Design of a cylinder leakage detection device

Abstract The performance of the hydraulic cylinder affects the accuracy, safety, and stability of the system. However, the leakage of the hydraulic cylinder, resulting in performance degradation, loss of function, and environmental pollution, is tiny. The detection process is often time-consuming and labor-intensive. In this paper, an external device for cylinder leakage detection was designed, and the working process was operable, observable, and fast, which was suitable for rapid switching and detection of multiple equipment online or offline. Compared to existing devices, this device adopted a new principle of optics, which made it more accurate. As the firstly proposed sliding displacement amplifier, this device measures the sliding displacement directly, and hence expensive and highly precise sensors are avoided, which makes it far cheaper compared to existing devices. During the design process, a new method was proposed to screen out unique solutions from two sets of solutions. The simulation results showed that though the sliding displacement of the piston rod of the hydraulic cylinder caused by leakage was tiny, the displacement amplification factor of this device was very high, making the leakage easily be identified by observing the laser spot’s movement on the scale.