Technology insures reliability for Tractor Steering Cylinders

Danivasa Ramesh
General Manager-R&D
Wipro Infrastructure Engineering Limited
Bangalore

Abstract
Tractors are one of early machines to find Critical to reliability are
application of oil hydraulics. The conventional - Right material, seals. Bearings
4 bar Acherman Steering mechanism is replaced by - Right joint design
a through rod hydraulic cylinder mounted on the - Right forms, finishes
axle. This cylinder reduces the steering wheel - Dust control
effort to ease hand force and becomes the part of - Integrity and functional assurance
human feel for steering.
This paper describes the care in designing reliable
Functionality, Durability and reliability of the joint, robustness in manufacturing in areas of form,
steering cylinders are extremely important and finish, shrink fitting, dust control and performance
requires robust design and manufacturing assessment through rigorous validation..
processes. Peizo crystal oscillator, programmable logic
controller, CNC, PC interfaced sensor system…
Upfront validation of cylinders under simulated ensure right reliable control to insure quality and
accelerated working conditions is a necessity before reliability. Examples are included.
mass production.

Hydraulics in Tractor (See Figs. 1 & 2)

In 1930s Ferguson was the first to use oil hydraulic

transmisison and power to lift and control the
implement attached to 3 point linkage hitch system
at the rear of tractors. This has revolutionised and
easied the farmer with comfort of implement
control and saving of diesel.

In 1950s mechanical gear transmission box was Fig. 1 Tractor

replaced by hydrostatic transmission for the higher
horse power tractors.

In early 1960s Charlyn introduced complete

hydrostatic link between the hand wheel and the
steer wheels on the front axle of the tractor for
steering.

Thus Hydraulic has replaced mechanical units

offering –
- Compactness
- Comforts Fig. 2 Tractor Schematic
- Reliability etc..

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Hydraulic Steering System (See Fig. 3) Mechanics & Functioning of Steering Cylinder
(See Fig. 5)
This consists of
- Hydraulic Pump Steering cylinder becomes one of the driving link in
- Orbitrol metering unit connected to the 6 bar or 4 bar link of Acherman steering. Most
hand wheel popular being the slider bar on axle and connected
- Equal area or unequal area hydraulic fluidically to steering valve (orbitrol) beneath the
cylinder handle (Fig.5)
- Small oil tank and accessories
Left to right rotation of hand wheel meters the oil
precisely to cylinder, hence cylinder rod moves left
or right, precisely driving the front tyres for
steering.

Fig. 3 Hydraulic Steering System

While pump and orbitrol units are available as

standard items in different sizes, the steering
cylinder is often custom designed. Fig.5 Functioning of cylinder

Hydraulic Steering Cylinder (See Fig. 4) Steering cylinder experiences pressure depending
upon the load and road conditions. Typical
The hydraulic steering cylinder arrangement on pressure weaveform is shown in fig. 6
front axle is shown in the figure. Invariably the
cylinder is customised to the type of axle depending
on the equipment.

Fig.6 Pressure vs. Steer angle

Near the extreme lock condition the steering torque

on the ‘king pin’ is higher showing increased
pressure.

The rod – with spherical joint connected to end will

experience maximum ‘inclined force’ from the link
connecting end and king pin ‘crank arm’. This
inclined force produce ‘increasing bending
moment’ on the rod similar to pressure waveform
shown in fig.5. The bending is proportional to
Fig. 4 Hydraulic Cylinder arrangement inclination of the connecting link – which produces
non-axial vertical force on the joint.

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Life Cycle aspects (See Fig. 7)

Closely looking into the operation of the steering in

a tractor following phases occur in life cycle
Ø most of the times operation around neutral
slightly left or right (light duty phase)
Ø In the course of driving encountering
obstacles, tractors are steered mid way of
hand wheel both left and right (medium
duty phase) Fig. 8 Construction of a typical steering cylinder
Ø While negotiating U turn or reverse,
driving extreme lock to lock operation Design consideration & aspects
takes place (heavy duty phase)
Design starts with the king pin torque, the
The ‘life cycle diagram’ based on duty cycle kinematic linkage arrangement – rod end
operation is approximated in terms of step block connections to king pin lever, hand wheel and
diagram as shown in fig. 7 which indicates the total steered wheel lock to lock (extreme left to extreme
duration in life and the duty in terms of magnitudes right) relationship.
of pressure and velocity in cylinder.
From the above, the cylinder sizing in terms of the
bore, rod and stroke arrived based on system
pressure & flow.

Design and Manufacturing (CTQ Table)

Important engineering and manufacturing critical to

quality (CTQ) parameters are listed element by
element.

Element Design Manufacturing

Tube - Hoop Stress - Bore form &
Fig.7 Duty vs. Life time finish port
welding
Reliability Aspects Rod - Buckling - Heat treatment
- Bending - Grind
Since hydraulic steering cylinder is replacing - Tension - Polish
mechanical link in Acherman mechanism – the - Shear - Plate & polish
reliability requirements of the hydraulic steering - Plating - Form & finish
cylinder is very high since safety is a function of Covers - Load reaction - Concentrities
steering. stresses - Finish
Bearings - Load velocity - Proper selection
Before applying reliability into design and - Impact
manufacturing, a deep insight to the cross section - Strength,
of cylinder is must. tensile /shear
- Coefficient
Typical Steering Cylinder (See Fig. 8) of friction &
expansion
In this application, cylinder is ‘Slider mechanism’
Seals - Pressure - Proper selection
where the rod & piston as one assembly or unit
- Velocity
slides in bore of the tube and the end covers. Tube
- Temperature
and end covers are held rigid and mounted on to
- Compatibility
axle. The differential fluid pressure across the
Piston – - Interface - Heat treatment
piston with the annular area provides the thrust or
rod joint joint stiffness - Finish
force.
- Proper selection

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Failure Modes (See Figs. 9 & 10) The above areas are summary of DFMEA &
PFMEA (Failure Modes) and are responsible for
Before getting into “Critical to reliability” (CTR) ‘degraded performance’ in service another name to
a look into the past experience and upfront thinking reliability.
on ‘what went or can go wrong’ will throw light
on focus areas. Reliability Assurance :

For the purposes understanding the failure modes ‘Robustness’ comes out as key to assure reliability
are listed under mechanical and hydraulic in design and manufacturing processes. Each of the
separately. design and manufacturing activity need to be seen
from multiple input (X1, X2, X3….Xn) and one
Rod Rod thread output (Y) expectancy (Y) can be invariant to X,
buckle shear Rod thread
Rod bend optimal level, maximum, minimum etc.
u/c bulge
Robustness in design and manufacturing
Jerky Tube score Design of experiments (DOE):
Mechanical
failure modes Taguchi method of DOE is handy in arriving at
Rod-Piston
optimal parameters to achieve desired output
Rod score
slippage
Y = F(Xn)
Seal wear
Stick slip Piston rod joint (shrink fitting)
Seizure Y = breakout or pull out force of joint
Bearing
Tube bulge (10000 Kgf – 15000 Kgf)
wear
/ burst X1 = rod diameter
Fig. 9 X2 = rod surface finish
Internal leakage X3 = piston bore
Cover ‘O’ ring (Piston) X4 = piston bore surface finish
leakage X5 = piston material Yield Strength & hardness
External Leakage X6 = piston width
(Rod Seal Wiper)
Based on expected effect of the Xs on Y the factors
Hydraulic
and levels are identified.
failure modes
MiniTab run provide an insight to variance

Dysfunction Wiper coming off Actual experiments and results are assessed for
- no wiping - responses &
- interactions

Pre-mature failure of best – worst combinations are trial and

seals, bearings & wipers confirmatory run to arrive at optimum parameters.
Fig. 10

Unreliability Candidates (Critical to reliability)

Having understood the machine, functionality,

cylinder cross section, design & manufacturing
considerations & possible failure modes, key areas
of unreliability are
- piston rod joint
- tube bore surface finish
- rod surface finish and plating
- concentricities between bore and rod in final
unit
- cleanliness of components (human skill) Fig. 11 Shrink Fitting
- testing before shipment (human skill)

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Oscillating tape polish

Fig. 12 Shrink-fitting
Fig. 15 Acid Chamber Corrosion Checks

Fig. 16 Results

Fig. 13 Breakout Force Checks Tube – bore finish

Piston rod surface finish and plating : Tube bore is roller burnished Cp and Cpk
established to achieve fine surface finish
Y = Corrosion resistance consistently.
(NSS or CASS or ASTM specifications)
X1 = Pre-plated surface finish
X2 = Plating current
X3 = Solution cleanliness
X4 = Post plated surface finish
X5 = Plating thickness

Fig. 17 Burnishing Machine

Concentricities, Forms and Finish :

Piston and Head end covers are two prime

components which decide smooth operation. These
components are machined in numerically controlled
machine which incorporates the computer program
Fig. 14 Oscillating tape polish to generate outer and inner diameters in one setting
and cutting.

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Cp and Cpk of the process assure required Test Oil Cleaning :
accuracies.
Completely sealed cylindrical – cone stainless steel
tank with fine air filters (< 1 micron), return line
filters (15 & 25 microns), pressure line filters (10
microns) and off line filters (2-10 microns) run
continuously circulating oil and cleaning.
Offline filters are multilayer depth filter having
very high Beta ratio (500 –1000 for small
particles).

Cleanliness achieved to NAS 7~8, ISO : 16/13 –

Fig. 18 CNC Station 17/14

Cleanliness of components & test oil : 2 Lane 4 Hose System (See Fig. 20) :

More than 50 – 60% of the service related failures Unconventional to single hose connected to
are attributed to either oil contamination or ‘inbuilt’ cylinder port – 2 hose to same port with one
contamination in the components. carrying clean and the other the flushed oil
connected as shown bel0w. This novel method
Automated Washing - PLC based unit flushes the cylinder inside with clean oil every
(See Fig. 19) cycle of cylinder stroking.

Components particularly the piston and end covers

which house seals and bearings in the grooves need
thorough scrubbing on the surface of the
inaccessible area. This is carried our by multistage
ultrasonic cleaning station.

Ultrasonic Cleaner
1
Contamination α Wavelength α --------------------
Frequency of ultrasonic

While water based solvent helps removing grease

oil and rust the ultrasonic waves in the media reach
the surfaces and impact the micron dust and
dislodge them. Rinsing and washing will take Fig. 20 2 Lane 4 Hose System
away the dislodged dust. Multistage cleaning
station assure component cleanliness to 20-40-100
mg/m2 low frequency 1st stage ‘rough cleaning’
removes 50 – 100 micron particles and high
frequency 3rd stage fine cleaning will remove 5 – 50
micron fine particles.

Fig. 21 Cylnder Lane Tank Station

Fig. 19 Ultrasonic Washing Station (PLC)

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Validation (Proof is in the pudding) :

Understanding the duty cycle and life cycle of the

cylinder 3 – 5 samples are taken through exhaustive
testing
- Simulating load & motion conditions to near
working situations.
- Extreme pressure & temperature withstand
ability
- Joint fatigue etc.
Filter
Typical Tests are :

Fig. 22 Filter 1. Impulse Test 185 Bar 30,000 cycles

Power Pack Fig. 25 Impulse Test

Fig. 23 2 Hose – 4 Lane System
Before Test
Automated test station (See Fig. 24) :

Since hydraulic cylinder is an aggregate comprising

of steel and seal and perform load – motion in
connected equipment, 100% of cylinders need to be
tested for its
- integrity (mechanical intactness)
- functionality (motion extension & retraction)
- leakages (external / internal)

This is routinised in the form of cycle testing, proof

pressure testing and leakage tests.
After Test
This entire testing process is programmed and PC
controlled automated hydraulic test bench carries
out the tests and records the data against each
cylinder for future traceability.

Fig. 24 Test Station

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2. Shock Test 185 Bar 30,000 cycles 4. Cycle Test on Axle 163 Bar 3,00,000 cycles

Fig. 28 Cycle Test on Axle

Fig. 26 Shock Test

5. Temperature test 130°C 40 Minutes

3. Cycle Test (Back to Back) 163 Bar 3,00,000 cycles

Fig. 29 Temperature Test

Fig. 27 Cycle Test (Back to Back)

6. Explosion Test 700 Bar 20 Secs

Fig. 30 Explosion Test

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Components after Explosion Test.

Units have successfully passed all the tests and

approved for serial production.

Conclusion :

1. Systematic state of the art approach to design,

manufacturing, testing and validation presented
for tractor steering cylinders

2. Unreliability candidates affecting performance

focussed and addressed.

3. Component washing & oil cleaning considered

as process and methodology explained.

4. Functional and reliability testing through severe

or accelerated tests included.

Acknowledgements :

Thanks to Mr. Anurag Behar - Managing Director,

Wipro Infrastructure Engineering Limited, who is
the spirit behind this end to end work.

Thanks are also due to host of customers from

Kubota – Japan, Carraro – Italy, Mahindra &
Mahindra – Mumbai who have taught us the
domain knowledge and working environment
without which we would not have applied our
thoughts.

Thanks to my colleagues in Wipro who have

translated and transformed the prior art to state of
the art. Thanks are also due to Mr. S Jaykeerthi
who designed shrink fitting a reliable joint.

Last but not the least, thanks to Mr. Theerthesha

and Ms Sandhya E K who have put things together
as reading material.

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