This paper describes a novel concept for a low cost variable delivery external gear pump (VD-EGP). The proposed VD-EGP is based on the realization of a variable timing for the connections of the internal displacement chambers with the inlet and outlet ports. With respect to a standard EGP, an additional element (slider) is used along with asymmetric gears to realize the variable timing principle. Previously performed tests confirmed the validity of the concept, for a design capable of varing the flow in the 65%-100% range. Although the VD-EGP concept is suitable for various flow control system typologies (manual, electro-actuated, hydraulically flow- or pressure- compensated), this paper particularly details the design and the test results for a prototype that includes both a manual flow control system and a pressure compensator. Flow vs pressure and volumetric efficiency curves are discussed along with transient (outlet flow fluctuation) features of the VD-EGP.

This paper describes a novel concept for a low cost variable delivery external gear pump (VD-EGP). The proposed VD-EGP is based on the realization of a variable timing for the connections of the internal displacement chambers with the inlet and outlet ports. With respect to a standard EGP, an additional element (slider) is used along with asymmetric gears to realize the variable timing principle. Previously performed tests confirmed the validity of the concept, for a design capable of varing the flow in the 65%-100% range. Although the VD-EGP concept is suitable for various flow control system typologies (manual, electro-actuated, hydraulically flow- or pressure- compensated), this paper particularly details the design and the test results for a prototype that includes both a manual flow control system and a pressure compensator. Flow vs pressure and volumetric efficiency curves are discussed along with transient (outlet flow fluctuation) features of the VD-EGP.

External gear machines (EGMs) are used in a variety of industries ranging from fluid power machinery to fluid handling systems and fuel injection applications. Energy efficiency requirements and new trends in hydraulic technology necessitate the development of novel EGMs optimized for efficiency and reliability in all of these applications. A crucial piece in the novel EGM development process is a numerical model that can simulate the operation of EGM and predict its volumetric and hydro-mechanical performance.<div><br></div><div>The EGM simulation models developed in the past have focused mostly on the challenges related to the modeling of the theoretical behavior and elementary fluid dynamics, and determining appropriate modeling schemes. Key aspects related to the flow and geometry are either considered in a simplified manner or not considered at all. In particular, the current simulation models assume the fluid to be Newtonian and the leakage flows to be laminar. However, EGMs working in fluid handling applications operate with non-Newtonian fluids. Further, in fuel injection applications, due to low fluid viscosity and high operating speed, the internal leakage flows may not remain laminar.</div><div><br></div><div>With respect to the geometric aspects, the gears in EGMs are prone to manufacturing errors that are not accounted by any simulation model. In addition, there is no method available in the literature for accurately modeling the leakage flows through curve-constricted geometries in EGMs. Further, the goal of current simulation tools is related to the prediction of the volumetric performance of EGMs. However, an equally important characteristic, hydro-mechanical performance, is often ignored. Finally, the energy flow during EGM operation can result in the variation of the fluid temperature. Thus, the isothermal assumption of current simulation tools is another major limitation.</div><div><br></div><div>The work presented in this dissertation is focused on developing numerical methodologies for the modeling of EGMs that addresses all the aforementioned limitations of the current models. In this work, techniques for evaluating non-Newtonian internal flows in EGMs is developed to permit an accurate modelling of EGMs working with non-Newtonian fluids. For fuel injection EGMs, flow regime at the tooth tips of the gears is investigated and it is shown that the flow becomes turbulent for such EGMs. A methodology for modeling this turbulent flow is proposed and its impact on the performance of EGMs is described. To include gear manufacturing errors in the simulation model, numerical techniques are developed for modeling the effects of two common gear manufacturing errors: conicity and concentricity. These two errors are shown to have an opposite impact on the volumetric efficiency of the EGM. For the evaluation of flows through curve-constricted leakage paths in EGMs, a novel flow model is developed in this work that is applicable for a wide range of geometry and flow conditions. Modeling of the hydro-mechanical efficiency of EGMs is accomplished by developing methodologies for the evaluation of torque losses at key interfaces. Finally, to account for the thermal effects in EGMs, a thermal model is developed to predict the temperature distribution in the EGM and its impact on the EGM performance.</div><div><br></div><div><div>To validate the numerical methodologies developed in this work, several experiments are conducted on commercial gear pumps as well as on a custom apparatus designed and manufactured in the course of this research work. The results from the experiments are found to match those obtained from the simulations which indicates the validity of the methodologies developed in this work. </div><div><br></div><div>These numerical methodologies are based on the lumped parameter approach to allow the coupling with mechanical models for gear micromotion and permit fast computations so that the model can be used in optimization algorithms to develop energy efficient and reliable EGMs.</div><div><br></div><div>The methodologies described in the dissertation are useful for accurate analysis of a variety of EGMs working with different types of fluids and at wide range of operating conditions. This capability will be valuable for pump designers in developing novel better performing EGM designs optimized for various applications.</div><div><br></div></div>

<p>Despite the increasing demand for the hydraulic pump noise reduction, there is yet to be an established straightforward solution to reduce noise emissions. This is primarily due to a lack of understanding of the complete mechanism underlying noise generation and propagation, which involves complex interactions between three domains. Study of the physical phenomena of the hydraulic pump noise is typically separated into three categories, namely fluid-borne noise (FBN), structure-borne noise (SBN), and air-borne noise (ABN). In this light, this study examines the noise generation and propagation of hydraulic pumps in all three domains numerically and experimentally, taking external gear pumps (EGPs) as a reference. </p> <p>In conventional pump noise studies, the outlet pressure ripple in the fluid domain, which typically refers to has been the key focus to minimize, and FBN typically refers to the outlet pressure ripple. Fortunately, attempts to minimize ripples have resulted in some promising solutions that are now on the market (e.g., dual-flank gear pumps). However, since the noise generated by gear pumps involves several other significant and coherent noise sources, this approach has some limitations. In view of this, the current study describes FBN in a wider context to include all potential noise sources in the fluid domain, and their mutual effects on noise are investigated.</p> <p>Another aspect of the vibration and noise of the pump that is not often investigated is its “field” behaviors. Many significant works in vibroacoustic analysis or noise solutions rely on the simple measurements of acceleration or sound pressure at a single or few local points. Since vibration and noise are functions of not only time but also "space", this practice has also served as one of the obstacles to a comprehensive understanding of noise generation. Therefore, this study contributes to topic of the vibroacoustic field behaviors.</p> <p>Furthermore, when prototyping or designing new pumps, inefficient trial-and-error methods are often used, and it demonstrates the necessity of the acoustic model of the pumps for virtual prototyping. The major limiting factor towards the development of this type of models is high computational costs. Another technical challenge is that most of vibroacoustic analysis commercial software usually requires the user’s manual works for the simulation setup. In this regard, another aim of this study is to develop a computationally inexpensive and automated acoustic model that does not need manual inputs of users, so that the model can be used as a virtual prototyping tool with various design parameters.</p> <p>To sum up, the primary goal of this research is to numerically and experimentally investigate the vibroacoustic field behaviors and formulate the acoustic model to be used as a virtual prototyping tool with the experimental validation. To achieve these objectives, this research employs the well-established computational and experimental methods of vibro-acoustic analysis.</p> <p>The analysis of FBN makes use of the HYGESim tool, which has been developed to study EGMs at Maha Fluid Power Research Center. This tool solves the main flow based on the lumped parameter approach in conjunction with different solution schemes for lubricating interfaces and body dynamics. From the HYGESim results, all potential noise sources within the working fluid, such as inlet and outlet pressure ripple and dynamic pressure at the tooth space volumes, hydrodynamic journal bearings, and the lateral lubricating interface, are properly mapped to the structure using appropriate simplifications. </p> <p>When it comes to SBN, the modal superposition approach is exploited for the fast prediction of vibration fields. Therefore, considerable efforts are expended both numerically and experimentally to obtain accurate modal information. Particular attention is paid to the modeling of the mechanical connections between components and modeling of constraints in numerical modal analysis using the finite element method (FEM). Moreover, the vibration mode shapes are categorized according to the dominant motions that the pump body exhibits. Then, two different approaches, namely the full numerical model and the hybrid model, are introduced for the estimation of the vibration field during the operation; for the modal expansion, the former uses numerical modal information, while the latter uses experimentally determined modal information. Finally, the numerical model results are compared to the operational deflection shape (ODS) measured during pump operation, and a good agreement is observed.</p> <p>For the ABN prediction, the boundary element method (BEM) is used by taking the predicted vibration information as an input. The BEM solver development is elaborated to numerically replicate the acoustic environments where the noise measurement is conducted. With the developed BEM solver, two units that have the different gear and groove designs that fit into the same casing are tested, and as the key outcome, their sound power level, sound power spectrum, sound pressure distributions are presented. For model validation, the noise measurements are performed according to the ISO standard in the semi-anechoic chamber at Maha using a custom-designed robot arm. These validations demonstrate the ability of the developed model to predict the overall sound power levels with an averaged error of 1.87 dB and capture the general trends of measured sound power spectrum and sound pressure level distribution under various operating conditions. Furthermore, the developed model provides the reasonably fast computation time.</p> <p>Finally, using the developed acoustic model, a parametric study is performed with the backflow groove as a design variable. It is discussed how the volumetric efficiency and noise performance vary with the design changes, which demonstrates the model potential as a virtual prototyping tool.</p>