Practice 2

Equipment

Tubes
4/3 way directional control valve
Pressure gauge
Double acting cylinder
Hydraulic motor
Measuring flow rate cylinder
Stopwatch
Tachometer
Pump

Procedure
Task 1

1. Install the hydraulic circuit according to the following diagram.

2. Set the system pressure at 20 Bar.

3. Push the lever of the hydraulic 4/3 way Directional Control Valve and the Double Acting
Cylinder will extend for 10cm, 15cm and 20cm.
4. Record the time taken for the Double Acting Cylinder to extend for each distance.
5. Release the lever and the Double Acting Cylinder will return to its initial state.
6. Record the time taken for the Double Acting Cylinder which passes through 10cm, 15cm and
20cm.
7. Write down the results in table.

Task 2

1. Install the hydraulic circuit according to the following diagram.

 2. Push the lever of the 4/3 way Directional Control Valve and let the oil to fill up the oil tank.
3. Record the time taken to collect 1L of oil in the oil tank.
4. Release the lever and let the oil flow back to the oil reservoir.
5. Record the time taken to fully empty the oil tank.
6. Write down the results in table.
7. Calculate the flow rate of filling and emptying the oil tank by using formula.

Task 3

1. Install the hydraulic circuit according to the following diagram

2. Set the system pressure to 10 Bar.

3. Push the lever of the 4/3 way Directional Control Valve to activate the hydraulic motor.
4. Measure and record the speed of the hydraulic motor by using tachometer.
5. Pull the lever of the 4/3 way Directional Control Valve to change the rotation of the
hydraulic motor.
6. Measure and record the speed of the hydraulic motor by using tachometer.
7. Repeat the experiment with system pressure 15 Bar and 20 Bar.
8. Write down the results in table.

Results
Task 1

Piston Extent Time (s) Retract Time (s)

Length
1 2 3 Average 1 2 3 Average
(cm)
10 0.54 0.50 0.50 0.51 0.56 0.60 0.60 0.59
15 0.94 0.90 0.96 0.93 1.16 1.16 1.16 1.16
20 1.50 1.53 1.53 1.52 1.82 1.81 1.85 1.83

Task 2

Volume Extent time (s) Retract time (s)

(L) 1 2 3 Average 1 2 3 Average
1 17.63 17.56 17.53 17.57 16.59 16.03 15.25 15.96

Flow rate of the hydraulic cylinder during extending =
 1
= 17.57
= 0.0569 L/s

Flow rate of the hydraulic cylinder during retracting =
1
= 15.96
= 0.0627 L/s

Task 3

Pressure (Bar) Motor speed (RPM)

Extent Retract
10 2142 2094
15 2797 2778
20 3414 3328

Discussion

In the first activity, we area required to take down the time taken needed for the
cylinder to extend for a length of 10cm, 15cm, and 20cm. From the result that
we get, we can conclude that the retraction of the cylinder takes a longer time
than the extension of the cylinder.

In the second activity, we are required to record the time required for the flow
of hydraulics to fill up the 1 litre of the oil tank during the extension and
retraction of the cylinder. From the result that we get the flow rate of hydraulics
during retracting is higher than the flow rate of hydraulics during extension. It
takes 17.57 seconds for the hydraulics to extend the cylinder and it takes 15.96
seconds for the hydraulics to extend the cylinder.

In the third activity, we are required to measure the speed of the motor during
the extension and retraction of the cylinder. From the result that we get, the
extension of the cylinder has a higher speed of operation than the retraction of
the cylinder. It is proven that the cylinder retract time is longer than the cylinder
extend time.

During Practical 2, we had chose to use a spring-centered 4/3 way directional

control valve. We used this because it always returns to its original position
when not actuated. Besides that, it is able to exert force in two directions. With
the central valve being neutral, the flow is then returned to the reservoir. Our
practice had been made easier with the aid of this DCV. An easy left shifting of
the valve will cause the retraction and then back to neutral while a right shifting
of the valve will cause the extension of the cylinder then back to neutral
again.As the area of the rod-end piston faceis larger than the cap-end area,
retraction force is greater than extension force if we assume that there is equal
fluid pressure. Because the total cylinder volume is more with the cylinder fully
retracted (because of rod volume) than when the cylinder is full extended, a
cylinder retracts slower than it extends as equal flow rates are assume.

If we are comparing the full valve shift extend speed to full valve retract speed,
extend will be higher, but only if the relief valve is active. If the valve is fully
shifted, first to retract, and then to retract, clearly extension will be done at a
higher speed than extension. However, that is when certain limitations occurs.
For example, if the valve lands are so restrictive as to raise the pump pressure to
the level where the relief valve opens, a flow division will be diverted by some
pump output through the relief valve leaving less for the cylinder. This will
result in reduced cylinder speed in whichever direction because the relief valve
is active.