Hi all,
I just recently started an internship. To make a long story short, they've tasked me to investigate the leaking of a hydraulic cyclinder that is sealed via a V-Packings. Although I earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering, we never really discussed seals and the design process in class.
So my questions are three fold.
1. What references or equations would be relevant for my analysis? What parameters are relevant?
2. How does one typically determine which gasket or seal to use?
3. How would you tackle this problem?
Thanks
If I were unfamilier with V seals the first thing I would do is to get on the internet and start searching for and reviewing available manufacturers documents including their online design guides for their products. This is the type of effort and ingenuity that is expected of engineers. In industry in many cases you are not going to be able to "simply ask the expert" to find solutions for your projects.
Go directly to the cylinder manufacturer. They should be your first call. No one knows the performance and the issues of their product like they do. If their product isn't working, it's up to them to fix it. You might also call the manufacturer of the current seals. Both of these sources will have suggestions for you. You're wasting your time if you try to solve this yourself without contacting them first.
This is one of MANY parts of the practical side of engineering that your education didn't cover. Instead of equations and calculations, and figuring out the answer yourself, this problem has to do with finding the source that already has the answer. My father spent 50 years designing special machines and he once told me that much of engineering isn't so much knowing the answer as simply knowing where to find it. A lot of wisdom there.
A separate comment - THANK YOU for taking the time to express yourself clearly, in a well organized manner, and with proper spelling and punctuation, unlike so many in your generation. Those simple factors alone will cause you to stand out among a generation that does not seem to know the difference between professional communications and "texting".
If this "hydraulic cylinder that is sealed via a V-Packings" is a unique or custom design - you will need to disassemble the hydraulic cylinder and investigate the state of wear, any damage and maybe the original design details.
Last edited by Kelly_Bramble; 09-04-2014 at 10:27 PM. Reason: spelling
First of all let apologize for my first rather terse response but we get what seem like "do my work for me" string posts rather frequently. Also, my search the web response was based on the fact that I have been retired for so long that had forgotten what it is like to onsite at the actual factory location.
With that said, let me ********** the two prior posts with the following recommendations based on many years of product development experience. First, as Kelly says, you should get hands-on with the product by disassembling it and getting familiar with it as a real physical item; and hopefully you will be able to do this with the assistence of someone in either the assembly or field service departments at your location. Second, seek out the people in your operation that have history with the product and discuss the problem with them to get any views they have on the issue (if available, service personnel are absolutely one of the most valuable resources any engineer can have for learning the ins and outs of a product, its history and its operational weak points).
Next, as stated above, contact the manufacturer of the seals to discuss your problem and the observations you have and thoise you have garnered from the others in your organization and seek their assistance.
From there you should then be able to develop a detailed plan for investigations, testing, etc to hopefully discover the root of the problem.
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