Many people assume that the use of a hydraulic cylinder is a very recent development in providing power. While it is true that the current use of these cylinders, as well as the designs, are relatively new, they are actually based on a very old technology that was used in ancient civilizations.
The early Roman and Greek engineers understood the power of water, and they used the power to turn turbines, mills and to even control specific types of rudimentary equipment. However, it was in 1648 that Blaise Pascal, a French physicist, tested water under pressure. When placed in a limited space, the water under pressure produced a force that could be directed and controlled, which created the earliest promise of what was to become hydraulic systems.
Harnessing the Power
Daniel Bernoulli, a Swiss physicist and mathematician, is credited with first developing the basis for fluid dynamics. His publication in 1738 outlined what was to become known as the Bernoulli Principle, which included formulation on compressible flow.
A few years later, an Englishman by the name of Joseph Braham took out a patent on the first hydraulic press, which was operated by using water under pressure. As water was found to be less efficient and had issues with corrosion of parts in systems, different types of fluids were tested and developed.
Today, the use of specialized hydraulic fluids are used in all types of hydraulic cylinder designs, offering corrosion-free liquid that is also cooler and does not evaporate under high operating temperatures.
This, in turn, allowed for the development of more streamlined hydraulic cylinder designs. New options in operations such as single acting or double acting cylinders, welded or tie-rod bodies, as well as telescoping rods, provide customized solutions for a wide range of applications. Each of these types of cylinders can be manufactured to meet the exact lifting, pulling or pushing operations required by the OEM, making them a highly effective option in providing controlled fluid power.
