Force
F=P x A F = 50psi x 3in Cancel out square inches to leave pounds and multiply F = 150 pounds

50psi

Hydraulic Fundamentals
Cylinder Three
Solve for Force
F=P x A F = 50psi x 3in Cancel out square inches to leave pounds and multiply F = 150 pounds

150 pounds

50psi

Hydraulic Fundamentals
Cylinder four
Solve for Area
A=FP A = 100 pounds 50 psi Cancel pounds to get in and divide A = 2.0 in

Hydraulic Fundamentals
Cylinder four
Solve for Area
A=F P A = 100 pounds 50 psi Cancel pounds to get in and divide A = 2.0 in

2.0 in

Conclusion
Liquids transfer force equally in all directions and are incompressible To find the area of a circle

Area = Pi (3.14) x radius squared.

PASCAL's Law

Homework
Read chapter

Lab
Three Cylinder Lab