An Analysis of the Effects Causing an Asymmetric Behavior of the Lateral Lubricating Films of External Spur Gear Machines

Abstract

The torque efficiency and flow efficiency of positive displacement machines for fluid power applications are determined by the behavior of their internal lubricating interfaces. This aspect has motivated the development of tribological simulation tools for the analysis of these interfaces. The level of details these tools can provide allows explaining some counterintuitive aspects that occur in these interfaces. This paper focuses on a significant example, which is the high asymmetric behavior of the lubricating films occurring in pressure compensated external gear pumps. These units are often designed with a symmetric axial balancing compensation system. Notwithstanding, there are differences between the lateral gaps that can be explained only considering the mutual effects of the pressure development in the film and the material deformation. To study this problem, this paper utilizes the tool Multics-HYGESim developed by the authors’ research team. Two analyses are performed: the first one imposing axial symmetry in the behavior of the gap, which is the common assumption discussed in literature; the second one (referred to as “full configuration”), which holds the asymmetric behavior of the gap. An experimental set-up is used to validate the modeling assumptions based on the measurements of the drain leakage and volumetric efficiency. The main paper findings are on the uneven distribution of these leakages, which indicates an asymmetric behavior of the gap films in the unit.