ISO/TC 131 Fluid Power Systems Meets in Milan, Italy

The fall ISO/TC 131 meetings were held in Milan, Italy from October 7 – 17, 2019. A record number of fluid power experts attended a combination of 17 subcommittee and/or working group meetings that focused on hydraulic and pneumatic quick-action couplings, o-rings, seals, contamination control/filters, cylinder mounting dimensions, component and system sound measurement, and water hydraulics. Participating countries included Poland, Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, China, and Turkey.

Highlights from the meetings include:

• Current chairmen and conveners were reconfirmed for a three-year term in subcommittee 4 (connectors) and subcommittee 6 (contamination control). A new convener was also approved for subcommittee 8 (hydraulic component and system sound measurement.)
• An international laboratory study was completed and the results were presented for the calibration of automatic particle counter for liquids.
• A new work item on the filter multi-pass test under cyclic flow conditions will be reactivated based on round robin analysis done this past year.
• New proposals on pressure ratings, hydraulic hose lengths and requirements, pressure control valves, switching time using cross-correlation theory, and hydraulic fluid power filter elements were presented and discussed in the working groups as possible future work.

NFPA would like to thank the Ente Italiano di Normazione (UNI) for hosting the fall meetings.

Please note: The 2020 spring meeting cluster, originally scheduled in Beijing for the week of May 11 – 15, has been moved to South Korea due to travel restrictions in and out of China. TC 131 subcommittees and working groups involved in sealing devises, connectors, contamination control, and cylinders are scheduled to meet. The fall 2020 meeting cluster, scheduled for October 12 – 16, 2020, has also been moved from the United States to Paris, France due to travel restrictions.

U.S. volunteers are urgently needed at the committee tables to participate in fluid power standards development. If you would like to learn how to get involved in the ISO subcommittees/working groups and/or in the U.S. technical advisory group committees, contact Denise Husenica at (414) 778-3354 or email dhusenica@nfpa.com.