This master thesis presents a novel methodology for the  development of simulation models  for hydraulic pumps and motors. In this work, a generic simulation model capable of representing multiple axial piston machines is presented, implemented and validated. Validation of the developed generic simulation model is done by comparing the results from the simulation model with experimental measurements. The development of the generic model is done using AMESim. Today simulation models are an integral part of any development process concerning hydraulic machines. An improved methodology for developing these simulation models will affect both the development cost and time in a positive manner. Traditionally, specific simulation models dedicated to a certain pump or motor are created. This implies that a complete rethinking of the model structure has to be done when modeling a new pump or motor. Therefore when dealing with a large number of pumps and motors, this traditional way of model development could lead to large development time and cost. This thesis work presents a unique way of simulation model development where a single model could represent multiple pumps and motors resulting in lower development time and cost. An automated routine for simulation model creation is developed and implemented. This routine uses the generic simulation model as a template to automatically create simulation models requested by the user. For this purpose a user interface has been created through the use of Visual Basic scripting. This interface communicates with the generic simulation model allowing the user to either change it parametrically or completely transform it into another pump or motor. To determine the level of accuracy offered by the generic simulation model, simulation results are compared with experimental data. Moreover, an optimization routine to automatically fine tune the simulation model is also presented.

<p>Condition Monitoring is an area that has seen substantial growth in the last few decades. The purpose for implementing condition monitoring in industry is to increase productivity, decrease maintenance costs and increase safety. Therefore, condition monitoring can be used not only for planning maintenance but also for allowing the selection of the most efficient equipment to minimize operating costs. </p><p>Hydraulic systems are widely used in industry, aerospace and agriculture and are becoming more complex in construction and in function. Reliability of the systems must be supported by an efficient maintenance scheme. Due to component wear or failure, some system parameters may change causing abnormal behaviour in each component or in the overall circuit. Research in this area has been substantial, and includes specialized studies on artificial fault simulation at the University of Saskatchewan. In this research, an axial pump was the focus of the study. In an axial piston pump, wear between the various faces of components can occur in many parts of the unit. As a consequence, leakage can occur in locations such as between the valve plate and barrel, the drive shaft and oil wiper, the control piston and piston guide, and the swash plate and slippers. In this study, wear (and hence leakage) between the pistons and cylinder bores in the barrel was of interest. Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan, as well as at other research institutions, have been involved in studies to detect wear in pumps using a variety of condition monitoring algorithms. However, to verify the reliability and indeed, limitations of some of the approaches, it is necessary to test the algorithms on systems with real leakage. To introduce actual wear in the piston of pumps can be very difficult and very expensive. Hence, introducing piston wear in an artificial manner would be of great benefit in the evaluation of various condition monitoring techniques.</p><p>Since leakage is a direct consequence of piston wear, it is logical to conclude that varying the leakage in some prescribed manner can be used to artificially simulate wear. A prime concern, therefore, is to be able to precisely understand the dynamic relationships between the wear and leakage and the effect it has on the output flow or pressure waveform from the pump.</p><p>Introducing an artificial leakage to simulate the wear of pistons is a complex task. The creation of an artificial leakage path was not simply a process of providing a resistive short to the tank at the outlet of the pump port as was done in other studies. The objective was to create a leakage environment that would simulate leakage from a single piston (or combination of several pistons thereof). The complexity of the flow and pressure ripple waveforms (which various condition monitoring algorithms did require) was such that a more comprehensive leakage behaviour had to be modeled and experimentally created. A pressure control servo valve with a very high frequency response was employed to divert the flow from the pump outlet with a prescribed waveform directly to the tank to simulate the piston leakage from the high pressure discharge chamber to the pump case drain chamber as the simulated worn piston made contact with the high pressure chamber. The control algorithm could mimic the action of a single worn piston at various degrees of wear. The experimental results indicated that the experimental system could successfully introduce artificial leakage into the pump which was quite consistent with a unit with a real worn piston. Comparisons of the pressure ripples from an actual faulty pump (worn piston) and the artificial faulty pump (artificial leakage) are presented.</p>

Condition monitoring of hydraulic systems has become more available and inexpensive to implement. However, much of the research on this topic has been done on stationary hydraulic systems without the jump to mobile machines. This lack of research on condition monitoring of hydraulic systems on mobile equipment is addressed in this work. The objective of this work is to develop a novel process of implementing an affordable condition monitoring system for axial piston pumps on a mobile machine, a mini excavator in this work. The intent was to find a minimum number of sensors required to accurately predict a faulty pump. First, an expert understanding of the different components on an axial piston pump and how those components interact with one another was discussed. The valve plate was selected as a case study for condition monitoring because valve plates are a critical component that are known for a high percentage of failures in axial piston pumps. Several valve plates with various degrees of natural wear and artificially generated damage were obtained, and an optical profilometer was used to quantify the level of wear and damage. A stationary test-rig was developed to determine if the faulty pumps could be detected under a controlled environment, to test several different machine learning algorithms, and to perform a sensor reduction to find the minimum number of required sensors necessary to detect the faulty pumps. The results from this investigation showed that only the pump outlet pressure, drain pressure, speed, and displacement are sufficient to detect the faulty pump conditions, and the K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN) machine learning algorithms proved to be the least computationally expensive and most accurate algorithms that were investigated. Fault detectability accuracies of 100% were achievable. Next, instrumentation of a mini excavator was shown to begin the next phase of the research, which is to implement a similar process that was done on the stationary test-rig but on a mobile machine. Three duty cycle were developed for the excavator: controlled, digging, and different operator. The controlled duty cycle eliminated the need of an operator and the variability inherent in mobile machines. The digging cycle was a realistic cycle where an operator dug into a lose pile of soil. The different operator cycle is the same as the digging cycle but with another operator. The sensors found to be the most useful were the same as those determined on the stationary test-rig, and the best algorithm was the Fine KNN for both the controlled and digging cycles. The controlled cycle could see fault detectability accuracies of 100%, while the digging cycle only saw accuracies of 93.6%. Finally, a cross-compatibility between a model trained under one cycle and using data from another cycle as an input into the model. This study showed that a model trained under the controlled duty cycle does not give reliable and accurate fault detectability for data run in a digging cycle, below 60% accuracies. This work concluded by recommending a diagnostic function for mobile machines to perform a preprogrammed operation to reliably and accurately detect pump faults.

The cylinder block/valve plate interface is a critical design element of axial piston machines. In the past, extensive work has been done at Maha Fluid Power Research center to model this interface were a novel fluid structure thermal interaction model was developed which accounts for thermal and elasto-hydrodynamic effects and has been proven to give an accurate prediction of the fluid film thickness. This paper presents an in-depth investigation of the impact of the elastic deformation due to pressure and thermal loadings of the end case/housing on the performance of the cylinder block/valve plate interface. This research seeks to understand in a systematic manner the sensitivity of the cylinder block/valve plate interface to the structural design and material properties. A comparison between simulations results is done by utilizing different end case designs and material compositions, both in the valveplate and end case solids.

Markets show a clear trend towards an ever more extensive electronic networking in mobile and stationary applications. This requires a certain degree of electronic integration of hydraulic components such as axial piston pumps. Beside some wellknow approaches, the transmission of axial piston units still is relatively unexplored regarding electronification. Nonetheless there is a quite high potential to be optimized by electronic. In view of this fact, the present paper deals with the tribological contacts of pumps based on a demand driven hydrostatic relief. The contact areas at cylinder - distributor plate, cradle bearing and slipper - swash plate will be investigated in detail and it will be shown how the pump behavior can be improved considerably through a higher level of relief and a central remaining force ratio. The potential of optimization is to improve the efficiency, especially in partial loaded operation, power range, also for multi quadrant operation, precision and stability. A stable lubricating film for slow-speed running and for very high speeds at different pressures is ensured as well.

The present study investigates the f ormation of tribolayers on bronze CuSn12Ni2. Two different test rigs are used, of which one is a sliding bearing test rig in order to perform lubricated thrust bearing tests. Bronze CuSn12Ni2 is used for the sliding elements and the counter body is made of C45 steel. In addition to that, an axial piston pump test rig was used to determine t he transfera bility of the results to th e axial pist on pump. The test conditions are set up in a way t hat the tribological load s in the contacts are similar to each other. Changes in the subsurfa ce morphology and the chemical composition of the tribolayer were analysed using electron pro be micro a nalysis (EPMA), trans mission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X -ray spectro scopy (EDS) and X-ra y photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Focused ion beam (FIB) milling was used to prepare site -specific TE M foils fro m the wear track. The formation of a nano scale tribolayer was associat ed with red uced wear, which leads to low leak age in the a xial piston pump. This tribolayer is enriched with oxygen, sulfur and zinc, which is an effect of tribochemical reactions of environment molecules and surface molecules.

Axial piston machines of the swashplate type are commonly used in various hydraulic systems and with recent developments in displacement control, it is essential to maximize their efficiency further reducing operation costs as well as improving performance and reliability. This paper reports findings of a research study conducted for the piston-cylinder interface utilizing a novel fluid structure thermal interaction model considering solid body deformation due to thermal and pressure effects in order to accurately predict the transient fluid film within the gap. A large reduction in energy dissipation is possible due to reduced clearances allowable due to the surface shaping of the piston resulting in a reduction in leakage. From this study, it is shown that surface shaping of the piston in combination with a reduced clearance is not only beneficial by improving the efficiency of a machine, but also increases the reliability and the performance of the machine as the load support is enhanced.

<div><p>Water is inflammable, non-toxic, environmentally friendly--- desirable traits, for a hydraulic fluid. However, its extremely low viscosity diminishes the load-bearing and sealing capacity of lubricating interfaces. Case in point: axial piston machines of swash plate design are compact, highly efficient positive displacement machines at the heart of hydraulic systems in forestry, construction, aerospace, and agricultural equipment, as well as industrial applications (presses, etc.); however, the three main lubricating interfaces decisive to the performance of such units in terms of both component life and efficiency are challenged by the use of water as working fluid. Especially during high-pressure operation, this low-viscosity lubricant can cause the these interfaces to fail in carrying the imposed load, resulting in severe wear, or even pump failure. The piston-cylinder interface is particularly challenging to design for water because it stands under obligation to carry the heavy side load that acts on the pistons of these machines, which increases with operating pressure. Furthermore, the architecture of axial piston machines of swash plate design does not allow this interface to be hydrostatically balanced.</p> <p> </p> <p>Through the development of a methodology that separates the fluid pressure fields of the three main lubricating interfaces of axial piston machines into their hydrostatic and hydrodynamic components, the present work enables a direct comparison of these interfaces in terms of how they support load. A case study of a 75 cc unit running on hydraulic oil conducted via this methodology at three different operating conditions (low pressure/low speed, low pressure/high speed, and high pressure/low speed) demonstrates that in the piston-cylinder interface, the force from hydrostatic pressure reaches such high magnitudes over the high-pressure stroke that less than half of it is needed to counter the load. The excess force from hydrostatic pressure then becomes the load. Consequentially, hydrodynamic pressure must counter a force from hydrostatic pressure that exceeds the original load. In the other two interfaces, by contrast, over half the load is being carried by hydrostatic pressure, thus significantly diminishing the amount of hydrodynamic pressure the interfaces are required to generate in order to achieve full load support. Moreover, nearly all of the moment on the piston is countered by hydrodynamic pressure, while less than half of the moment on the block is countered by hydrodynamic pressure, and the moment on the slipper is negligible by comparison.</p> <p> </p> <p>While this case study only investigates one pump, it shows how critical hydrodynamic pressure can be to load support in the piston-cylinder interface. The use of a low-viscosity fluid, e.g. water, reduces the hydrodynamic pressure that is generated in this interface, which, at challenging operating conditions, can lead to metal-to-metal contact. However, the performance of the interface can be improved via micro surface shaping, i.e. by giving the surface of the piston, or the bore that it moves through, a shape on the order of microns in height. The aim of present work is to pursue design trends leading to surface shapes that will enable this interface to function at higher pressures than currently achievable. </p> <p> </p> <p>This pursuit takes the form of systematic virtual design studies, an optimization procedure, and an algorithm developed specifically for tailoring the bore surfaces through which the pistons travel to piston tilt and deformation. From this emerges not only a set of design trends corresponding to the dimensions of two particularly powerful types of micro surface shaping, but also a profound insight into the behavior of the water-lubricated piston-cylinder interface fluid film, and how that behavior can be manipulated by changing the component surfaces that constitute its borders. Furthermore, in collaboration with Danfoss High Pressure Pumps, a physical prototype of a 444 cc axial piston pump with surface shaping generated via the aforementioned algorithm has been constructed and tested, achieving a total pump efficiency roughly 3% higher than that achievable by the commercial unit that the geometry of the prototype is based on.</p><br></div>

A mechanical model of an axial piston-type machine with a so-called wobble plate and Z-shaft mechanism is presented. The overall aim is to design and construct an oil-free piston expander demonstrator as a first step to realizing an advanced and compact small-scale steam engine system. The benefits of a small steam engine are negligible NOx emissions (due to continuous, low-temperature combustion), no gearbox needed, fuel flexibility (e.g., can run on biofuel and solar), high part-load efficiency, and low noise. Piston expanders, compared with turbines or clearance-sealed rotary displacement machines, have higher mechanical losses but lower leakage losses, much better part-load efficiency, and for many applications a more favourable (i.e., lower) speed. A piston expander is thus feasible for directly propelling small systems in the vehicular power range. An axial piston machine with minimized contact pressures and sliding velocities, and with properly selected construction materials for steam/water lubrication, should enable completely oil-free operation. An oil-free piston machine also has potential for other applications, for example, as a refrigerant (e.g., CO2) expander in a low-temperature Rankine cycle or as a refrigerant compressor.   An analytical rigid-body kinematics and inverse dynamics model of the machine is presented. The kinematical analysis generates the resulting motion of the integral parts of the machine, fully parameterized. Inverse dynamics is applied when the system motion is completely known, and the method yields required external and internal forces and torques. The analytical model made use of the “Sophia” plug-in developed by Lesser for the simple derivation of rotational matrices relating different coordinate systems and for vector differentiation. Numerical solutions were computed in MATLAB. The results indicate a large load bearing in the conical contact surface between the mechanism’s wobble plate and engine block. The lateral force between piston and cylinder is small compared with that of a comparable machine with a conventional crank mechanism.   This study aims to predict contact loads and sliding velocities in the component interfaces. Such data are needed for bearing and component dimensioning and for selecting materials and coatings. Predicted contact loads together with contact geometries can also be used as input for tribological rig testing. Results from the model have been used to dimension the integral parts, bearings and materials of a physical demonstrator of the super-critical steam expander application as well as in component design and concept studies.

The Master`s Thesis deals with design and construction of a valve block for a hydrostatic recuperative module of a vehicle with a direct application on pneu tyred roller AP 240H produced by the AMMANN company. The thesis aims to analyze recovery functions of the valve block in several operating modes of the roller, followed by a selection of the right hydraulic components from the perspective of predefined parameters and pressure differences. Design specifications are based on measurements and mathematical simulations on the experimental stand. The experimental stand for this application has been developed at 1:4 scale as compared to a real vehicle. The thesis includes also design of the supporting console for the module on the frame of the vehicle. The Master`s Thesis is a part of project EUREKA with cooperation Bosch Rexroth.