ABSTRACT
Fluid power systems are designed using all the principles learned in fluid mechanics. It is appropriate to briefly review these principles before proceeding with our study of the applications.
It is required that a student who reads this treatment of fluid power have had an undergraduate course in fluid mechanics. One of the underlying postulates of fluid mechanics is that, for a particular position within a fluid at rest, the pressure is the same in all directions. This follows directly from Pascal’s Law. A second postulate states that fluids can support shear forces only when in motion. These two postulates define the characteristics of the fluid media used to transmit power and control motion. Traditional concepts such as static pressure, viscosity, momentum, continuity, Bernoulli’s equation, and head loss are used to analyze the problems encountered in fluid power systems. The reader should continuously keep in mind that the fundamental concepts are being applied. New methodology is used, but no new concepts are introduced.
