Hydraulic Cylinder Force and Speed
Cylinder force, extend / retract speed, oil per stroke, and cycle time from bore, rod, pressure.
Example
You enter
- Bore diameter (in) 4
- Rod diameter (in) 2
- System pressure (psi) 2000
- Pump flow (GPM; 0 to skip speed) 10
- Direction extend
- Stroke length (in; 0 to skip) 12
You get
- Effective area (in²) 12.566
- Force (lb) 25133
- Speed (in/s) 3.064
Details, formula, and sources
Cylinder force, extend / retract speed, oil per stroke, and cycle time from bore, rod, pressure, and pump flow (NFPA T2.13.7).
A_extend = pi*(bore/2)^2; A_retract = A_extend - pi*(rod/2)^2; F = P * A; v = (GPM * 231) / (60 * A); oil_per_stroke = A * stroke / 231.
First-principles fluid power; NFPA T2.13.7 (hydraulic cylinder dimensions / definitions) by name.
Free at nfpa.com for the NFPA fluid-power table of contents.
Estimate. AHJ and licensed mechanical contractor govern. ACCA Manual J / D / S supersede rules of thumb.
Field names used by the API: bore_in, rod_in, pressure_psi, flow_gpm, direction, stroke_in, effective_area_in2, force_lb, speed_in_per_s
- Effective area full bore on extension, bore-minus-rod annulus on retractionfirst-principles fluid power
- Unit constant 231 in^3 = 1 US gallonUS customary definition