Formed hose — hose formed into a specific shape by heating and cooling — offers many benefits for hydraulic equipment. The hose can be formed and installed in temperatures from -65°F to more than 250°F, can reach pressures up to 10,000 psi, and can be installed in demanding environments.
What are the advantages of formed hose?
Zero scrap — Formed assemblies arrive ready for installation. Flexible hose is easier to route than formed tubing, and they eliminate the need for custom bending and installation of fittings.
Fewer leak points — Flexible hydraulic hoses can be formed into whatever shape and dimensions are needed to fit a specific machine. Unions and other fittings can be bypassed with one continuous hose. Traditional failures at fatigue points with rigid tubing are eliminated with vibration-absorbing thermoplastic hose.
Reduced assembly time — Drop-in assemblies save more time than custom-formed tubing and multiple adapter setups. Formed hose assemblies make just-in-time and line-sequencing efforts attainable, whereas bulk hose and tubing don't.
Reduced cost of piece parts — Often, when expensive unions and adapters are replaced with continuous hose, the overall cost is reduced.
MRO-friendly design — When damaged, aftermarket assemblies can be easily replaced. And because the assemblies are custom made, users are more likely to order them as replacement parts instead of replacing them with assemblies made up of multiple sections of hose and fittings.
This information was provided by Michael A. Rauh, Saint Gobain Performance Plastics, Mantua, Ohio.
