RYCO Tests & Validates Hydraulic Hose Assemblies. Have you ever wondered how hydraulic hose coupling manufacturers validate their designs before releasing them for sale to the market?

There are applications that combine working conditions of pressure, temperature, flexing, aging and mechanical loads that engineers must take into consideration.

Think of hydraulic hammers as they pound into rocks, tree harvesting machines as they lift and tilt huge tree trunks, ground engaging tools on backhoes suddenly hitting a rock or root hydrostatic transmissions suddenly being thrown into reverse gear while travelling forward. All these applications and many more put great stresses on hydraulic hose assemblies.

Hose

RYCO tests and validates hose assemblies to the highest temperatures and smallest bend radius to mimic the great stresses and working pressures within various applications.

Common Hose Assembly Validation Tests

1.    Proof test
Increasing the pressure of the hose assembly to 2x maximum working pressure for a duration of 60 seconds.

2.    Burst Test
Increasing the pressure of the hose assembly until the assembly fails.

3. Impulse Test
A dynamic (fatigue) test is required to test the hose assembly to its limits.

There are many pressure changes that occur within a hose over its lifetime, not to mention the temperature changes, bending and flexing. All of these factors demand the hose to coupling interface be able to withstand the most demanding scenarios thrown at it.

For this reason, the Society of Automotive Engineers, SAE, long ago developed Specification SAE J343: “Test and Test Procedures for SAE 100R Series Hydraulic Hose and Hose Assemblies”.

There are also similar tests covered by:

• AS (Australian Standards)
• EN (European Norman)
• DIN (Deutsche Industrie Normen)
• ISO (International Standards Organisation)

These impulse tests subject the hose assembly to a specified number of impulses (very sharp and quick pressure peaks), at 100% to 133% of the hose’s maximum working pressure, at maximum working temperature, while being bent to minimum bend radius in either a 90° or 180° bend (depending on bore size).

The combined factors of the extremely rapid pressure rise and release, high temperature, and tight bends, over a large number of pressure impulse cycles soon sorts out the good designs from the bad.

These conditions are tightly controlled, to ensure that the hose assembly is subjected to appropriate stresses before being approved.

Read more about impulse testing procedures: Impulse Testing – Using the Impulse Curve in Testing.

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If you would like to know more about RYCO’s Impulse Testing procedures, contact our RYCO Hydraulics Customer Service team or fill out our contact form.

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