Quickly Understand The Difference Between Single-acting And Double-acting Pneumatic Actuators

Pneumatic actuators use compressed air to drive the opening, closing or adjustment of pneumatic valves. Since it has a very fast execution speed compared to other actuators, pneumatic actuators are widely used in the field of industrial automation. Pneumatic actuators are usually divided into single-acting pneumatic actuators and double-acting pneumatic actuators according to different forms of action. The two have significant differences in principle and use.
Single-acting actuators mainly rely on the spring reset function to automatically reset. Depending on the situation, we can choose two different forms: normally open and normally closed:
Situation 1: When the ventilation is open and the air source is lost, the pneumatic actuator will automatically reset to the initial closed state.
Situation 2: When the ventilation is closed and the air source is lost, the pneumatic actuator will automatically reset to the initial open state.
Advantages: 1) The structure is relatively simple and the product cost is low; 2) The air source consumption is low, saving energy costs; 3) The reset speed is fast, effectively improving safety.

Double-acting actuators mainly use the air-on-air-off type, that is, the valve needs an air source whether it is opened or closed. Usually, when the air source is turned on, the pneumatic actuator starts to rotate and open the valve; when the air source is turned off, the valve remains in place due to the loss of air source; only when the air source is reconnected can the valve continue to work.
Advantages:
1) Bidirectional movement can be effectively controlled;
2) The output force of the actuator is large and is not limited by the spring force;
3) The stroke is longer than that of the single-acting actuator; 4) The movement speed can be adjusted by adjusting the actuator.