Pneumatic Cylinder Force Calculator

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Double-acting cylinders use air pressure for both extend and retract strokes. Single-acting cylinders use air for one stroke only and a spring for the return.
Inner diameter of the cylinder barrel (also called bore diameter).
mm
Diameter of the piston rod. Used to calculate the smaller annular area for the retract stroke.
mm
Gauge pressure of the compressed air supply. Standard industrial systems operate at 5-10 bar (73-145 psi).
bar
Pressure on the exhaust side of the cylinder (non-zero in meter-out throttle circuits). Leave at 0 for a freely exhausting system.
bar
Typical piston seal friction is 5-15% of theoretical force. Enter 0 to see the theoretical maximum.
%
Extend stroke force (effective)Heavy duty (1-10 kN)
2,714.3N

Net force available during the extend stroke after friction and back-pressure losses

Retract stroke force (effective)2,509.1N
Theoretical extend force3,015.9N
Piston (bore) area5,026.55mm²
Annular (rod-side) area4,646.42mm²
Area ratio (retract/extend)0.924
Extend force2,714.3
Retract force2,509.1
Theoretical (no friction)3,015.9

Effective extend force: 2714.3 N

  • Effective extend force is 2714.3 N (10% friction loss already deducted).
  • The retract stroke produces 2509.1 N, which is 92.4% of the extend force because the rod removes area from the piston face.
  • Area ratio (retract/extend) is 0.924. A smaller rod relative to the bore keeps this ratio close to 1 and balances both strokes.

Next stepApply a safety factor of 1.25-2.0 to the effective force when selecting a cylinder, to account for load variations, pressure drops in the supply line, and seal wear over time.

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