If liquid is not compressible, why do we need special hydraulic fluid? Why not just use water?
In: Engineering
Do you want your hydraulics to break every winter when it freezes?
Yeah, that is why.
Liquids are compressible to a degree. We just use specific hydraulic fluids due to rusting, heat, freezing temps.
The reason water isn’t used as a hydraulic fluid isn’t anything to do with its compressibility. It has to do with its heat characteristics.
Water will heat up significantly under pressure, in high pressure situations it will turn into steam even. That’s not good for hydraulic lines. Instead we use an oil that is designed to stay in a similar state at pressure and designed to take the wear and tear of going through these pressure cycles repeatedly.
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