Puttting togetther a hydraulic system to test Teflon Seal, help!

[bogiedreamer]

Hi,

Our company is a custom seal design and manufacturer. Normally, we have our customer test the seals but this time the stake is high and we want to be able to test the seal performance before sending the seals to the customer.

I need to set up a hydraulic system to test the seal I designed. Basically, I will have two rod seals containing hydraulic fluid under 3000 psi and under fast reciprocating motion of at least 5 in/s with 5 in stroke length. The running friction will be at least 400 lbs.

Right now all I have is a Vickers Pump with max pressure 2250 psi and 3 gpm flow rate. My question is how could I set this up so that I can actuate the rod to test the leakage? I will connect the rod to the rod of the hydraulic cylinder. Whether I need to buy individual components and put them together or buy a pre-built package and what company or distributor should I contact? I am in Southern California.

I have some knowledge and here is what I think, please correct me if I am wrong:

Have:
Vickers Pump

Need:
--Reservoir (what size do I need?)
--Relief Valve (what pressure rating?)
--Pressure Regulator (what pressure rating?) I need enough pressure to overcome at least 400 lbs linear friction
--Actuator (Hydraulic Cylinder) what bore size?
--4-way Selector Valve (Solenoid valve). Do I need a timer to control this?

Please give me your input, thanks.
Bogiedreamer

 

[MikeHalloran]

You could have the pump pressurize the cap ends of two linked cylinders in alternation, and let the cylinders discharge through a 3000 psi relief valve and recharge through a check valve. The cylinders will act as their own intensifiers, magnifying the pump pressure by the rod/cap area ratio.

That will expose the rod seals to alternating pressure/vacuum cycles, which may not be the test that you want.

It will also put a _lot_ of heat into the fluid, so you need a big reservoir and a big cooler.

Before spending any money on hardware, I suggest you engage a local hydraulic systems guy to help you figure out what you really want to do, and how to do it. You may be able to get some help from your hydraulic component supplier.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[EdDanzer]

A simple solution is to use and electric motor, a crank, and a linkage to connect the crank to the rod your seals run on to provide the reciprocating motion. Then you can use a hand pump with an accumulator to provide seal pressure.
I doubt Teflon anything will work in this application, the P/V is too high.