Hydraulic Hose Primer, UAE.
This is a quick read, a primer on Hydraulic Hoses for people brought to you by Inflex Hydraulics, Dubai, UAE, serving the the industry in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and all over the Middle East.
Hydraulic hoses provides us with a means for carrying liquids and gases from one component to another while providing flexibility and versatility especially where metal pipes are not an option.
Hydraulic hoses have developed a lot over the last many decades, so much so that we have a variety of hoses for specific applications and this article will help you to choose the right one for your specific application. Flexible hoses form a very vital part of most hydraulic systems. Since flexible hoses have the ability to bend around tight corners, come through restricted spaces, travel long distances relatively easily, and help essential components to be placed in the most convenient places for reason of better efficiency. Hence, Hydraulic hoses form an often under-rated but highly important part of all hydraulic systems.
Using SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) standards
The SAE Standard establishes general, performance and dimensional specifications for commonly used hydraulic sytems used in stationary or mobile equipment and is an internationally recognised in helping to ensure the quality, effectiveness and safety of products and services across the mobility engineering industry.
The J517 hydraulic hose standards will answer most of your queries with respect to hose selection and serves as the most widely accepted benchmark in the sphere of industrial hydraulics today. To be more specific, the J517 set of guidelines applies to the SAE 100R series of sixteen hose styles (from 100R1 through to 100R16, where each style defines a set of performance and dimensional characteristics set by SAE. Since SAE does not issue Certifications, approved source lists, letter of approvals and such, most manufacturers conform to SAE standards voluntarily and hence SAE standards only assure you of a similarity of product types and capabilities by various manufacturers.
Construction of an Hydraulic Hose.
Our current day hydraulic hose is made up of a minimum of three parts, an inner material that transports the fluid, a second layer that reinforces the first layer and a third outside protective layer.
The inner flexible hose layer, is made of a material suitable for the type of fluid it will transport and is mostly made of rubber, Teflon or PTFE or thermoplastics. The second layer consists of one or more sheaths of textile yarn, spiral metallic wire, or braided wire to reinforce the inner layer. The outermost layer is made up of rubber that has resistance to atmosphere, oil and toughened against abrasion with the design based on the typical environment that the hose will live it’s life.
Hydraulic hoses have a finite existence and hence, use of the correct size and type of hose will make sure that the hose stays good for its life, however there are a few factors as identified by SAE that affect the life of a hose. The following factors will harm the hose and reduce its life:-
- Operating the hose above it specified maximum operating pressure
- Operating the hose above or below its specified range of temperature
- Subjecting the hose to sudden and rapid rise in pressure, above maximum operating pressure.
- Pulling , Kinking, twisting, crushing or abrasion of the hose
- Flexing and operation the hose with less than the specified minimum bend radius.
- Using the wrong hose fittings or assembly equipment, and not following the manufacturers instructions for correct fabrications of hose assemblies.
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