Engineering Basics

Understanding flow, pressure and the return line is critical to proper attachment selection and design. Contributed by Darren Chupp, Owner, Chupp Industrial A compact excavator can run a thumb, an auger, a breaker, a mulcher and a tiltrotator in the same week. Each of those tools was designed around a specific flow and pressure, and…

Troubleshooting hydraulic manifolds is both easy and difficult at the same time. On the one hand, your problem is unlikely to be leaking fittings, damaged pilot lines, or tubes connecting valves. All the “circuit” plumbing consists of internal cross-drilling inherent to the aluminum or steel block, eliminating (typically) all plumbing except the primary pressure, tank,…

Contributed by Michael Cook, Global Segment Director Off-Highway, Trelleborg Sealing Solutions Hydraulic cylinders no longer operate in predictable, controlled conditions. They are pushed through wider temperature ranges, higher pressures and longer duty cycles than ever before, all the while adapting to new fluids and tightening regulatory requirements. For OEMs, this shift raises a question: can…

By Dave Henning, Business Development Manager, Motion and Control Enterprises Plant managers track labor costs, monitor production output, and scrutinize energy bills and maintenance budgets. But one of the most expensive utilities in many manufacturing facilities often receives far less attention: compressed air. For decades, compressed air has been known as the “fourth utility” because […]

By Ron Marshall, Contributing Editor I have spent more than two decades traveling from plant to plant performing compressed air audits, and over the years I’ve learned one frustrating truth: sometimes the hardest part of an audit was not diagnosing the system but simply getting good data. Like many compressed air auditors, I have driven […]

By Josh Cosford, Contributing Editor When it comes to hydraulic system design, filters are often overlooked and given the back seat to pumps, valves, and actuators. Such logic ignores the importance of filters in the performance, precision, and reliability of hydraulic systems, and such considerations start with the design of the hydraulic package itself. Your […]

Smart technologies, from software-defined machines to digital integration, allow manufacturers to easily maintain machines and predict critical failures and faults before they cause downtime. By Josh Cosford, Contributing Editor The packaging industry operates in a world where ultra-high-speed machinery reigns, manufacturers accept razor-thin margins, and versatility is required as products change frequently. From high-speed form-fill-seal machines […]

Piston accumulators are perhaps the most overlooked of their ilk, often standing out of the spotlight in which diaphragm and bladder accumulators bask. In fact, piston accumulators are superior to other types in more ways than they are inferior, so this article aims to set the record straight on why you should (or shouldn’t) select…

By Josh Cosford, Contributing Editor This article is about combination valves, which I personally refer to as manifolds, despite being a polysemy with manifolds used to join plumbing. Hydraulic manifolds are the most varied and unique possible valve combinations to suit specific machine needs. But with so many creative ways to execute them, the opportunity […]

By Ron Marshall, Contributing Editor Fred had been the plant engineer at the packaging facility for nearly ten years, and he thought he understood his compressed air system well. The compressors ran, the machines worked most of the time, and whenever there was a moisture problem someone usually changed a filter or drained a receiver […]

Sensors are not as talked about as some other Internet of Things technologies, despite their critical role within the Industry 4.0 community at large. Sensors are technologies in fluid power that read, interpret, and transmit data based on one or more criteria important to observe: pressure, temperature, flow, contamination, water saturation, and vibration, to name…

By Ron Marshall When engineers begin a compressed air audit, there is often a strong temptation to install instruments immediately. Pressure loggers are connected, power meters are hooked up, flowmeters are positioned, and data begins accumulating. It feels productive, but there is a risk: if you do not first understand how the compressed air system […]

An actuator is any device that converts one form of energy into physical, linear force. From a fundamental definition of the word, one could assert that motors are also actuators, but from a practical perspective, the machine world agrees on the linear definition. The primary source of energy can be pressurized air or liquid, electricity,…

Contributed by Xing Hong, Founder, WRKR Seal Hydraulic systems depend on reliable sealing at every connection point. When an O-ring fails in a hydraulic circuit, the consequences range from minor fluid weeping to catastrophic pressure loss, environmental contamination, and unplanned downtime that costs thousands of dollars per hour in heavy industry. Yet a significant share […]

Bladder accumulators are an industry-standard choice, as commonly available as D03 valves or NFPA-style hydraulic cylinders. Your outside sales team is always happy to see them in a factory, because everyone offers an option to either repair or replace them. The big names all make them (or bought companies that make them), but there are…

By Josh Cosford, Contributing Editor I’ve been in the fluid power industry for over two decades, and I’ve made precisely one hydraulic tube, which was an assignment for one of my hydraulic classes at Mohawk College. Despite my personal lack of man-hours bending tubes, every hydraulic professional should understand the principles of tube bending. I’m […]

From its massive beginnings to more controllability and efficiency, electrification has changed mobile hydraulics for the better. By Josh Cosford, Contributing Editor The electrification of hydraulics has come a long way since the first AC induction motors powering hydraulic pumps replaced centralized power distribution systems. Such immense systems, Figure 1, employed giant, stationary steam engines rotating […]

Optimizing industrial systems can be done easily with variable-displacement axial piston pumps. As industrial manufacturers continue to focus on improving efficiency, controllability, and energy usage, variable-displacement axial piston pumps have become an increasingly important technology for optimizing hydraulic system performance. While the core technology has been established for decades, continued advancements in pump controls, variable…

Preventing downtime before it starts is crucial to safe, cost-effective and reliable hose assemblies. By Trey Travis, Vice President of Operations, Southeastern Hose In manufacturing environments, reliability is everything. Production schedules and worker safety all depend on systems operating as intended. While pumps and control systems often receive significant attention during maintenance planning, industrial hose […]

When a pneumatic system suffers a catastrophic failure, such as a blown seal, a ruptured airline, or a seized cylinder, the maintenance team must respond instantly to treat it. These unexpected ailments reduce productivity, increase costs, and work your millwrights ragged. Many pneumatic systems experience chronic unwellness, much as we humans do with cardiovascular disease; […]

Contributed by Ron Marshall Richard, the maintenance manager at a plant that manufactures powdered coatings, was used to dealing with heat. The curing ovens in the facility ran hot, and summer months always made the production floor uncomfortable. But one area of the plant seemed especially unbearable — the compressor room. Every time Richard stepped […]

By Ron Marshall When the phone rang in the summer a few years ago, Ron knew the project would be unusual. A sawmill nearly 1,000 miles away needed a compressed air assessment, but an injured knee made flying impossible. Normally, a project like this would require airports, hotels, and days spent carrying instruments through the […]

By Josh Cosford, Contributing Editor For the same reason you should never put your hand on a hydraulic hose to check for leaks, never use traditional hydraulic oil anywhere near a heat or flame source. No, being around a hot ingot or furnace won’t give you injection wounds, but a pinhole spray from a 3,000 […]

By Josh Cosford, Contributing Editor Hydraulic hose assemblies are critical components in fluid power systems, responsible for transferring pressurized fluid as a force transfer method to and from components such as pumps, cylinders, valves, and motors. Understanding the fundamentals of hydraulic hose is essential for ensuring system reliability, efficiency, and safety in both industrial and […]

This guide breaks down budget, midrange, and premium test kits to help technicians quickly pinpoint losses in pressure, flow, and efficiency in hydraulic systems. Hydraulic troubleshooting requires a fundamental understanding of thermodynamics, experience with various machine types, as well as years of familiarity with various hydraulic schematics. In some ways, it’s like being a doctor…