Gap Flow Simulation Methods in High Pressure Variable Displacement Axial Piston Pumps

High pressure variable displacement axial piston pumps are subject to complex dynamic phenomena. Their analysis is difficult, additionally complicated by leakage of the working fluid. Analytically gap flow is calculated with the Reynolds equation which describes the pressure distribution in a thin lubricating layer. The paper presents various approaches to analyze gap flow both in traditional axial piston pump and novel type of hydraulic pump, designed at the Polish Gdansk Institute of Technology. Because of large aspect ratio between the height of the gap and the size of pump elements, the authors present the numerical simulation approach using a local model to define a lubrication gap, linked to a global model of a pump from which boundary conditions were imported. User defined functions implemented in Fluent and Excel were used to calculate the pressure and velocity fields and assess the fluid flow rate.