Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 31 (9) (2017) 4245~4254

www.springerlink.com/content/1738-494x(Print)/1976-3824(Online)
DOI 10.1007/s12206-017-0823-8

Flow ripple analysis and structural parametric design of a piston pump†

Xiaofeng Wu1, Chihkeng Chen2,*, Chihwei Hong3 and Yafeng He1
1
School of Mechanical and Vehicle Engineering, Changzhou Institute of Technology, China
2
Department of Vehicle Engineering, National Taipei University of Technology, Taiwan
3
YEOSHE Hydraulic Co.,Ltd, Taiwan

(Manuscript Received December 31, 2016; Revised April 5, 2017; Accepted May 9, 2017)

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Abstract

The ripple in the outlet flow from a high-pressure piston pump is caused by pressure pulses in the piston cavity when it rotates through
the transition region of the valve plate. We propose a parametric design that optimizes the transition region structure of a piston pump
valve plate to reduce the ripple in the outlet flow. For a high- pressure piston pump, a theoretical model of the piston cavity is developed
that includes fluid compression properties and leakages. The piston pump parametric model is built using AMESIM software and a simu-
lation is conducted. The results show that the ripple in the outlet flow is affected by the outlet pressure and the pump’s speed and by the
structure of the pre-compression region of the valve plate. To minimize the ripple in the outlet flow from the piston pump, the structural
parameters in the pre-compression region are optimized as the design variables using the software, ISIGHT, which integrates the piston
pump parametric model in AMESIM. After optimization, the ripple in the outlet flow rate is, respectively, reduced by 37.05 %, 38.54 %
and 41.04 % for outlet pressures of 200 bar, 300 bar and 400 bar. Finally, a flow ripple test experiment is performed to verify the simula-
tion results.
Keywords: Piston pump; Flow ripple; Parametric design; AMESIM; ISIGHT
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and the effect of a damping slot, but the model is not applica-
1. Introduction
ble to situations where there are restrictions. Edge [2] estab-
High pressure swash plate axial piston pumps are widely lished a mathematical model for fluid pressure characteristics
used in engineering machinery and in the aviation, marine and in a piston pump and introduced the inertial expression for a
other fields because of their compact structure, high output fluid into the model. The effect of fluid inertia on the pressure
pressure, high efficiency and long service life. The ripple in fluctuation in a piston pump was determined for the first time.
the outlet flow that is caused by valve plate structure in the Harrison and Edge [3] studied the total flow mathematical
piston pump is a major research topic. To reduce the pump model for a piston pump with a ripple reduction mechanism.
noise caused by the ripple in the flow and to improve the per- They calculated the total flow ripple model using a flow
formance of the pump, it is necessary to optimize the valve model for each piston with different phases, but leakage from
plate structure. the piston pump was not considered. Manring [4-6] studied
In a piston pump, the fluid in the piston cavity in the pump swash plate axial piston pumps and the model for the actual
produces pressure pulsations when it is alternately connected flow rate for a piston pump that had a valve plate with damp-
to a high outlet chamber and a low inlet chamber so the ripple ing holes. The effect of the design of these damping hole
in the flow for the piston pump is caused and affected by the structures on the volumetric efficiency of a piston pump was
structure of the transition region of the valve plate. Many stud- also considered. Mandal et al. [7] built a mathematical model
ies on the optimization of valve plate structure reduce the flow for the outlet flow rate for a piston pump. A piston pump with
and pressure ripples. Most focus on analyzing fluid pulsation silencing grooves on the valve plate was used. A special study
characteristics and on the qualitative improvement in the valve was made of the effect of silencing grooves on fluid character-
plate structure. Zaichenko et al. [1] built a mathematical istics in the piston cavity. Bing and Jien et al. [8-12] studied
model of the characteristics of the pressure in a piston pump the fluid characteristics with compression properties in a pis-
by considering fluid compression properties, pump leakage ton pump and developed a mathematical model for the flow
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +886 935658801
condition in a piston chamber. To reduce the ripple in the flow
E-mail address: ckchen0618@gmail.com in a piston pump, the important parameters for the flow area of
†
Recommended by Associate Editor Sangyoup Lee the valve plate, the throttle coefficient and the leakage were
© KSME & Springer 2017
4246 X. Wu et al. / Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 31 (9) (2017) 4245~4254

Fig. 2. Fluid flow inside the piston cavity.

1-Shaft, 2-Swash plate, 3-Slipper, 4-Piston, 5-Driving mechanism, 6-

rotates through one cycle.
Cylinder block, 7-Valve plate
Because the pressure changes in the piston cavity occur
Fig. 1. Structure of a high pressure swash plate axial piston pump. when the piston cavity enters the high pressure oil discharge
chamber from the low pressure oil suction chamber, the sym-
optimized. Jiao et al. [13] studied a piston pump with damping bols Q+ and Q- are used to represent the inflow and out-
holes and a pre-compression chamber and built a mathemati- flow of fluid for the piston cavity, the time t when the piston
cal model for a single piston cavity by considering the oil cavity enters the high pressure oil discharge chamber is t = 0 ,
compression properties and the effect of restricting the orifice. the rotational angle for the piston cavity is f = wt and w is
Most studies focus on the modeling and simulation of a pis- the speed of the piston pump. In terms of the compression
ton pump. The local structure in a piston pump is qualitatively properties of the fluid, the continuity equation for the fluid in
improved and optimized according to the results of simulation. the piston cavity is expressed as Eq. (1).
Full parametric modeling and quantitative optimization of
designs have not been the subject of many studies. This study dV V dps
Q+ - Q- = + . (1)
considers the flow ripple for a certain type of high-pressure dt b e dt
axial piston pump in which the valve plate has a damping hole
and groove to reduce flow ripple. In terms of the compression In Eq. (1), V is the volume of the piston cavity, ps is the
properties of a fluid, leakage from the piston pump and the pressure in the piston cavity and b e is the volumetric elastic
effect of restricting the orifice, the fluid flow characteristics modulus of the hydraulic oil. The volume and pressure change
for a single piston cavity are analyzed and the model for pres- is expressed by Eqs. (2) and (3).
sure in a piston cavity is established. To reduce the flow ripple
of this piston pump, the valve plate structure is parameterized dV 2p n pd2
=± D tan g × , (2)
in AMESIM and integrated into ISIGHT software to optimize dt 60 4
taking the minimum ripple in the outlet flow as the optimiza- dps dp
= 2p n s . (3)
tion goal. Finally, to verify the simulation and optimization dt df
results, the flow ripple test experiment is performed.
In Eqs. (2) and (3), D is the diameter of the piston that ro-
2. Analysis of the characteristics of fluid in a piston
tates around the main shaft, d is the diameter of piston, g is
cavity
the angle of the swash plate, f is the rotational angle of the
A sectional diagram of a high-pressure piston pump is piston cavity and n is the speed of the piston pump. The fluid
shown in Fig. 1. It is composed of a swash plate, a cylinder flow inside the piston cavity is shown in Fig. 2. The inflow
block, a valve plate, pistons and slippers. The power is trans- and outflow of fluid for the piston cavity can be divided into
mitted by a drive shaft from a motor to the piston pump, and four parts. The first part is q1 , where there is flow from the
nine pistons are driven by the rotation of the cylinder. Because piston cavity to the hole of the valve plate, the second part is
there is a swash plate, the movement of the pistons can be q2 , where there is flow in the gap between the valve plate and
decomposed into a rotational movement around the axis of the the cylinder, the third part is q3 , where there is flow in the
drive shaft and a reciprocating linear motion along the hole of gap between the piston and the cylinder inner hole and the
the cylinder block. When the piston moves from top to bottom, fourth part is q4 , where there is flow in the gap between the
the piston cavity volume is decreased. The oil flows from the slipper and the swash plate. The flows, q1 , q2 , q3 and q4 ,
discharge port of the valve plate to the load system. When the are respectively expressed by the following Eqs. (4)-(7).
piston moves from bottom to top, the piston cavity volume is
increased. The oil flows from the tank to the suction port of
2( ps - p1 )
the valve plate. The oil discharge process and suction process q1 = Cd A( x,f ) sgn( ps - p1 ) , (4)
for the piston cavity are completed when the cylinder block r
 X. Wu et al. / Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 31 (9) (2017) 4245~4254 4247

ad 23 1 1 Table 1. Description of valve plate structure parameters.

q2 = [ + ]( ps - p2 ) , (5)
12 m ln( R2 / R1 ) ln( R4 / R3 ) Parameters Description
p de d 3 (1 + 1.5e 2 )( ps - p3 ) p de d 3vs pa Piston wrap angle (°)
q3 = - , (6)
12 m L1 2 spa Piston wrap angle area (mm2)
4 3
p dh d 4 outda Oil discharge closed angle (°)
q4 = 2
( p s - p4 ) . (7)
m[6d h ln(r2 / r1 ) + 128Lzd 4 ] inda Oil suction closed angle (°)
preSangleOt Oil discharge triangular groove area (mm2)
In Eq. (4), Cd is the flow coefficient, A( x,f ) is the flow preSangleIn Oil suction triangular groove area (mm2)
area of the valve plate hole, x is the structural parameter, preValueOt Oil discharge preopening amount
r is the density of the fluid, ps is the pressure in the piston preValueIn Oil suction preopening amount
cavity and p1 is the pressure in the oil suction chamber or the preDiaOt Oil discharge pre-compression chamber hole area (mm2)
oil discharge chamber, the specific value of which is related to preDiaIn Oil suction pre-expansion chamber hole area (mm2)
the position of the piston cavity. In Eq. (5), d 2 is the gap be- preVholeOt Oil discharge pre-compression chamber volume (cm3)
tween the valve plate and the cylinder, a is the leakage cor-
preVholeIn Oil suction pre-expansion chamber volume (cm3)
rection factor, with a value of 1.2, m is the dynamic viscosity
theda1 Span of oil discharge triangular groove (°)
of the fluid, R1 , R2 , R3 and R4 are, respectively, the internal
radii of the inner sealing belt, the external radius of the inner theda2 Span of oil discharge pre compression chamber (°)
sealing belt, the internal radius of the outer sealing belt and the beda1 Span of oil suction triangular groove (°)
external radius of the outer sealing belt in the valve plate and beda2 Span of oil discharge pre expansion chamber (°)
p2 is the downstream pressure in the gap between the valve
plate and the cylinder, the value of which is 1 bar. In Eq. (6),
d g is the diameter of the cylinder hole, d 3 is the gap between
the piston and the cylinder, e is the eccentricity between the
piston and the cylinder hole, p3 is the downstream pressure in
the gap between the piston and the cylinder hole, L1 is the
contact length between the piston and the cylinder hole and
vs is the axial speed of the piston relative to the cylinder. In
Eq. (7), d h is the center hole diameter of the slipper, d 4 is the
gap between the end face of the slipper and the swash plate,
r1 , r2 are, respectively, the internal radius and the external
radius of the sealing belt on the end face of the slipper, Lz is
the length of the center hole for the slipper and p4 is the
downstream pressure in the gap between the slipper and the Fig. 3. Structure parameters of a piston pump valve plate.
swash plate.
Eqs. (2) and (3) are merged into Eq. (1) and the flow model 3. Parametric modeling and simulation of piston piston
for the piston cavity is expressed as Eq. (8). 3.1 Parametric modeling of valve plate

In an axial piston pump, ripple in the outlet flow is caused

2p n pd2 V dps
± q1 - q2 - q3 - q4 = ± D tan g × + 2p n . (8) by pressure pulses in the piston cavity, which are determined
60 4 b e dj by the structure of the valve plate. To reduce the pressure
pulses in the piston cavity and improve the stability of the
When Eqs. (4)-(7) are substituted into Eq. (8), the final flow pump, the structure of the valve plate in the piston pump must
model for the piston cavity is expressed as Eq. (9). be parameterized, to optimize the structure of the valve plate.
As shown in Fig. 3, the valve plate structure is parameterized
and the corresponding parameters are illustrated in Table 1.
dps be 2 ps - p1 ad 23 1
= {±Cd A( x,j ) - [ +
dj 2p nV r 12 m ln( R2 / R1 )
3.2 Parametric modeling of piston pump
1 p d d (1 + 1.5e 2 )( ps - p3 )
]( ps - p2 ) -[ e 3 -
ln( R3 / R4 ) 12 m L1 According to the working principle for a single piston in a
4 3 piston pump, the working process for a single piston can be
p d e d 3 vs p d h d 4 ( ps - p4 )
]- divided into three parts: Piston flow model, piston motion
2 m[6d h ln(r2 / r1 ) + 128Lzd 4 2 ]
model and valve plate model.
2p n pd2 First, the piston flow model is shown in Fig. 4. The piston
± D tan g × }. (9)
60 4 cavity is composed of a piston module that is connected to a
4248 X. Wu et al. / Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 31 (9) (2017) 4245~4254

Fig. 4. Piston cavity flow model.

Fig. 6. Valve plate model.

outlet throttle are, respectively, controlled by the functions

f in ( x) and f out ( x) , which are expressed as Eqs. (11) and
(12). x is generated by the scope dividing module, accord-
ing to the rotational angle of the piston. The scope of x in
f in ( x) is 180° to 360° and the scope of x in f out ( x) is 0°
to 180°.
ì 0
ï
ï x - 180 - (inda - beda1 )
preValueIn *
ï beda1
ï
ï preValueIn * ( pa + inda ) - x + 180 + x - 180 - inda
ï
f in ( x) = í beda1 pa
Fig. 5. Piston motion model. ï 1
ï
ï -1 360
ï *x+
variable volume chamber. The two interfaces of the volume pa pa
ï
chamber are connected to the oil discharge port and the oil îï 0
suction port. To account for oil leakage, the other interfaces of 180 £ x < 180 + inda - beda1
the variable volume chamber are connected to three throttle
180 + inda - beda1 £ x < 180 + inda
valves that represent the piston leakage, the slipper leakage
180 + inda £ x < 180 + pa + beda1
and the port leakage. The equivalent liquid resistance is used (11)
to simulate the leakage and is obtained from Eqs. (2)-(4). 180 + pa + beda1 £ x < 360 - pa
Second, the piston motion model is shown in Fig. 5. Power 360 - pa £ x < 360
for the piston pump is provided by a constant-speed motor and 0 £ x < 180
the cylinders and pistons are driven in a circular motion. Due ì 0
to the oblique plate, the pistons define a reciprocal linear mo- ï
ï x - (outda - theda1 )
preValueOt *
tion relative to the cylinder block. The linear velocity v of ï theda1
the piston in the cylinder is written as Eq. (10). ï
ï preValueOt * ( pa + outda ) - x x - outda
ï +
v = Rw tan g sin f , (10) f out ( x) = í theda1 pa
ï 1
where R is the cylindrical radius, w is angular velocity of ï
ï -1 180
the piston pump, g is the angle of the oblique plate and f ï *x+
ï pa pa
is the rotational angle of the piston around the main shaft.
ïî 0
Third, the valve plate model is shown in Fig. 6. There are
nine pistons in this piston pump and the phase angle between 0 £ x < outda - theda1
two pistons is 40°. Because of the structure of the valve plate, outda - theda1 £ x < outda
an inlet throttle is used to connect and disconnect the piston outda £ x < pa + theda1 (12)
chamber and the inlet oil chamber. An outlet throttle is used to pa + theda1 £ x < 180 - pa
connect and disconnect the piston chamber and the outlet oil 180 - pa £ x < 180
chamber. The sizes of the openings for the inlet throttle and 180 £ x < 360 .
 X. Wu et al. / Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 31 (9) (2017) 4245~4254 4249

Table 2. The parameters of single piston cavity model.

Variables
Value Description
name
Rpiston 31.15 Radius of piston cavity in cylinder (mm)
Piston cavity inner clearance of diameter
pclear 0.02
direction (mm)
dp 15.58 Diameter of piston (mm)
Equivalent diameter of oil suction and
Fig. 7. Single piston model in AMESIM. padiam 7.5
discharge area
pa 32.12 Piston wrap angle (°)
The piston cavity must connect to the pre-expansion cham-
Ratio of the area of the inlet triangle groove and
ber and the pre-compression chamber when it is, respectively, preValueIn 0.65
the maximum oil suction area
connected to the inlet chamber and the outlet chamber. A pre-
Ratio of the area of outlet triangle groove and
expansion chamber throttle is used to connect and disconnect preValueOt 0.75
the maximum oil discharge area
the piston cavity and a pre-expansion chamber. A pre-
inda 18.75 Oil suction closed angle (°)
compression chamber throttle is used to connect and discon-
outda 18.75 Oil discharge closed angle (°)
nect the piston cavity and a pre-compression chamber. The
theda1 17.5 Span of oil discharge triangular groove (°)
sizes of the openings for the pre-expansion chamber throttle
and the pre-compression chamber throttle are respectively theda2 16.5 Span of discharge pre-compression chamber (°)
controlled by the functions, f exp an ( x) and f comp ( x) , which beda1 17.5 Span of oil suction triangular groove (°)
are expressed as Eqs. (13) and (14). beda2 16.5 Span of oil discharge pre expansion chamber (°)
Hole diameter of oil suction pre expansion
preDiaIn 2.7
ì0 0 £ x < 180 + inda - beda2 chamber (mm2)
ï Hole diameter of oil discharge pre expression
f exp an ( x) = í 1 180 + inda - beda2 £ x < 180 + pa + inda - beda2 preDiaOt 2.7
ï 0 180 + pa + inda - beda £ x < 360 chamber (mm2)
î 2
Volume of oil suction pre expansion
(13) preVholeIn 400
chamber (cm3)
ì0 0 £ x < outda - theda2
ï Volume of oil discharge pre compression
f comp ( x) = í1 outda - theda2 £ x < pa + outda - theda2 (14) preVholeOt 400
chamber (cm3)
ï0 pa + outda - theda £ x < 360 .
î 2 moi 0.003 Rotate inertial (kg·m2)
stif 905 Principle axis stiffness (N·m/°)
Finally, a single piston cavity working model is obtained by swashp 18.6° Swash plate angle (°)
combining the piston cavity flow model, the piston motion
model and the valve plate model. It is encapsulated in
AMESIM and shown in Fig. 7.

3.3 Simulation of piston pump in AMESIM

This high-pressure piston pump contains nine pistons and

the packed model for a single piston is copied into nine in
AMESIM. The phase angle for each two single piston models
is set to 40 degrees. When the drive and load modules are
added to each packed single piston model, a complete model
for a high pressure piston pump is obtained and is shown in
Fig. 8.
The values of the parameters for the complete model of the
piston pump in AMESIM are shown in Table 2. The speed of Fig. 8. The complete model of piston pump.
the motor is set at 1500 rpm, the pressures in the oil suction
chamber and the oil discharge chamber of piston cavity are, simulation is set to 0.0001 s. Finally, the simulation of a single
respectively, set to 1 bar and 160 bar, the angle of swash plate piston cavity in AMESIM is performed [14].
is set to 18.6°. No. 46 hydraulic oil is used as the fluid me-
dium for the hydraulic system and the density of the hydraulic 3.4 Flow ripple analysis of piston pump in simulation
oil is 860 kg / m3 , the bulk modulus of the hydraulic oil is
19000 bar, the dynamic viscosity of the hydraulic oil is 0.007 Flow ripple is an evaluation index for high pressure piston
mpa × s . The simulation time is set to 0.4 s and the step for the pump working performance. Many factors affect the flow