TRIBOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF WATER HYDRAULICS

A clean and healthy environment must be an increasing priority. Different kinds of hydraulic fluids are in use nowadays. Unfortunately, the majority of them are harmful. The use of tap water as a hydraulicpressure medium is one of the possible solutions. This study presents the research and development of different hydraulics components. Every research of a new water-hydraulic component starts with basic tribological investigations of different material pairs and their surfaces. Then follows the design and calculations of the hydraulics characteristics, the production of a prototype and its experimental investigations. The following water-hydraulic components, i.e., proportional control valve, hydraulic cylinder, piston pump, hydraulic accumulator, check valve and hydraulic motor, will be presented.