Hydraulic erecting systems are widely used in missile and rocket launchers because of their high power density. The double-acting telescopic hydraulic cylinder (DATHC) plays a decisive role in the ...safe and proper operation of such systems. In particular, improper design of effective areas of a DATHC could potentially lead to an overspeed descent with severe damage for the erecting system. Unfortunately, there is no design constraint for DATHC to prevent this. Therefore, in this paper, a simplified and practical design constraint is proposed. Based on a developed mathematical model of a typical erecting system, we simulated and analyzed not only six cases meeting and not meeting the design constraint, but also the effectiveness of the design constraint under different loads. Experiments were then carried out under four cases. Simulation and experimental results validate the simplified design constraint, a constraint inequation guiding the design of diameters of effective areas for a DATHC.
