Impact characteristics of novel balance jack in hydraulic support.

This article focuses on the design and impact resistance analysis of a new balance jack, a key hydraulic cylinder component used in shield-type hydraulic supports for underground mining roof reinforcement. The new balance jack features a dual-stage pressure relief system with separated cavities and protection valves, which improves unloading response velocity and reduces structural deformation and stress under impact loads compared to traditional single-stage designs. Using mathematical modeling, AMESim system simulation, and ANSYS fluid–structure coupling analysis, the study demonstrates that the new balance jack achieves significantly lower maximum deformation (up to 93.20% reduction) and stress (up to 58.20% reduction), more uniform pressure distribution, and enhanced flow field stability without vortex formation under both small-scale and large-scale impacts. These improvements result in faster stabilization times and superior energy dissipation efficiency, indicating the new balance jack’s enhanced ability to withstand transient high-pressure impacts in mining applications.