What are the most common hydraulic cylinder piston rod problems?
The hydraulic cylinder piston rod is not just the object transmitting the force from the cylinder’s piston but also the interface between that cylinder and your machine. Before you can correctly select and then design the piston rod, you must understand the potential areas of failure. The following are the top five most common piston rod problems on hydraulic cylinders. The rod is improperly sized for the application. This can manifest in two ways, and believe it or not, a rod can be too large . Undersized piston rods have low column strength, especially in long stroke applications. A long, thin rod will bend or break when pushing loads heavier than they’re rated. Low column strength can remedy this with a larger diameter rod or a stop tube to provide added support.Conversely, if a cylinder operates in tension, an oversized rod will actually reduce retraction force. This problem occurs at the design stage, so be sure you accurately calculate retraction force with an understanding