Since its founding, the NFPA and the fluid power industry have recognized the value of standards development to simplify the use of fluid power and help assure fluid power system integrity and safety. NFPA continues to serve as the focal point in representing U.S. interests in international standards development as the TC 131 fluid power secretariat and U.S. TAG administrator. Over 140 fluid power industry volunteers participate in standards development committees, and over the past year, a number of these volunteers have also been contributing standards-related content to Fluid Power Journal. The resulting article series can help standards participants and the general public alike better understand the role of standards in the fluid power industry.
Articles in the series cover:
- Graphical Standard 1219, the family of ISO standards that define and codify the universally understood graphical symbols used in the fluid power industry;
- ISO standards for hydraulic and pneumatic systems, which evolved out of Joint Industrial Council (JIC) best practices from the early 1950s;
- Hydraulic pump and motor ISO standards, which can help users, manufacturers, and researchers uniformly determine component performance characteristics for proper component selection;
- Hydraulic and pneumatic cylinder standards that help end users use these components effectively;
- The history of the ISO 3601 series of standards for o-rings;
- Why we need a global standard to measure shifting time of a control valve, a measure that is standardized nationally but is different in each country; and
- ISO 4406, a standardized method of coding solid particle contamination levels.
The spring series of TAG and ISO meetings begins next week in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Learn more about how you can get involved in standards development and contact Denise Husenica at dhusenica@nfpa.com with any questions.