Development of a lumped parameter model of an aerospace pump for condition monitoring purposes

This paper presents the development of a helicopter axial piston pump model with condition monitoring in mind. Industrial constraints and needs ask for modelling with a lumped-parameter approach and require model architecture to be addressed with care. The aim of the proposed model is to assess the merits of pump leakage monitoring through measurement of case pressure. Once reviewed the state of the art in pump modelling, the slipper/swashplate interface is taken as an example to propose and implement in Simcenter AMESim a variable gap height model. The simulation results show that commonly used lumped-parameter models overestimate leakage. It also points out that average leakage at slipper may reverse at high pump displacement.