Hydraulic cylinders get their power from pressurized hydraulic fluid, which is typically oil. The hydraulic cylinder consists of a cylinder barrel, in which a piston connected to a piston rod moves back and forth. The barrel is closed on one end by the cylinder bottom (also called the cap) and the other end by the cylinder head (also called the gland) where the piston rod comes out of the cylinder. The piston has sliding rings and seals. The piston divides the inside of the cylinder into two chambers, the bottom chamber (cap end) and the piston rod side chamber (rod end / head end).
Flanges, trunnions, clevises, and lugs are common cylinder mounting options. The piston rod also has mounting attachments to connect the cylinder to the object or machine component that it is pushing or pulling.
A hydraulic cylinder is the actuator or "motor" side of this system. The "generator" side of the hydraulic system is the hydraulic pump which delivers a fixed or regulated flow of oil to the hydraulic cylinder, to move the piston. The piston pushes the oil in the other chamber back to the reservoir. If we assume that the oil enters from cap end, during extension stroke, and the oil pressure in the rod end / head end is approximately zero, the force F on the piston rod equals the pressure P in the cylinder times the piston area A:

Retraction force difference
For double-acting single-rod cylinders, when the input and output pressures are reversed, there is a force difference between the two sides of the piston due to one side of the piston being covered by the rod attached to it. The cylinder rod reduces the surface area of the piston and reduces the force that can be applied for the retraction stroke.
During the retraction stroke, if oil is pumped into the head (or gland) at the rod end and the oil from the cap end flows back to the reservoir without pressure, the fluid pressure in the rod end is (Pull Force) / (piston area - piston rod area):

where P is the fluid pressure, Fp is the pulling force, Ap is the piston face area and Ar is the rod cross-section area.
For double-acting, double-rod cylinders, when the piston surface area is equally covered by a rod of equal size on both sides of the head, there is no force difference. Such cylinders typically have their cylinder body affixed to a stationary mount.
Parts[edit]
A hydraulic cylinder has the following parts:
Cylinder barrel
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The main function of the cylinder body is to contain cylinder pressure. The cylinder barrel is mostly made from honed tubes.[3] Honed tubes are produced from Suitable To Hone Steel Cold Drawn Seamless Tubes (CDS tubes) or Drawn Over Mandrel (DOM) tubes. Honed tubing is ready to use for hydraulic cylinders without further ID processing. The surface finish of the cylinder barrel is typically 4 to 16 microinch.Honing process and Skiving & Roller burnishing (SRB) process are the two main types of processes for manufacturing cylinder tube.[4] The piston reciprocates in the cylinder.The cylinder barrel has features of smooth inside surface,high precision tolerance, durable in use etc.
Cylinder base or cap
The main function of the cap is to enclose the pressure chamber at one end. The cap is connected to the body by means of welding, threading, bolts, or tie rod. Caps also perform as cylinder mounting components [cap flange, cap trunnion, cap clevis]. Cap size is determined based on the bending stress. A static seal / o-ring is used in between cap and barrel (except welded construction).
Cylinder head
The main function of the head is to enclose the pressure chamber from the other end. The head contains an integrated rod sealing arrangement or the option to accept a seal gland. The head is connected to the body by means of threading, bolts, or tie rod. A static seal / o-ring is used in between head and barrel.
Piston
The main function of the piston is to separate the pressure zones inside the barrel. The piston is machined with grooves to fit elastomeric or metal seals and bearing elements. These seals can be single acting or double acting. The difference in pressure between the two sides of the piston causes the cylinder to extend and retract. The piston is attached with the piston rod by means of threads, bolts, or nuts to transfer the linear motion.
Piston rod
The piston rod is typically a hard chrome-plated piece of cold-rolled steel which attaches to the piston and extends from the cylinder through the rod-end head. In double rod-end cylinders, the actuator has a rod extending from both sides of the piston and out both ends of the barrel. The piston rod connects the hydraulic actuator to the machine component doing the work. This connection can be in the form of a machine thread or a mou