Pneumatic_cylinder.

xls
To determine forces and energy in a pneumatic cylinder (piston)
By Alex Slocum & Roger Cortesi, last modified 1/20/2004 by Alex Slocum
Enters numbers in BOLD, Results in RED
Cylinder diameter, d (mm)
20
Rod diamter, dr (mm)
5
Piston stroke (maximum), L (mm)
50
Total volume, V (mm^3)
15708
Differential area, Ad (mm^2)
295
Pneumatic cylinder as an actuator
Piston-side presure, P (atm, N/m^2, psi)
6
600000
Rod-side pressure, Pr (atm, N/m^2, psi)
1
100000
Net pressure force on piston, Fp (N)
143
Pneumatic cylinder as a compression spring: ISOTHERMAL (constant temperature)
Initial cylinder pressure, P_1 (atm, N/m^2, psi)
1
100000
Displacement (amount piston compresses gas), x (mm)
20
15
Pressure (atm)
1.7
1.4
Force (N)
21
13
Energy absorbed (Joules=Nm)
0.174
0.089

88.2
14.7

14.7
10
1.3
8
0.036

5
1.1
3
0.008

0
1.0
0
0.000

Pneumatic cylinder as a compression spring: ADIABATIC (NO HEAT TRANSFER)

Gas (air) properties
Temperature of the gas at start, T_1a (oC)
R, Rgas (J/(kg-K))
cv (J/(kg-K))
, gamma
Initial cylinder pressure, P_1a (atm, N/m^2, psi)
Displacement (amount piston compresses gas), xa (mm)
Pressure (atm)
Force (N)
Energy absorbed (Joules=Nm)
Temperature of the compressed gas (oC)

20
2078
3153
1.659055
1
20
2.3
42
0.326

100000
15
1.8
25
0.160

14.7
10
1.4
14
0.063

5
1.2
6
0.014

0
1.0
0
0.000

28.0

25.3

23.2

21.4

20.0

20
2078
3153
1.659055
1
20
0.6
13
0.154

100000
15
0.6
11
0.093

14.7
10
0.7
8
0.044

5
0.9
5
0.012

0
1.0
0
0.000

6.9

9.1

11.8

15.4

20.0

Pneumatic cylinder as a tension spring: ADIABATIC (NO HEAT TRANSFER)

Gas (air) properties
Temperature of the gas at start, T_1ac (oC)
R, Rgas (J/(kg-K))
cv (J/(kg-K))
, gamma
Initial cylinder pressure, P_1ac (atm, N/m^2, psi)
Displacement (amount piston compresses gas), xa (mm)
Pressure (atm)
Force (N)
Energy absorbed (Joules=Nm)
Temperature of the compressed gas (oC)

 D2 L x
D 2L
P L
Px
P x x 0
P iV i P f V f P x 0
4
4
Lx
2
P x 0 D x
F x A P x P x o
L x
4

P x 0 D 2
dx

Fx
x L ln( L x)
4

P x0 D 2
L
x
L ln

4
L x

Pushing (compression) on the piston

F x A P x P x o
x

D 2 L x
P x

D 2L
P iV P f V P x 0

F xdx

P x 0 D 2 L

L x
4

P x 0 D
L

4
L x

P x 0 D 2
L

4
L x

L
P x P x 0

L x

L
x

1 1

L
x

1 1

pV mRT p 1V 1T 2 p 2V 2T 1 T 2

p 2V 2T 1
p1V 1

Pulling (expansion) on the piston

D 2L
P iV P f V P x 0

F x A P x 0 P x
x

F dx
x

D 2 L x
P x

P x 0 D 2
L

4
L x

P x 0 D

x
4
2

L
P x P x 0

L x

Pulling (expansion) on the piston

D 2L
P iV P f V P x 0

F x A P x 0 P x
x

F xdx

D 2 L x
P x

P x 0 D 2
L

4
L x

P x 0 D
L

x L x
4

P x0 D 2
L

4
L x

L
P x P x 0

L x

L
x

1 1

L
x

1 1

L
x

x 0

L
x

L x

ln

L
P x P x 0

L x

L
0

L x

L
0

L x