Hydraulic Motors

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What is a Hydraulic Motor and Why Do You

Need It?
A hydraulic motor converts hydraulic energy into mechanical energy:
a rotating shaft. It uses hydraulic pressure and flow to generate
torque and rotation.
You can use hydraulic motors for many applications, such as
winches, crane drives, self-driven cranes, excavators, mixer and
agitator drives, roll mills, etc.
Note: The design of a hydraulic motor and a hydraulic pump are very
similar. For this reason, some pumps with fixed displacement
volumes can may also be used as hydraulic motors.
How DTA Can Help You:
DTA has extensive expertise with hydraulic motors and carries a
substantial inventory of motors from several major vendors.
Depending on your requirements, DTA can supply high-quality
hydraulic motors, taking into account a wide variety of functional and
hydraulic system requirements.
DTA supplies hydraulic motors from high quality manufacturers, such
as Calzoni, Denison Hydraulics, Parker, and Staffa Kawasaki. We
can provide premium build hydraulic motors, as well as motor spare
parts, service and installation manuals.
Different Types of Hydraulic Motors
The hydraulic motor must be geared to hydraulic system
requirements; issues such as load, range of load, speed,
serviceability, etc. must be taken into account. There are different
types of hydraulic motors, as noted below:
Hydraulic Gear Motors

Hydraulic Gear Motor

Epicyclic Gear Motor

Hydraulic Vane Motors

Balanced Vane Motor

Hydraulic Piston Motors

Axial Piston Motor

Radial Piston Motor

Part-turn Actuators

Rotary Actuator
Rack and Pinion Actuator

The power produced by a hydraulic motor is determined by the flow

and pressure drop of the motor. The displacement and pressure drop
of the motor determines the torque it generates. The power output is
thus directly proportional to the speed. The motors range from high
speed motors of up to 10,000 rpm to low speed motors with a
minimum of 0.5 rpm.
Note that low speed hydraulic motors are designed in such a way
that large torques are generated at low speeds. High speed motors
have better operational characteristics at speeds that are at least
higher than 500 rpm.
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Hydraulic Gear Motors

Hydraulic gear motors are often used in mobile hydraulics and in
agricultural machinery to drive conveyer belts, dispersion plates,
screw conveyors or fans.
There are two different types of hydraulic gear motors. The gear
motor, which is very similar in design to the external gear pump, is a
high speed motor. The epicyclic gear motor, also known as an orbit or
gear ring motor, is a slow speed motor.
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Hydraulic Gear Motor

Gear motors and axial piston motors are high speed motors. If your
operation requires a lower speed, you can reduce the output speed
of the shaft by using gears. The operating pressure of gear motors is
usually quite low: between 100 and 150 bar. Modern gear motors,
however, are capable of operating at continuous pressures of up to
250 bar.
Key features of gear motors:

Low weight and size

Relatively high pressures
Low cost
Wide range of speeds
Wide temperature range
Simple and durable design
Wide viscosity range

A major drawback of gear motors is that they produce a large amount

of noise. Gear motors with only one direction of rotation are designed
exactly the same as external gear pumps. A gear motor that can
change directions of rotation has a drain case port and the axial
pressure fields are different. The efficiency of gear motors is relatively
low due to oil leakage.
Typical parameters are:

Displacement volume: 3 to 100 cc

Maximum pressure: up to 250 bar
Range of speeds: 500 to 4,000 rpm
Maximum torque: up to 400 Nm

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Epicyclic Gear Motor
Epicyclic gear motors are also called orbit motors, gear ring motors
or gerotor motors. Unlike gear motors, the orbit motor has very low oil
leakage. The motor can produce large torques at very slow speeds
(approximately 5 rpm).
Key features of epicyclic gear motors, gear ring, orbit or gerotor
motors are:

Low oil leakage

High torque at low speeds

Large displacement volume

Relatively small size
Low noise level

Just like gear ring pumps, the rotor of the orbit motor has one tooth
less than the stator. Because of the difference in teeth, enclosed
chambers are formed within the orbit motor.
Epicyclic gear motors or orbit motors are available in two types: one
has a central shaft and the other has a cardan shaft. Orbit motors
with central shafts are widely used in hydraulic systems.
The orbit motor with a cardan shaft consists of cylindrical rolls in the
set of gear wheels. It is only used for special applications (e.g. high
pressures, very high efficiency and longer lifespan).
Typical parameters:

Displacement volume: 10 to 1,000 cc

Maximum pressure: up to 250 bar
Range of speeds: 5 to 1,200 rpm
Maximum torque: up to 4,000 Nm

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Hydraulic Vane Motors

Hydraulic vane motors are used in both industrial applications, such
as screw-drive and injection moulding, and mobile applications, such
as agricultural machinery. Hydraulic vane motors have less internal
leakage than gear motors and are therefore better suited for lower
speeds: about 100 rpm minimum. The maximum operating pressure
of hydraulic vane motors is between 100 and 140 bar, and theyre
used in both hydraulics and pneumatics.
Key features of hydraulic vane motors are:

Low noise level

Low flow pulsation
High torque at low speeds
Simple design
Easy serviceability
Vertical installation friendly

In order to operate correctly, the vanes of the rotor have to be

pressed against the inside of the motor housing. This is generally
taken care of with spiral or leaf springs, but rods can be used as well.
This precaution prevents issues with stationary motors, such as the
vanes sinking into the grooves and causing the oil to flow over it
instead against it. Most often, the rotor is hollow, thus enabling it to
be easily mounted on a spline shaft.
Typical parameters:

Displacement volume: 9 to 214 cc

Maximum pressure: up to 230 bar
Range of speeds: 100 to 2,500 rpm
Maximum torque: up to 650 Nm

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Hydraulic Piston Motors

Hydraulic piston motors are used to drive mobile and construction
equipment, winches, ship-cranes, and all kinds of heavy-duty
hydraulic equipment for offshore and onshore operations.
Hydraulic piston motors combine high speeds with large
displacement volumes at higher operating pressures. If your
operation requires a significant amount of power, a hydraulic piston
motor is the best option. Whether your heavy-duty installation needs
high torques or high speeds determines the choice of either a radial
piston or axial piston motor.
Multi-stroke piston motors increase displacement substantially
because each piston carries out multiple strokes per revolution of the
shaft. Hence, a hydraulic multi-stroke piston motor produces high
operating torques.
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Axial Piston Motor
Similar to piston pumps, axial piston motors work with a bent axis
design or swash plate principle. The fixed displacement type works
as a hydraulic motor, and the variable displacement type most often

functions as a hydraulic pump. Fixed displacement motors may be

used in both open and closed loop circuits.
In the bent axis design, pistons move up and down within the cylinder
block bores. This motion is converted into rotary movement via the
piston ball joint at the drive flange. In the swash plate design, pistons
move up and down within the cylinder block and turn it, which then
turns the drive shaft via the connected cotter pin.
Typical parameters of axial piston motors:

Displacement volume: 10 to 1,000 cc (multi-stroke up to 1,500

cc)
Maximum pressure: up to 450 bar
Speed range: 500 to 11,000 rpm
Maximum torque: up to 10,750 Nm

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Radial Piston Motor
Radial piston motors are used in caterpillar drives of dragline
excavators, cranes, winches and ground drilling equipment. Radial
piston motors are capable of producing high torques at very low
speeds, down to half a revolution per minute. Therefore, radial piston
motors are also referred to as Low Speed High Torque (LSHT)
motors.
The pistons (or plungers) of a radial piston motor form a star-like
shape and are perpendicularly connected to the shaft. The rectilinear
motion of the pistons is transformed into a rotating movement by the
eccentric shaft.
Typical parameters of radial piston motors:

Displacement volume: 10 to 8,500 cc

Maximum pressure: up to 300 bar (multi-stroke up to 450 bar)
Range of speeds: 0.5 to 2,000 rpm
Maximum torque: up to 32,000 Nm (multi-stroke up to 45,000
Nm)

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Part-turn Actuators
Part-turn actuators are mainly used for bunker slides, opening
butterfly valves, and for push, pull, lift and mix operations.
This type of actuator, also known as a rotary actuator, can only rotate
left or right over an angle of 300. They operate at pressures around
70 bar. Part-turn actuators are much smaller than cylinders and do
not have any external moving parts.
Part-turn actuators are very simple in design. There are two versions:
one has two wings on the axle, and the other one has two internal
dividers. This construction brings the swivel bracket back to around
120 and doubles the torque. The first version is prone to a low,
continuous leakage rate along the wing. This means that, during
operation, the rotary actuator must be under constant pressure in
order to perform properly.
Part-turn actuators perform a slewing motion across a shaft end
when pressurised with hydraulic fluid, regardless of the type or
design of the unit. The angle that a part-turn actuator moves through
is limited by fixed or adjustable stops. Due to this, the range of
applications in which part-turn actuators may be used is limited