MP-18 · MOTION AND DRIVES
Pneumatic Cylinder Force and Air Use
Estimate theoretical pneumatic-cylinder extend and retract force, stroke volume, and per-cycle air use from bore, rod, pressure, stroke, and cycle rate.
Preliminary design support. Your inputs and results stay in this browser.
WHAT THIS SCREEN ANSWERS
Pneumatic-cylinder sizing starts with area and pressure, but usable motion depends on much more than a theoretical force number. Bore area creates extend force. Rod area reduces retract force. Stroke and cycle rate determine the amount of air the system must move. This screen places those basic quantities together so a cylinder concept can be compared before valve flow and system losses are ignored.
Enter bore, rod diameter, gauge pressure, stroke, and cycle rate. MechPlane calculates piston and annular area, theoretical extend and retract force, and a simple stroke-volume proxy. The rod is checked against the bore because a physically impossible geometry should not be allowed to masquerade as a result.
Pressure at a compressor is not necessarily pressure at a moving cylinder. Valve flow, line size, fittings, regulators, pressure drop, cushion behavior, friction, temperature, leakage, and load variation affect the actual force and speed. A cylinder that looks adequate from nominal pressure can slow or stall in the real machine. The page therefore does not produce a pass verdict.
Use the output to establish a preliminary bore and air-use envelope. Then confirm the exact cylinder, mounting, rod buckling, side-load capacity, valves, hoses, pressure drop, speed, cushioning, controls, exhaust, noise, and safety conditions with current supplier information. Do not use a theoretical force calculation as a machine-safety or retained-load approval.