Buckling of the multistage hydraulic cylinders

Abstract

Buckling of multistage telescopic hydraulic cylinders (THC) is still a current research topic. The problem is particularly important for longer multistage THCs, where the cylinder dimensions with regard to the internal pressure of the hydraulic fluid are not enough to avoid the risk of buckling, and where failures occur in daily use. In the paper, the relevant scientific publications and discussed solutions are introduced together with a corresponding theory. Further, a new method for fast determination of critical buckling load of multistage THCs in practice is proposed, which is based on calculation of theoretical buckling force and the correction factor for encountering the clearance between adjacent cylinder stages. For verification of the proposed method, the comparison of the measured and calculated critical buckling forces of the real-life multistage THC is conducted and good agreement of the results is shown.