Hydraulic systems use a fluid to transmit energy and are widely used in construction sites, factories, and even in our household appliances. They operate based on Pascal’s Law, which says that a pressure change at one point in a fluid will be transmitted to the entire system. The fluids in hydraulic systems allow users to exert pressure on one part of the system to send energy to another, which can then be converted into work.
Aside from construction and industrial uses, hydraulics has many interesting applications in the automotive industry. They are used in power steering and suspension systems, and in extending and retracting airplane landing gears. They also serve as an important tool in the automobile industry, allowing the opening and closing of doors and steering. Hydraulic fracturing is an advanced mining process that extracts unused oil and gas from a rock formation by pumping a high-pressure mixture of sand and water into cracks. Hydraulics is also used in car suspension systems and windshield wipers.
Despite the similarities between the two systems, hydraulics and pneumatics are fundamentally different. Pneumatics is a simpler and cheaper alternative, but hydraulics is more complex and requires more assembly and repairing. In addition to construction equipment, both systems are widely used in everyday items. The differences between the two systems are significant, but the benefits of hydraulics far outweigh the disadvantages. If you’re looking for a better alternative to a traditional hydraulic system, read a PDF on hydraulics.