Free Engineering Tool — #143
Pneumatic Cylinder Force & Speed Calculator
Calculate extend/retract force and piston speed for pneumatic cylinders. Enter bore, rod diameter, and supply pressure.
Results
Cylinder Extend Force
When the piston extends, pressure acts on the full bore area:
Cylinder Retract Force
When retracting, the rod occupies part of the piston, reducing effective area:
Piston Speed
Speed depends on the air flow rate and effective piston area:
- P — supply pressure
- D — bore diameter
- d — rod diameter
- Q — volume flow rate at working pressure
Standard Bore Sizes (ISO 15552)
| Bore (mm) | Rod (mm) | Extend Area (cm²) |
|---|---|---|
| 32 | 12 | 8.04 |
| 40 | 16 | 12.57 |
| 50 | 20 | 19.63 |
| 63 | 20 | 31.17 |
| 80 | 25 | 50.27 |
| 100 | 25 | 78.54 |
| 125 | 32 | 122.72 |
| 160 | 40 | 201.06 |
| 200 | 50 | 314.16 |
Given: Bore = 63 mm, Rod = 20 mm, Pressure = 6 bar
Abore = π/4 × 63² = 3117 mm² = 31.17 cm²
Fextend = 6 × 10⁵ × 3117 × 10⁻⁶ = 1870 N (190.6 kgf)
Aannular = π/4 × (63² − 20²) = 2803 mm²
Fretract = 6 × 10⁵ × 2803 × 10⁻⁶ = 1682 N (171.4 kgf)
⚠️ Note: Actual force is reduced by 5–20% due to seal friction. Apply a safety factor when sizing cylinders for real applications.
Professional field balancing instruments and software. Used in 50+ countries.
Nikolai Shelkovenko
Nikolai Shelkovenko is a vibration analysis engineer and the founder and CEO of Vibromera. For more than 15 years he has balanced rotating equipment in the field rather than on a test bench: mulchers, industrial fans, crushers, centrifuges, shafts and spindles. That work is what the Balanset instruments grew out of — they were designed as a tool a specialist can carry to the machine and use alone, on site, not as laboratory equipment. Vibromera was founded in 2017 and has been based in Porto, Portugal, since 2023. Development, assembly and support of the Balanset line all happen here. The flagship instrument is the Balanset-1A, a portable analyser for single- and two-plane balancing and for vibration diagnostics. Nikolai is personally involved in customer support, in working through difficult balancing cases and in the development of the software. He works with customers worldwide, in any language.
