Let me just explain a little more so you can tell me where I'm going wrong. I've got the seal pictured as two concentric tubes with O-rings between. If the outer tube is the "cylinder," the only difference between the inner tube and a piston is that it's hollow. But assuming no flow, how would the fluid in the "cylinder" "know" it's pressing against pressurized hydraulic fluid in the inner tube and not a solid steel piston?
Of course it would be a pretty small cylinder, little bigger in diameter than they hydraulic line itself. So maybe the answer is just that the restraints on either side are enough to deal with the force generated.
Last edited by Chu Chu; 25th Sep 2010 at 17:52.