Causes of Hydraulic

system breakdown
Clogged or dirty oil filters
Inadequate supply of oil in the reservoir
Leaking seals
Loose inlet lines that cause the pump to
take in air
Incorrect type of oil
Excessive oil temperature and pressure
Oxidation and Corrosion Of
Hyd. Fluids
Oxidation caused by chemical reaction of
oxygen with oil reducing life of fluid.
Petroleum based oils more susceptible
because oxygen readily combines with
hydrogen and carbon.
Products of oxidation are soluble in oil and
acidic in nature causing corrosion to the
system
Factors hastening oxidation
Heat
Pressure
Contaminants
Water
Metal surface
 However, oxidation is mostly affected
be temperature
Rate of oxidation is very slow below
1400F but doubles for every 200F temp
rise
Additives are added incorporated to
inhibit oxidation but taking into
account the cost factor and
environmental conditions
 Rust and Corrosion
Rust is chemical reaction between iron or
steel and oxygen.
Moisture present in atmosphere provides
oxygen
Corrosion is the chemical reaction between
metal and acid
The result of corrosion is eating away of
metal parts leading to more leaks
Both can be prevented by incorporating
additives that plate on metal surfaces to
prevent chemical reaction.
 Fire resistant fluids
A fire resistant fluid is one that can be
ignited but will not support combustion
when the ignition source is removed.
Flammability is the ease of ignition and
ability to propagate a flame.
It is tested for the following to detect the
flammability,
Flash point
Fire point
Autogenous ignition point
 Fire resistant fluids
commonly in use are,
Water-glycol solutions :
Consists of a solution of 40%water and
60% glycol
Water in oil emulsions :
Consists of about of 40% water
completely dispersed in a special oil base
i.e., small droplets of water completely
surrounded by oil
 Straight synthetics :
Is chemically formulated to inhibit
combustion and in general has the
highest fire-resistant temperature.
High water content fluids :
Consists of 90% of water and 10%
concentrate. Contains additives that
improve viscosity, rust protection, and
protection and bacteria growth.
 Foam resistant fluids
Air can become dissolved or entrained in
hydraulic fluids. For example, if the return
line to the reservoir is not sub merged,
the jet of oil entering the liquid surface
will carry air with it. This causes air
bubbles and they will rise to the surface
which the pump intakes and leading to
pump damage due to cavitation.
Prevention is by proper design and using
additives.
 Fluid lubricating ability
Hydraulic fluids must have good lubricity
to prevent wear between the closely fitted
working parts.
Direct metal to metal contact is avoided
by film strength of fluids having adequate
viscosity.
Parts affected include pump vanes, valve
spools, piston rings, and rod bearings.
 Fluid neutralization number
Is a measure of the relative acidity
or alkalinity of a hydraulic fluid and
specified by a pH factor.
Small neut. no. is recommended as
high acidity or alkalinity causes
corrosion of metal parts.
 Maintaining and Disposing
of fluids
Select the optimum fluid for the
application involved
Use a well designed filtration system
to reduce contamination and increase
the useful life of the fluid. Filtration
should be continuous, and filters
changed at regular intervals.
Follow proper storage procedures for
the unused fluid supply.
 Transporting fluids from storage
containers to system should be carefully
done to avoid contamination.
Fluids checked at regular intervals for
viscosity, acidity, etc.
The entire hydraulic system should be
maintained according to manufacturers
specification.
Corrective action should be taken to
reduce leakage from operating hydraulic
systems
 Disposal of fluids must be done
properly because fluid is considered
to be a waste material when it has
deteriorated to the point where it is
no longer suitable for use in hydraulic
system.
 Filters and Strainers
Contamination may lead to inaccurate
functioning of hyd. Devices
Contamination can be caused by,
Built into system during component
maintenance and assembly
Generated within the system during
operation.
Introduced into system from external
environment
 Strainers
A strainer is a coarse filter and a
strainer removes only larger
particles.
They are installed in pump suction
line to remove contaminants large
enough to damage the pumps
Condition of strainer found out by
fitting a pressure guage
 Filters
A filter is a device whose function is
to retain, by some porous medium,
insoluble contaminants from a fluid.
The smallest particle size that can be
removed by a strainer is about
150m, while a filter can remove
particle size of about 1 m.
 Types of filters

Mechanical:
Contains a metal or cloth screen.
Can remove only relatively coarse particles
Absorbent:
Are porous and permeable materials such as
paper, wood pulp, asbestos etc.
The particles are absorbed as the fluid passes
through the filter material
 Adsorbent:
Adsorption is a surface phenomenon and
refers to the tendency of particles to
cling to the surface of filter.
Normally used materials are activated
clay and chemically treated paper.
 Beta ratio of filters
A better parameter for establishing how
well a filter traps particles is called the
beta ratio..
Is determined during testing of a filter
receiving a specified steady state flow flow
containing fine dust of selected particle
size.
The test begins with a clean filter and ends
when the pressure drop across the filter
has reached a specified value indicating
that it reached its saturation limit
 Fluid cleanliness levels
The basis for controlling the particle
contamination of a hydraulic fluid is
to measure the fluids cleanliness
level. This means counting the
particles per unit volume for sp.
Particle sizes and comparing with to a
required cleanliness level.
Counted using sensitive optical
instruments.
 Wear of moving parts due
to solid particle
contamination of the fluid
One of the major problems caused by
contaminants is that they prevent
hydraulic fluid from providing proper
lubrication of moving internal parts of hyd.
Components.
Solid contaminants can be classified by
their size relative to the clearance
between the moving parts.
 Classification of
contaminants
Smaller than the clearance can collect
inside the clearance when system is
not operating and block lubricant flow.
Contaminants of the same size causes
the breakdown of lube oil film
Large contaminants block lub oil flow
by collecting at the entrance of
clearance.
Problems caused by gases
Gases can be present in a hydraulic
fluid in three ways
Free air
Entrained gas
Dissolved air
 Free air
Air can exist in a free pocket located
at some high point of a hyd. System.
This air either existed when system
was initially filled or due to air
bubbles rising into the free pocket
It causes the fluid to reduction in
stiffness, resulting in spongy and
unstable operation of hyd actuators
 Entrained gas

Can be created when flowing fluid sweeps

air out of a gas pocket and carries along
with fluid stream
Can also occur when the pressure drops
below the vapour pressure of fluid.
Cavitation and spongy nature are the
effects.
 Dissolved air
Normally fluid contains 6% of
dissolved air but when put into
system they become 10%
Normally doesnt cause any problem
but if separated into gas bubbles may
cause cavitation
Ways to prevent cavitation
Keep suction line velocities below
1.2m/s
Keep pump inlet lines as short as
possible
Minimize the no of fittings in the
pump inlet line
Mount the pump as close as possible
to the reservoir
 Use low-pressure drop pump inlet
filters or strainers.
Use a properly designed reservoir
that will remove the entrained air
from the fluid before it enters the
pump inlet line
Use a proper oil
Maintain the oil temp within specified
limits