Mechanical Analysis and Design of Piston Rod of Carbon Fiber Composite Hydraulic Cylinder

doi:10.3901/JME.2025.04.314

Abstract

Abstract: Carbon fiber reinforced composites(CFRP) have received much attention in the lightweighting of hydraulic components and systems due to their excellent performance. At present, the application of CFRP in hydraulic cylinders is mainly focused on cylinder barrels, while the application in piston rods is less studied. Aiming at the lightweighting of fine piston rods with large push-pull force, the effect of thickness and angle parameters of composite materials is studied from the simplified model of the mechanics of composite rods to guide the design of composite rod layups. For the metal-nonmetal connection structure of the CFRP piston rod, the CFRP and metal joint structure is designed and the parameters of the chimeric structure are optimized. A finite element-based analysis method for piston rods with heterogeneous materials is developed. The lightweight piston rod prototype is designed and manufactured, and assembled into a hydraulic cylinder prototype for experimental testing. The experimental results show that the piston rod meets the design requirements and reduces the weight by 64.77% compared with the same size steel piston rod, which verifies the feasibility and lightweighting potential of CFRP in the manufacture of hydraulic cylinders.

Key words: hydraulic cylinder, piston rod, lightweighting, CFRP

CLC Number:

TH137

SHANG Yaoxing, WANG Yeshuo, YU Tian, LI Yao, JIAO Zongxia. Mechanical Analysis and Design of Piston Rod of Carbon Fiber Composite Hydraulic Cylinder[J]. Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 2025, 61(4): 314-322.

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