Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Upon completion of the course students should be able to:

• Operate hydraulic devices such as fluid pumps, hydraulic directional control valves, flow control valves, and actuators.
• Read, analyze, and utilize technical fluid power documentation such as data sheets, circuit diagrams, displacement step diagrams, timing diagrams, and function charts for hydraulic components within a mechatronic system.
• Block diagram a hydraulic system, identifying the various components, correcting malfunctions, or correctly identifying the expertise required to correct a malfunction.
• Follow safety regulations, use appropriate protective equipment, and operate equipment according to safety protocols.

The lecture portion of the course may include instructor delivered lectures and demonstrations stressing key topics in the course.  In preparation for the lecture portion of
the course, students will be expected to complete all reading and homework assignments.
The laboratory portion of the course will include laboratory activities.  The purpose of the laboratory activities is to develop skills in the operation of basic hydraulic systems.

Assessment of student performance in this course will be conducted in both the lecture and laboratory portions of the course and may be in the form of written and/or practice-based questions.

a.      OSHA and its Role

b.      Safe Dress

c.       PPE – Personal Protective Equipment

d.      Mechanical Transmission Safety

e.      Hydraulic/Pneumatic Safety

f.        Machine Guarding

g.      LOTO – Lock Out Tag Out

1.      Complex Mechatronics Systems  

a.      Systems Approach

b.      System Block Diagram

c.       Measuring Concepts

2.      Introduction to Fluid Power Systems

a.      Description of Fluid Power and Hydraulic Systems

b.      Advantages and Disadvantages of Hydraulic Systems

1.      Behavior of Fluids I

a.      Review Systems Approach

b.      Relation of Simple Machines to Fluid Power Systems

c.       Basic Principles of Heat Transfer

d.      Difference Between Laminar and Turbulent Flow

e.      Pascal’s Law and Pressure Measurements in Fluids

2.      Behavior of Fluids II

a.      Boyle’s Law

b.      Archimedes’ Principle

c.       Bernoulli’s Theorem

d.      General Gas Law

e.      Viscosity

1.      Fluid Power Standards

a.      Block Diagrams of Energy, Mass, and Material

b.      Reasons for Standardization

c.       Types of Fluid Power Standards Organizations

2.      Fluid Power Symbols

a.      Symbols

b.      Creating Fluid Power Circuit Diagrams

1.      General Fluid Power System Components, Structure, and Operation

a.      Generation and Distribution

b.      Valves

c.       Processors

d.      Power

e.      Systems

1.      Hydraulic Fluid

a.      Review of Safety Issues

a.      Function of Hydraulic Fluid

b.      Properties

c.       Additives

d.      Procedures to Handle Hydraulic Fluids

e.      Reading Basic Hydraulic Fluid Data

2.      Hydraulic Fluid Conditioning

a.      Effects of Contamination

b.      Types of Contaminants

c.       Role of Reservoirs

d.      Types of Filters

e.      Causes of Increased Heat

f.        Heat Exchangers and their Specifications

a.      Function of Pumps

b.      Pump Designs

c.       Cavitation

d.      Procedures for Selecting Pumps

e.      Reading Basic Hydraulic Pump Data Specifications 

a.      Reservoirs

b.      Conductors

c.       Analysis of Circuit and System Operation

d.      Conductor Installation

e.      Distribution

1.      Hydraulic Actuators

a.      Cylinders

b.      Motors

c.       Miscellaneous  Equipment

2.      Hydraulic Motors

a.      Types of Fluid Power Motors

b.      Troubleshooting Fluid Power Motors

c.       Motor Selection

d.      Using Specifications to Gather Information

a.      Relief Valves

b.      Safety Valves

c.       Pressure Regulators

d.      Pressure Switches

e.      Sequence Control

f.        Restrained Movement Control

g.      Unloading Control

h.      Reduced Pressure Control

a.      Pressure Control Valve Specifications

b.      Pressure Control Valve Troubleshooting

a.      Design and Operation of Control Valves

b.      Controlling Direction

a.      Directional Control Valve Specs and Sizing

b.      Directional Control Valve Troubleshooting

a.      Design and Operation of Flow Control Vales

b.      Design of Flow Control Circuits

c.       Flow Control: Orifice Characteristics

d.      Non-compensated Flow Control Valves

e.      Compensated Flow Control Valves

f.        Bypass Flow Control Valves

g.      Flow Divider Valves

a.      Pneumatic Special Purpose Control Valves and Other Devices

b.      Flow Control Valve Specs and Sizing

c.       Flow Control Valve Troubleshooting 

a.      Safety Requirements

b.      Basic Design, Operation, and Characteristics of Accumulators

c.       Testing Accumulators in a Circuit

a.      Sizing and Selecting Accumulators using Spec Sheets

b.      Sizing Accumulator using Manufacturer’s Software

c.       Troubleshooting Accumulators

1.      Hydraulic Circuit Basics

a.      Pressure-Control Circuits

b.      Flow-Control Circuits

2.      Hydraulic Motion Control Circuits

a.      Rapid-Advance-To-Work Circuits

b.      Safety Circuits

c.       System Protection Circuits

d.      Troubleshooting