Axial piston pumps are universal displacement machines that are used in a vast variety of applications. Their high pressure resistance and ease of operation make them very popular, especially in mobile applications. Some applications require more robust pumps with an extended lifetime, particularly those that operate in remote environments such as marine type or mining operations. Especially new applications like displacement control have high demands on pumps such as through shaft operation (many pumps on one shaft), high dynamics and multi-quadrant operation. These demands create challenges in terms of lifetime expectancy and robustness for pump manufacturers and machine OEMs. Currently most axial piston pumps go through a run-in process. During this process the softer bronze parts shave off and change their shape according to the necessary one for the pumps’ proper operation. This process is highly dependent on the design of the parts and their manufacturing tolerances. In this paper the run-in process of the slippers of an axial piston pump was investigated by means of measurements of the gap height and wear profile as well as simulation. The measurements show a clear change of profile and gap heights for the first 120 h of the pumps operation. After that the gaps stabilize. The numerical simulations made with the program Caspar FSTI were coupled with contact wear models to output wear profiles. Different models will be introduced and compared with measurements. Both the amount of material removed and the performance of the pump before and after run-in will be discussed.

In hydraulic-mechanically controlled variable displacement pumps, the actual pump controller produces additional power losses. Due to the low damping coefficients of all pump controller’s components, hydraulic-mechanically pressure controlled pumps use to oscillate while adjusting the pressure level in the hydraulic system. In several state-of-the-art variable pump controllers, a damping orifice connects the control actuator’s displacement chamber with the reservoir. This bypass dampens the movement of the control actuator but also leads to bypass losses during steady-state operation of the pump. A new concept for damping via feedback loops avoiding bypass losses is presented in t his paper.

Research work performed on an axial piston pump is shown in a holistic manner, analyzing each lubricating interface by linking their gap height and temperature behavior to the overall pump efficiency. The temperature field and dynamic fluid film height were measured in two of the three lubricating interfaces. This is the first time that the temperature fields and gap heights were simultaneously measured in two of the main three interfaces of an axial piston machine. For a deeper analysis of the measurement data, all gaps were simulated with a numerical tool which takes solid body deformation due to temperature and pressure loads into account. This unique combination of both extensive measurement data and sophisticated simulation resulted in novel trends that clarify the complex phenomena occurring in these hydrostatic fluid films.