5 More Influential People In Hydraulics

Welcome to another Fluid Power Friday.?

We wanted to have a little bit of fun while still educating you on different theories and hydraulics applications.?

So we’ve pulled together another list of 5 MORE influential people in hydraulics history.

Person 1: Osborne Reynolds

Funnily enough Reynolds number was not discovered by Osborne Reynolds, he just made it popular. Reynolds number helps us predict flow patterns. For example if the number is low the flow is often sheet-like (laminar flow), if the number is high it’s way more turbulent. So how the hell did Reynold get involved in all of this if he didn’t create the number? Well he created an experiment to see the transition to turbulent flow using a glass pipe and a small jet of dyed water. These experiments are what popularised Reynolds number. And this number was not only used in fluid power but also in the construction of ships, as they were able to accurately model the effect of turbulence on model ships.?

Person 2: Leonardo Da Vinci

The man needs no introduction. He made massive leaps in anatomy, art, weird and wonderful inventions. He ALSO was interested in fluid power and had a lot to do with the hydrostatic paradox. So what is the hydrostatic paradox? The hydrostatic paradox states that the defining factor behind the force of water is the height between the base and top of water, rather than the mass of the water. For example if you fill different shaped containers to the same height the force exerted onto the base will remain the same. Even though their mass is different. Prior to Da Vinci’s experiments many scientists were claiming the opposite.?

Person 3: Agostini Ramelli

An Italian Engineer who used his engineering to breach fortes in war. However, while his war efforts were entirely land based, what Ramelli did to improve fluid power and engineering was to create a book in the late 16th century. A book that detailed over 195 machines in both Italian and French so that other engineers could learn from these designs and implement them more successfully in projects. Among all of these designs there were 110 water-raising designs including a windlass and fountains which helped integrate basic fluid power mechanics into practical designs. He even used the design basis of a waterwheel (a very common fluid power mechanic at the time) to build a book wheel, the idea was that it allowed the user to read more than one book at one time. While probably not the most useful design it was definitely one of his most creative and most loved at the time.?

Person 4: Ctesibius

Thankfully since this is an articleI won’t be attempting to say his name out loud. Not a whole lot is known about Ctesibius but we do know that his inventions were very popular and widely used. Starting his life as the son of a barber and originally taking up the trade himself he quickly moved onto inventing new items that even used fluid power… all the way back in 222BC. At this time he seemed to describe one of the first instances of a force pump to raise water from wells. He is also attributed with the invention of a syphon. All of these very basic steps have helped us come a long way in the past 2000 years and we definitely could not have done it without creative and innovative individuals like Ctesibius.?

Person 5: Fleeming Jenkin

Although he became a professor in engineering, also took time to enjoy and learn the arts such as drama, language and fine art. The eclectic collection of skills gave him great creativity in his work. One of his great inventions was the cable car, and magnetism and electrical engineering were where his passion lay. However he did also research some areas which help us with fluid power. Once again he looked into friction and we all know how friction can greatly affect the efficiency of fluid power systems.?

Who of these 5 influential people had you heard of before?

See you for next week’s Fluid Power Friday.?

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