Cavitation of a Submerged Jet at the Spherical Valve Plate/Cylinder Block Interface for Axial Piston Pump

The spherical valve plate/cylinder block pair has the advantages of strong overturning resistance and large bearing area.However,the configurations of the unloading and pre-boosting triangular grooves on the spherical valve plate are different from those in the planar valve plate,resulting in special cavitation phenomenon on the spherical port plate pair.In order to study cavitation characteristics of spherical port plate pair,a dynamic CFD model of the piston pump including turbulence model,cavitation model and fluid compressibility is established.A detailed UDF compilation scheme is provided for modelling of the micron-sized spherical oil film mesh,which makes up for the lack of research on the meshing of the spherical oil film.In this paper,using CFD simulation tools,from the perspectives of pressure field,velocity field and gas volume fraction change,a detailed analysis of the transient evolution of the submerged cavitation jet in a axial piston pump with spherical valve plate is carried out.The study indicates the movement direction of the cavitation cloud cluster through the cloud image and the velocity vector direction of the observation point.The sharp decrease of velocity and gas volume fraction indicates the collapse phenomenon of bubbles on the part wall surface.These discoveries verify the special erosion effect in case of the spherical valve plate/cylinder block pair.The submerged cavitation jet generated by the unloading triangular grooves distributed on the spherical valve plate not only cause denudation of the inner wall surface of the valve plate,but also cause strong impact and denudation on the lower surface of the cylinder body.Finally,the direction of the unloading triangular groove was modified to extend the distance between it and the wall surface which can effectively alleviate the erosion effect.

Tribological Properties of Cylinder Block/Valve Plate Interface of Axial Piston Pump on the Tribometer

The tribological properties of cylinder block/valve plate is an important consideration in the design of axial piston pump.The effect of materials and heat treatment on friction and wear properties has been studied in depth.Engi-neering experiences show that the speed and load also affect the tribological properties,but these have not been systematically analyzed.The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the tribological properties of the commonly used materials(CuPb1 5Sn5 and 38CrMoAl/42CrMo)for cylinder block/valve plate with different heat treatment and con-tact pressure at different speed.During the test,tribometer is used to simulate the contact pattern between the valve plate/cylinder block in axial piston pump,the friction coefficient,wear rate and surface topography are analyzed to evaluate the tribological properties of different types of friction samples at different speed.Results indicate that:(1)contact surface of the samples at 1800 r/min is more prone to adhesive wear than those at 500 r/min;(2)in the terms of wear resistance,quench-tempered and nitrided 38CrMoAl(38CrMoAl QTN for short)is better than quench-tem-pered and nitrided 42CrMo,although they are all commonly used materials in the axial piston pump;(3)2.5 MPa is the critical contact pressure of the interface between valve plate made of 38CrMoAl QTN and cylinder block made of CuPb1 5Sn5 on the tribometer,which implies the pressure bearing area at the bottom of the cylinder block should be carefully designed;(4)the valve plate/cylinder block made of 38CrMoAl QTN/CuPb15Sn5 exhibits good tribological properties in a real axial piston pump.This research is useful for the failure analysis and structural optimization design of the valve plates/cylinder block.

Review of cylinder block/valve plate interface in axial piston pumps: Theoretical models,experimental investigations, and optimal design

Axial piston pumps have been widely used in aircraft hydraulic systems to supply the system with pressurized fluid. The continuous improvement of the aircraft performance has put forward the demand on aviation piston pumps for high power density, safety, and reliability. The lubricating interfaces in axial piston machines are the key design issue that greatly determines the pump performance and service life. The cylinder block/valve plate interface is one of these critical lubricating interfaces and has received considerable attention from many researchers in the last half century. This study aims to review the state-of-the-art literature on the cylinder block/valve plate interface comprehensively and systematically. First, we introduce various theoretical models developed to investigate the lubrication behaviors of the interface and compare them in terms of their assumptions and limitations. Second, the experimental studies on the cylinder block/valve plate interface are presented comprehensively, where the involved test rigs are divided into three types according to their fidelity levels and measurement functionality. Third, we summarize some typical approaches of structure optimization, surface shaping, and surface strengthening, which help improve the load-carrying and anti-wear capacities of the interface under severe operating conditions. Finally, the challenges and future trends of the cylinder block/valve plate interface research are discussed briefly.