Hydraulic Cylinders Operation
Hydraulic сylinder сoatings - Why? The use of hydraulic cylinders is not limited to one type of equipment. Today, hydraulic cylinders are used in equipment in almost every industry. Each piece of equipment operates under different operating conditions, which means that hydraulic cylinders are subject to different environmental influences. Hydraulic cylinders can be damaged easily by chemical, thermal and physical effects. Such damage affects the operation of mechanisms and equipment. This affects the cost of work, work safety, time and quality. By using different types of coatings for hydraulic cylinder components, the risk of damage such as corrosion, wear, physical and other damage can be reduced. Reducing the risk of damage extends the service life and improves the performance of hydraulic cylinders.
About hydraulic cylinder coatings types
There are hydraulic cylinder coatings for both exterior and interior surfaces. The main purpose of coating surfaces is to protect them from external influences. Internal coating of hydraulic cylinders - protects the cylinder from overheating, chemical reactions of metal with liquid and contaminants and so on.
External hydraulic cylinder coating protects the surface from corrosion, physical damage and wear. There are different types of coatings and methods of applying them to surfaces. For example, plasma spraying is good at protecting against high temperatures, corrosion and wear. Different approaches to coating cylinders include plasma spraying, laser cladding, thermal spraying of coatings, and weld overlay. Among these, plasma spray coating is the traditional approach, which is ideal for high-temperature environments prone to wear and corrosion. But it is a complex and expensive process that is not much used for today's hydraulic cylinder production. So below we'll talk about the latest coating methods.
A powerful laser beam is used as a heat source to melt the coating material and then apply it to the metal surface. Under the influence of the laser beam, the powder coating material melts on the surface to be coated as a result of contact with it. This creates a powder coating layer on the surface. This coating method is not only used for hydraulic cylinders. It is widely used for coating various shafts, pump and turbine parts, sealing joints and much more.
This method includes several types of spraying: flame spraying, electric arc spraying, high-speed oxygen spraying - these are the most common ones. Metal, ceramic, or plastic are used as spraying materials. The material to be sprayed is first melted by a heat source and sprayed onto the surface. This method is widely used to apply protective coatings on components of mining machinery, turbines, valves, earthmoving equipment, and so on.
A sufficiently effective and economical method of coating to protect against corrosion and to improve the mechanical properties of the surface. By welding, the material is melted down and welded onto the surface to be protected.
The well-proven electrolytic process is used here. This type of coating has many advantages and is very widely used in the production of hydraulic cylinders. Due to its properties and thickness from 2 to 250 µm, hard chrome plating provides corrosion and wear resistance, reduces surface friction, has very low adhesion after application, has an attractive appearance and it is quite stable in its properties.
This type of coating perfectly protects metal surfaces from overheating and reduces friction and wear. Titanium or tungsten is used as the coating material itself. The surface to be coated is cleaned and smoothed (sandblasted may be used), heated to reduce molecular porosity, and then coated with a gravity sprayer.
Hydraulic components and assemblies used on ships, offshore rigs, platforms and other similar equipment are constantly exposed to salty sea water. Corrosion risks inevitably arise under such operating conditions. These types of coatings are used to protect such surfaces from corrosion, provide wear resistance, electrical insulation and chemical protection. One common type of such coating is liquid nitriding. The surface to be prepared is thoroughly cleaned and polished, and then immersed in an electrolytic tank with a solution. The electrolytic processes produce a thin and uniform layer of iron nitride on the surface. This layer is extremely hard and provides excellent corrosion resistance and surface hardness.
