SMOKO Magazine: The Bi-Monthly Digital Publication of I.R.S. 7 | Page 7

Corporate Blog - Gas Struts

Name:Ross Parks

Position:External Sales Representative

Company (when guest author):/

Product code:GSK

Short description:Gas Struts

Customer usage:Hatches, tailgates, boots, bonnets, industrial

Interesting details:There are stainless streel struts for marine use

Subject:Gas Struts

Gas Struts are commonly found in most applications to help open and holding open, various doors and hatches of cars, especially station wagons and vans and canopies. They come in a wide range of sizes and shaft diameters to cater many needs. It’s simple to calculate the size and the force of the gas strut you require for your application. Using this guideline:

The extended length of the Gas Strut should be approximately 60% of the door or hatch length. For example: a 1000mm high door should have a Gas Strut length of approximately 600mm.

Once you have determined the length of the Gas Strut you will need to calculate the force required: check the mounting distance from the hinge; half the length of the door (for example a door that’s 1000mm long would require a 500mm Gas Strut) and determine dead weight of the door in Newtons (1kg = 10 Newtons - 15kgs = 150N). These numbers divided by the number of Gas Struts required will give you the force required.

Gas struts will have different shaft and body diameters and shaft lengths.

Shaft Diamater Body Diameter Stroke Length

6 mm 15 mm 20 – 210 mm

8 mm 18 mm 50 – 365 mm

10 mm 22 mm 85 – 560 mm

14 mm 28 mm 85 – 500 mm

Gas Struts do not often fail suddenly. There are a few tell tail signs before total failure. For example, where a door or hatch needs to be pushed the last part of its travel and the door or hatch slowly falls back down a little then it’s starting to go and requires replacement.