Analysis and Improvement of the Suction Performance of Axial Piston Pumps in Swash Plate Design

The article illustrates a systematic investigation of the suction performance of hydrostatic pumps on the example of an axial piston pump in swash plate design. The focus is on pressure losses in the suction duct as well as on losses due to the interaction between the suction flow and the rotating group. The investigations of the suction flow are performed by means of numerical and experimental methods. Also a full cavitation model and a two-way fluid-structure-interaction approach were introduced for the numerical works. The experimental works were used to validate the CFD model. For the improvement of the suction performance two approaches are pursued. The bionic design of the suction duct based on meandering rivers and the suction pressure pulsation reduction by the help of a Helmholtz resonator. As a result of the CFD analysis, regions with the largest total pressure losses were identified. Based on CFD simulation significant improvements of the suction performance were shown due to the two presented measures. By means of the meander shape design the pressure losses reduced by more than 50 % and the pressure ripple was dampened by about 9.5 dB using the integrated Helmholtz resonator.