Reactive Maintenance of Hydraulic Cylinders in Agricultural Equipments

A hydraulic system is one of the most important engineering applications used in agricultural machines. The hydraulic cylinders, used in most of these agricultural equipments, are responsible for the conversion of hydraulic energy to frequent mechanical movement. The majority of the hydraulic equipment stops, during work, are due to malfunction of the hydraulic cylinders, namely, due to the fluid leakage. The leakage is mainly internally (from the piston seals) and sometimes externally (from rod seals). Therefore, this study aims to investigate the major causes of the hydraulic cylinder failure (i.e. due to seal damage) that may result in forced stop of the equipments; and to determine the best way to maintain and reconstruct the cylinders. Cylinder maintenance treatments considered in this study included: (1) cylinder surface finishing treatments [turnings only, polishing (after turning), and electroplating (after polishing)] of the cylinder internal surface using chrome (known to increase corrosion resistance); (2) Piston diameter (without, with one and two pressure rings); and (3) Hydraulic fluid viscosity (three different viscosities).