An experimental study of the hydraulic cylinder deflection

Operational reliability determines the efficiency of any machine. An important indicator is the absence of failures. The failure is cumulative in nature, it occurs suddenly but with a gradual build-up in the process of operation. In case of the early detection, diagnostics allows one to establish the expected moment of failure and helps to eliminate the causes of its occurrence. Double-acting hydraulic cylinders with a single-sided rod are currently most widely used in road and building construction vehicles. Known methods of their diagnosis are based on the control of leakproofness parameters. However, with the growing unit size of the cylinder, the number of the failures due to strength destruction of bearing elements, that is, the loss of the hydraulic cylinder bearing capacity increases dramatically. The bearing capacity is the ability to withstand service loads without the occurrence of critical stresses in its long load-bearing elements, which lead to the occurrence of residual strains in them. Studies of the bearing capacity of a hydraulic cylinder are based on describing the deformation of the hydraulic cylinder under longitudinal and transverse loading, determining the coordinates of the most dangerous section and determining the stresses in it. Diagnostic information about the bearing capacity is recommended to be obtained by continuously monitoring the misalignment angle of the rod and barrel (body) of the hydraulic cylinder during operation, or its deflection before applying a longitudinal compressive force during maintenance of the road and building construction vehicles, or the complete deflection of the longitudinally and transversely loaded hydraulic cylinder. At the same time, direct diagnostics based on the last parameter is more accurate and reliable than indirect diagnostics based on the previous two parameters. Hence, of particular interest are experimental studies of the deflection of the hydraulic cylinder directly in the conditions of operation of the road and building construction vehicles of various unit sizes.