Directional control valves are the traffic police of pneumatic systems, charged with diverting, directing, and reversing airflow to manage the operation of actuators. A fluid power designer must first understand valve functions, flow rates (and the resulting sizes), and the construction materials best suited to their application before sending out requests for quotes. This designer’s […]
A designer’s guide to pneumatic cylinders
Pneumatic cylinders are highly varied in their construction and execution, making them difficult to select when you don’t understand your requirements. I won’t pretend that application isn’t the most important deciding factor, but the same can be said of any fluid power actuator. This guide provides all the information you need to select the pneumatic […]
Pneumatic valves continue to inspire unique applications
Pneumatic valves are common in every industry, in applications from medical to chemical and automation to corrugation. Compressed air is readily available, clean and easy to use, so the number of markets taking advantage of this technology is no surprise. Two of the larger industries are automation—which uses cylinders and other actuators to produce or […]
A primer on pressure
We fluid power industry professionals probably take pressure for granted. If I asked any of you to define pressure, you would say force over a predetermined area. We all typically use similar units, such as pounds per square inch (psi) or Newtons per square metre (Pa), but pressure isn’t confined for use in the fluid […]
Pneumatic servovalves use flux capacitors to enable high frequency response
One of the biggest difficulties in dealing with pneumatic motion control applications is the compressibility of air. Hydraulic fluid is also compressible, but the bulk modulus of liquid is so high that the compressibility is both very low and easy to calculate and control. On the other hand, air compresses inversely proportional to pressure, meaning […]
