Techn. Hochsch., Diss.--Aachen, 2006.

In this paper, a simulation study is carried out for the development of concepts to optimize the tribological contact of valve plate and cylinder block in an axial piston machine in swash plate design. The valve plate/cylinder block contact is one of the three essential tribological contacts in axial piston machines. In a research project at the Institute for Fluid Power Drives and Systems (ifas), this contact is investigated by a specifically designed simulation tool. In addition, a test rig exists for the experimental investigation. With the results of simulation and experiment, it was shown before that the cylinder block is tilting to the high pressure side. Due to this movement, the gap height is not constant. In the area of minimum gap height, not only the fluid friction, but also the danger of solid body friction increases. Because of the higher friction losses in the area of minimum gap height, the temperature increase reduces the lifetime of the leaded coatings. In this paper, the results of the measurements as well as the simulation model are briefly summarized. It is followed by a simulation study of different possibilities to raise the gap height. Based on this pre-study, a first concept for the optimization of the tribological contact valve plate/cylinder block is presented and its applicability is discussed.