A novel approach for predicting the operation of external gear pumps under cavitating conditions

Gear pumps represent the majority of the fixed displacement machines used for flow generation in fluid power systems. In this context, the paper presents a review of the different methodologies used in the last years for the simulation of the flow rates generated by gerotor, external gear and crescent pumps. As far as the lumped parameter models are concerned, different ways of selecting the control volumes into which the pump is split are analyzed and the main governing equations are presented. The principles and the applications of distributed models from 1D to 3D are reported. A specific section is dedicated to the methods for the evaluation of the necessary geometric quantities: analytic, numerical and Computer-Aided Design (CAD)-based. The more recent studies taking into account the influence on leakages of the interactions between the fluid and the mechanical parts are explained. Finally the models for the simulation of the fluid aeration are described. The review brings to evidence the increasing effort for improving the simulation models used for the design and the optimization of the gear machines.

Models for Flow Rate Simulation in Gear Pumps: A Review

Analysis of a scroll machine for micro ORC applications by means of a RE/CFD methodology

A study on the internal fluid dynamic of a high-pressure external gear pump is described in this paper. The pump has been analyzed with both numerical and experimental techniques. Starting from a geometry of the pump, a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model has been built up using the commercial code PumpLinx®. All leakages have been taken into account in order to estimate the volumetric efficiency of the pump. Then the pump has been tested on a test bench of Casappa S.p.A. Model results like the volumetric efficiency, absorbed torque, and outlet pressure ripple have been compared with the experimental data. The model has demonstrated the ability to predict with good accuracy the performance of the real pump. The CFD model has been also used to evaluate the effect on the pump performance of clearances in the meshing area. With the validated model the pressure inside the chambers of both driving and driven gears have been studied underlining cavitation in meshing fluid volume of the pump. For this reason, the model has been implemented in order to predict the cavitation phenomena. The analysis has allowed the detection of cavitating areas, especially at high rotation speeds and delivery pressure. Isosurfaces of the fluid volume have been colored as a function of the total gas fraction to underline where the cavitation occurs.

Study of a High-Pressure External Gear Pump with a Computational Fluid Dynamic Modeling Approach

Recently several works have been published on numerical simulation of an external gear pump (EGP). Such kinds of pumps are simple and relatively inexpensive, and are frequently used in fluid power applications, such as fluid power in aeronautical, mechanical, and civil engineering. Nevertheless, considerable effort is being undertaken to improve efficiency and reduce noise and vibration produced by the flow and pressure pulsations. Numerical simulation of an EGP is not straightforward principally for two main reasons. First, the gearing mechanism between gears makes it difficult to handle a dynamic mesh without a considerable deterioration of mesh quality. Second, the dynamic metal-metal contact simulation is important when high pressure outflow has to be reproduced. The numerical studies published so far are based on a two-dimensional (2D) approximation. The aim of the present work is to contribute to the understanding of the fluid flow inside an EGP by means of a complete three-dimensional (3D) parallel simulation on a cluster. The 3D flow is simulated in a LINUX cluster with a solver developed with the OPENFOAM Toolbox. The hexahedral mesh quality is maintained by periodically replacing the mesh and interpolating the physical magnitudes fields. The meshing contact point is simulated with the viscous wall approach, using a viscosity model based on wall proximity. The results for the flow rate ripples show a similar behavior to that obtained with 2D simulations. However, the flow presents important differences inside the suction and the discharge chambers, principally in the regions of the pipes' connection. Moreover, the decompression slot below the gearing zone, which can not be simulated with a 2D approximation, enables a more realistic simulation of a contact ratio greater than 1. The results are compared with experimental measurements recently published.

D. del Campo

Papers

Numerical Analysis of External Gear Pumps Including Cavitation

Three-Dimensional Numerical Simulation of an External Gear Pump With Decompression Slot and Meshing Contact Point