I am pleased to share a recent customer reference from my work as a simulation engineer. For Burnside Hydracyl Ltd. from Ireland, a reputable manufacturer of hydraulic cylinders for almost 50 years, I was asked to do a structural analysis on a hydraulic cylinder.

Table of Contents

The customer

Burnside Hydracyl Ltd. from Ireland has been developing and manufacturing hydraulic cylinders in Ballymoon for over 50 years. The product range includes single-acting cylinders, double-acting cylinders and telescopic cylinders.

The challenge

A hydraulic cylinder is attached to a frame with a ribbed mounting plate welded to the side (Figure 1). The positions of the bolts are specified. The safety of this welded attachment must be verified.

A number of 10,000 cycles with a single-stage collective is specified for the nominal load of the component.

The loads and boundary conditions

The geometry, loads and boundary conditions are half-symmetrical, so the model can be reduced to half. (Figure 2, left).

Links Symmetrie, rechts Befestigung der Schrauben — Figure 2: Left: symmetry, right: fastening of the bolts

Despite the lack of geometric data for the frame and the specification of a rigid connection, a realistic simulation was created through conservative modelling with fixation at only 8 screws (Figure 2, right) and consideration of the oil pressure as a load.

The results

Deformation

The deformation is a maximum of 0.38 mm and is plausible (Figure 3). The deformation of the mounting plate was intentionally allowed.

Gesamtverformung — Figure 3: Total Deformation

Stresses

The equivalent stresses shown in Figure 4 do not yet indicate whether the component is safely designed.

Vergleichsspannungen von Mises der ursprünglichen Geometrie — Figure 4: Von Mises equivalent stresses of the original geometry

Assessment

The initial equivalent stresses were high, and the FKM guideline indicated a need for optimization at some hot spots. In particular, Hot Spot 1 had a static safety factor of 0.83, making optimization urgently necessary.

Sicherheiten Original — Table 1: Original safety

The optimisation

Geometry modification

The geometric adjustments were to be as minimal as possible, so it was proposed to extend the ribs slightly and design them with a smooth transition (Figure 5).

Links ursprüngliche, rechts optimierte Geometrie — Figure 5: Left original, right optimized geometry

Stresses

Targeted geometric changes, such as extending the ribs with a smooth transition, reduced the deformation of the mounting plate and shifted the maximum stress to an unwelded radius. This can be seen in the same colour scale for the stresses, with a reduction in the red areas compared to the original calculation.

Vergleichsspannung Optimierung — Figure 6: Equivalent stress optimization

Assessment

The result speaks for itself: the stress level decreased significantly, and all hot spots now have a static and dynamic safety factor of over 1. The improvement in static safety at hot spot 1 was an impressive 48%!

Sicherheiten Optimierung — Table 2: Optimized safety

Here is the improvement compared to the original geometry in percentage.

Veränderung der Sicherheiten Optimierung zu Original — Table 3: Change in safety optimization compared to original

Conclusion

This case study impressively demonstrates how even small geometric changes, through precise simulation, can lead to a significant increase in component safety. This not only builds trust with the end customer but is also a valuable sales argument.

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