Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical

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Pressure Transients in an Axial Piston Hydraulic Pump

B. O. Helgestad, K. Foster and F. K. Bannister
Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers 1974 188: 189
DOI: 10.1243/PIME_PROC_1974_188_021_02

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 189

FLUID POWER TRANSMlSSlON GROUP

PRESSURE TRANSIENTS IN AN AXIAL PISTON

HYDRAULIC PUMP
B. 0. Helgestad, PhD* K. Foster, PhD, CEng, FIMechEj-
F. K. Bannister, CBE, PhD, CEng, FIMechES

A method is given for calculating pressure transients in an axial piston hydraulic pump. Some theoretical
predictions are given of the effect of port timing and the effect of introducing restricting grooves at the ends
of the kidney ports in the valve plate and suggestions are made of the effects of these parameters on noise
emission; comparative measurements of noise are then quoted that support the general arguments. A parallel
shot is recommended as the best compromise for the restrictor groove geometry to give good results over the
widest range of operating conditions, including reverse rotation. Finally, mention is made of the use of a relief
valve in the port plate for noise reduction.

1 INTRODUCTION shape and timing of intake and delivery ports for minimum
BECAUSEof an inherent flexibility and high power-to- pressure pulses.
weight ratio, hydraulic units have found an increasing Experimental measurements of the pressure variations
industrial use over the past few years for sequence con- are then presented for comparison with those predicted
trols, feedback servomechanisms and for variable speed theoretically. Experimental measurements of noise have
power transmissions. During this time, working pressures already been published in (I)$.
and speeds have risen, whilst the mass of individual units
has tended to fall, so that radiated noise has become rela- 1.1 Notation
tively greater. At the same time, more concern has been
shown over environmental conditions inside factories, so A , Effective area of valve F.
that the noise problem created by the increasing number A , Normal port area of cylinder number n at crank angle
of hydraulic units in use must be solved. 8,.
b Constant (= I +(clearance volume)/J VJ.
The present investigation comprises a theoretical and
experimental examination of the cyclic variations in oil C, Discharge coefficient of port at 8,.
pressure in the cylinder and inlet and delivery chamber of D, Diameter of piston restrictor hole.
F , Axial spring load/cylinder.
a Lucas ID 500 pump (Fig. 1). Since such fluctuations
produce in the pump members large cyclic forces with a s The reference i s given in Appendix 2.
strong vibration-exciting potential, an understanding of
them is a prerequisite to any rational study of pump noise
Kistler pre;sure transducer
generation. It is thus a first step towards identifying the
sources of noise and their eradication by design modi-
fication.
Neglecting progressive waves in the pipework, differen-
tial equations are established for the transient pressures
in the cylinders and inlet and delivery chambers, the
motion of the piston/slipper assembly also being covered.
This step-by-step computer solution gives theoretical
results for various geometric arrangements and running
conditions and hence leads to conclusions concerning the

This paper is published for written discussion. The MS. was received
on 8th September 1972 and accepted for publication on 26th
October 1973. 13
* T.O.S., 3601 Kongsberg, Norway. Formerly Mechanical Engin-
eering Department, University of Birmingham.
t. Reader in Fluid Power and Control, Mechanical Engineering Variable stroke control
Department, University of Birmingham.
$ Professor of Thermodynamics, Mechanical Engineering Depart-
ment, University of Birmingham. Fig. 1. Section through axial-piston slipper-pad pump

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 B. 0.HELGESTAD, I<. FOSTER A N D F. K. BANNISTER

Slipper bearing load at 8,. pump (J), relief valve (N), filter (K) and cooler (L) supply
Gap between slipper and swashplate at en. cooled and filtered oil at 100 lb/in2 pressure to the low-
Constant used in inferring A,. pressure side of the drive pump-motor. The high-
Length of piston in cylinder at t.d.c. pressure side of the drive unit is connected to the low-
Length of piston restrictor hole. pressure side of the test pump, whereby valves (E) and (G)
Mass of oil in cylinder at On or equivalent mass of enable the base (i.e, test pump suction) pressure to be
piston-slipper assembly. varied in the range 0-1000 lb/in2. The valve (F) and the
Total number of pump cylinders. relief valve (H) control the delivery pressure from the test
Pump speed (revjmin). pump. The pump is separated from its driving motor,
Suffix giving identifying number of individual transmission and auxiliaries by a main laboratory wall,
cylinders. thereby substantially excluding noise from these sources
Pressure in pump casing. in preparation for the acoustic tests to be carried out on the
Pressure in cylinder at 0. pump later.
Pressure in delivery chamber a t 8. Using a Kistler 601G miniature piezoelectric transducer
Pressure in inlet chamber at 8. and slip rings (S), the pressure variations in one of the
Pressure in slipper cavity at 8. cylinders were recorded; those in the inlet and delivery
Time average of Pd over a cycle (= nominal delivery pipes were measured using similar transducers. In the
pressure). present investigation all pipes were short enough to
Time average of P, over a cycle (= nominal suction eliminate the effects of progressive waves within them.
pressure). An anechoic chamber was not available and, therefore,
Volume rate of flow through port at 8. only comparative noise measurements were possible. In
Leakage past piston at 19. order that these should be significant, the noise measure-
Leakage past slipper at 8. ments were made at specific points around, and close to,
Sum of flows from inlet or delivery chambers to the pump and all the tests were carried out at night when
cylinders at 8. no other machinery was working.
Radius to centre line of kidney port.
Outer radius of slipper annulus. 3 THEORY
Inner radius of slipper annulus.
Radius of piston. 3.1 General
Radius of an annular element on slipper. Fig. 3 shows a developed view of the pump, indicating
Time or radial clearance of piston in cylinder. how several cylinders communicate simultaneously with
Volume of cylinder at 8. the inlet chamber, of volume V , including associated pipe-
Volume of delivery chamber and pipework. work, during their outward, i.e. suction, strokes and with
Volume of inlet chamber and pipework. the delivery chamber, of volume V , including pipework,
Swept volume/cylinder. during their inward, i.e. delivery strokes. Fig. 4 shows a
Speed of separation of slipper and swashplate at OR. simple arrangement that ensures this. The broken line
Swashplate angle. represents the outlet from a cylinder, whilst the full lines
Bulk of oil. represent the two kidney-shaped apertures that collect the
Crank angle at commencement of port opening. flow during the inward motion of the pistons and supply
Crank angle past t.d.c. (suffix n denotes an individual the oil to the pistons during the suction stroke.
cylinder). During one revolution, each cylinder experiences a
Oil viscosity. square wave application of pressure. This is reacted back
Restrictor groove angles (Fig. 5). on to the structure of the pump in various ways. For
Oil density. example, in a seven-piston pump, sometimes four pistons
Pump speed (radis). will be pressurized at one time and at other times only
three; the resulting force on the casing of the pump is a
2 INSTRUMENTATION train of square pulses at a frequency seven times the
In Fig. 2, which shows the layout of the apparatus, the rotational speed of the pump. The resulting strain in
pump under test (A) is driven by a constant speed electric the case is radiated as noise. Finally, the flow from the
motor (M) through a variable-ratio hydrostatic transmis-
sion comprising a pump (C) and motor (B). The boost

L I
Fig. 2. Arrangement of test rig Fig. 3. Developed view of the pump

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 PRESSURE TRANSIEXTS IN AN AXIAL PISTON HYDRAULIC PUMP
En
Fig. 4. A cylinder opening into a kidney port w i t h no
silencing grooves. The port area is given by
output port is not uniform, but will contain a ‘ripple’ at a
frequency equal to the rotational speed times the number
of pistons, thus contributing to the noise in the pipework.
With the simple arrangement of Fig. 4 and depending
on the port timing chosen, further undesirable events may
occur when successive cylinders are near the top and
bottom dead centres (t.d.c. and b.d.c.), the flow and
pressure waveforms thereby being adversely modified.
For example, as the cylinder approaches b.d.c. (corre-
sponding to position 4 of Fig. 3) the piston is moving
outwards and if the kidney port (S of Fig. 4) closes off
too soon a low pressure will be created in the cylinder,
whereas, if it is open until after b.d.c., fluid will be forced
back into the suction port as the piston moves inwards.
As the cylinder passes b.d.c., corresponding to position 5
of Fig, 3, and moves into the delivery stroke, the fluid in
the cylinder will begin to be compressed. If the delivery
kidney slot opens too soon, the cylinder, initially contain-
ing low-pressure oil, is suddenly exposed to the high-
pressure delivery chamber; a transient reverse flow thus
occurs inwards through the port until the cylinder con-
tents are thereby rapidly compressed to the appropriate
high pressure and the normal piston-produced outflow
begins. If, on the other hand, the delivery kidney slot
opens too late, the oil in the cylinder is compressed to too
high a level and a large pressure peak occurs. Similar
transient effects may occur at the beginning of each suction
stroke (movement 1 to 2) where either the initially high-
pressure oil left in the cylinder suddenly expands into the
inlet chamber if the port opens too soon or the cylinder
oil is expanded to too low a level, causing cavitation, if the
port opens too late. The port timing that gives equality of
cylinder and port pressures at the point of opening (or
closing) is referred to as ‘ideal timing’; its dependence on
swashplate angle and delivery pressure-both of which
may vary-limits its practical significance, but the concept
is useful.
Variable timing, where the port plate is rotated by a
cylinder sensitive to delivery pressure, has been used and
gives some noise reduction, but the lack of independent
Proc lnstn Mech Engrs 1974
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191
I
.
-?
Fig. 5. A cylinder opening into a kidney port w i t h a tri-
angular groove, as shown in the projected views. The
port area is given by
(7
A, = R i - Hsin2 q)
tan (~,/2),(e,-sy
control of the four opening/closingpoints is a disadvantage,
as is the mechanical complexity.
An alternative method of noise reduction over a wide
operating range is to minimize the reverse flow, cavitation
and pressure overshoots by the port modification of Fig. 5.
With the leading edge of each kidney port displaced
backwards, a sloping V-groove is milled in the land with
its apex at the point of nominal port opening. This results
in a progressive increase in effective area during the earlier
stages of port opening that allows an early opening, but
restricts the reverse flow. The V-groove is long enough to
cater for the different timing conditions required over a
range of pressure-swashplate angle combinations. This,
however, introduces the further difficulty that the volume
of flow through the groove depends on time and therefore
the pressure changes in the cylinder are now a function of
rotational speed as well as rotational angle. Thus although
the groove geometry may be suitable for one speed-
pressure combination, it may give too little restriction at
lower speeds, but too much and hence a large pressure
overshoot at higher speeds. On the suction stroke, cavita-
tion may occur at higher speeds. The present section
examines the theoretical flows and pressures in the pump
with two important assumptions :
(1) The varying flow through the V-grooves is treated
as quasi-steady, the instantaneous coefficients of dis-
charge at successive points during opening being as
determined from steady flow tests on large-scale models
at appropriate Reynolds numbers or on actual port
plate assemblies for confirmation.
(2) The drop in pressure of the delivered oil is con-
sidered to occur, not in a motor as would be the case in
a hydrostatic transmission, but in an adjustable restrictor
valve, corresponding to (F) in the test arrangement of
Fig. 2, before the oil is returned to the suction side of
the pump.
Vol 188 17/74
192 B. 0. HELGESTAD, K. FOSTER AND F. K. BANNISTER
The reason for this second assumption is that a pump
produces a flow pulsation that is only converted into a
pressure pulsation by the resistance or impedance of the
circuit. T o be able to compare experiment with theory,
this relatively simple output circuit has been chosen.
For a full hydrostatic transmission, the analysis would
require some extension, but no new principles would arise.
The analysis is based on simultaneous consideration of
the instantaneous rates of volume inflow to (qinflow)and/or
outflow from (qoutrlow)the respective cylinders and the
inlet and delivery chambers, including pipes. Hence, ex-
pressions are obtained for the net instantaneous rate of
gain of mass in each cylinder and, in the respective
chambers, from the known rates of cylinder volume
changes and a knowledge of the isentropic oil bulk
modulus, the rates of pressure change follow. The result-
ing simultaneous differential equations are solved step-by-
step using a computer. An approximate allowance is made
in the analysis for both the leakage past the pistons and
the controlled oil flow through the piston body to the
cam plate slippers.
The fundamental equation that, for any cylinder or
chamber, relates changes in the volume, V, oil density, p,
and oil mass, M (= pV), with time is
dM dV d the flow depends on the geometry and rotor speed, and
-dt
=p-&+V$. . . . (1)
which, with the bulk modulus P = p(dP/dp), i.e. dpldt =
(pIP)(dPidt) and, with dMldt = P(qintlow-qoutrlow), be-
comes
This basic expression is applied to the various chambers
as follows.
3.2 Inlet chamber
For simplicity, the flow into the inlet chamber is regarded
as coming from a source of constant high pressure, p,,
through a restrictor of effective area A i (including dis-
charge coefficient).The value of p, is the time average of
the slightly-fluctuating delivery pressure P,, i.e. the steady
value as recorded by the delivery pressure gauge. The
pressure Piin the inlet chamber fluctuates cyclically since
the finite number of pistons creates a cyclic variation in
outflow; the instantaneous flow into a constant inlet
volume V, also must vary cyclically, and is given by
The value of A, depends on the setting of valve F in the
apparatus and is unknown. In the computation, p d and the
average value of Pi (i.e. Pi)are those used in the experi-
ments. A , is then estimated assuming that equation ( 3 )
holds good for average values of the parameters and where
qinflowis given in terms of the pump volumetric displace-
ment setting and the speed of rotation. Thus,
where V , is the swept volume/cylinder, m is the number
of pistons and AT is the pump speed in revlmin. K is a
constant arising from the non-linearity of equation (3).
The error in the initial estimate of A, is arrived at by
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iteration later in the calculation and corrected by adjust-
ment of K, which in practice lies between 0.98 and 1-01.
The inlet chamber outflow at time t is the sum 24, of
the instantaneous flows q, into the various cylinders then
communicating with that chamber. For any cylinder, n,
in the process of opening into, or closing from, the suction
stroke,
where, for that cylinder, P,,, C, and A, are the instantan-
eous values of cylinder pressure, discharge coefficient and
port area, C , and A, depending on the angular position
On (= O1 -(a- 1)2n-/m) reached by the cylinder, 8, being
the angle rotated by cylinder 1 past t.d.c. and wz the num-
ber of pistons. The area of the grooves may be calculated
according to the geometry and the algebraic expressions
for the two port configurations initially considered are
indicated in Figs 4 and 5. C, depends on the port, the port
opening and, in a manner determined from steady flow
tests on the port plate assembly or a large-scale model, on
the instantaneous Reynolds number.
When A , has become so large that (Pi-P,,) is negli-
gible-a situation occurring over most of the kidney port--
equation (5a) is replaced by
q, = $V,W sin On 0 < 0, < T . (5b)
In a seven-piston pump (Fig. 3), there are at any instant
either two or three fully open cylinders obeying equation
(5b) and zero, one or two partly open ones obeying equa-
tion (5a), depending on the rotor position.
Writing w = doidt and putting dVi/dt = 0, equation
( 2 ) is now applied to the inlet chamber and, with equations
(4) and (5) substituted, gives
in which the various qn values are based on equations (5a)
or (5b).
If, in applying equation (5a) to determine a q, value for
equation (6), the term (Pi- Pen) becomes negative, this
indicates a reversal in port flow and z/(Pi-Pcn) must be
replaced by - 2/(Pcn- Pi). A similar procedure is neces-
sary anywhere else in the theory when the variable under
a root becomes negative; the discharge coefficient must
also be changed to that for the reverse flow.
3.3 Delivery chamber
Outflow from the delivery chamber is regarded as occur-
ring through a restrictor to a region of constant low pres-
sure (pi), this being the time average of the slightly-
fluctuating suction pressure Pi,i.e. the reading of the
suction pressure gauge. By arguments similar to those for
the inlet chamber the equation for the variations in delivery
chamber pressure P, become
In reality Pd will always be larger than Fi, but the sign-
changing convention adopted a t the end of Section 3.2
will automatically take care of this point.
Vol188 17/74
 PRESSURE TRANSIENTS I N AN AXIAL PISTON HYDRAULIC PUMP 193

The outflow (-4,) from cylinder n to the chamber is

given by either

or
qn = +V,w sin 0% 7r < 8, < 2n . (8b)
Planes o f constant
delivery pressure, Ibflin'
the choice depending on whether or not the port is fully
open.

3.4 Typical piston/cylinder

Equation (2) is now applied to a cylinder space, n, of
which the instantaneous volume, V , is V,, = +Vs(b- cos
0,) and hence dV/dt = +wV, sin On. Thus, replacing the
net inflowterm (qinflow-qoubflow) by (qn--m--sn), in which
qpn and qsn are the leakage flows past the piston and into
the slipper bearing respectively, gives equation (9) for
the variations in the cylinder pressure P,, :

For a cylinder communicating with the inlet chamber, qn

follows from either equation (5a) or (5b) depending on
whether the port is partly or fully open; for one com-
municating with the delivery chamber the equation is
either (8a) or (8b).
The leakage from the cylinder should also include that
part of the leakage between the port plate and the cylinder
block that is appropriate to the particular cylinder. Both
the leakage past the piston and the leakage past the port
plate is difficult to estimate. Therefore, to compare experi-
ment with theory, the total average leakage was measured
for each chosen operating condition and divided by 39 to
find the average leakage from each piston (since on
average 34 pistons are in the high-pressure region at any
one time) and assuming negligible leakage from the pis-
tons connecting with the low pressure port. Then the
leakage past the slipper was calculated as in Appendix 1
and subtracted from the experimental figure. The term qDn
was then adjusted to give this resulting average figure,
whilst still retaining the characteristic that it was propor-
tional to the instantaneous pressure between the cylinder
and the case.
The reason for separating the slipper flow from the
cylinder leakage is that the slipper clearance varies
throughout the cycle. Appendix 1 includes the equations
for the dynamic motion of the piston and slipper assembly,
which have a further importance in that they make possible
a better understanding of the way in which the motion of
the piston assembly increases the possibility of cavitation
under the slipper.
3.5 Solution of equations
Equations (5a) or (5b), (6) and (9) or alternatively equa-
tions (8a) or (8b), (7) and (9) are combined with equations
(13) and (15) from Appendix 1 for solving. These are
non-linear simultaneous differential equations and were
solved by a variable step-length Runge-Kutta standard
programme on the University KDF 9 computer.
4 THEORETICAL RESULTS
4.1 Timing for 'ideal' precompression
Before presenting the pressure transients calculated by
Proc instn Mech Engrs 1974
Jbd c Angle of part opening from t d c , 6
rad
Fig. 6. Calculated angle of port opening t o give perfect
precompression of oil in cylinder, shown as a function
of both piston swept volume and delivery pressure.
Effect of leakage is included a t rotational speed of
3000 rev/min
means of the above equations, the angle of port opening S
necessary to provide 'ideal' precompression of the oil in a
cylinder on the delivery stroke is shown in Fig. 6, plotted
against the piston swept volume (directly related to swash-
plate angle) and the delivery pressure for a speed of
3000 rev/min. This shows the very wide range of port
timing required if the pump is to operate under the full
range of delivery pressures and swashplate angles; rota-
tional speed is only important if leakage is important and
this will be the case only at very small swashplate angles.
For a given swashplate angle, the variation of S with
delivery pressure could be approximated to by a straight
line, at least for a limited pressure range. This fact has
led to the use of variable port plate timing where the port
plate is rotated by a spring-loaded cylinder connected to
the delivery line. By inclining the axis of rotation of the
swashplate it would also be possible to compensate par-
tially for the effect of swashplate angle.
4.2 Effect of port plate configuration on pressure
transients
Theoretical solutions of the above equations are presented
in the main diagram of Fig. 7 for various port plate con-
figurations when N is 3000 rev/min, Pd is 2000 lbf/in2,
Pi is 100 lbf/in2 and the swashplate angle CI is 20". The
separate graphs at the top of Fig. 7 show the non-
dimensional effective port area C,A,/A,, i s . the coeffi-
cient of discharge times the actual area of port opening,
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194 B. 0. HELGESTAD, K. FOSTER AND F. K. BANNISTER

3000

2000

1000

g
,
- , I 225 270 315 360 ! ! 45

a Round kidney port with 'ideal' compression and expansion. d Suction stroke transients with narrow V (6 = 26', r) = lo",
b Round kidney port with early opening (6 = 0.5'). ( = 60").
c V-groove at port opening ( 6 = 2 4 " , TJ = 14.5",f = 60"). e V-groove at each end of kidney ( 6 = 26", = 1 4 . 9 , 5 = 60").
Fig. 7. Theoretical cylinder pressure versus rotational angle for various valve plate geometries (N = 3000 rev/min.
pd = 2000 Ibf/in2, pi = 100 Ibf/in2, a = 20")

divided by the maximum effective port area, plotted
against angle of rotation.
Fig. 7a shows the results for ideal precompression where
the angle of port opening measured from b.d.c. is 23". In
this case, the curve of port area shows that the port
suddenly opens very close to the point where the pressure
in the cylinder equals the required delivery pressure. As
would be expected, the rate of cylinder pressure rise (Pc)
is lower than for other configurations. The pressure ripple
in the delivery line (Pd)is also smaller, but this would not
necessarily follow since the effect of port timing on the flow
fluctuations is quite separate from the effect on pressure
rise.
Fig. 7 b illustrates the penalty of a very early port open-
ing (6 = 0.5"). The pressure Pc rises very quickly because
of the backflow of oil into the cylinder, which occurs from
the point at which the port opens up to the point at which
the pressures in cylinder and delivery line are equal. The
sudden backflow also modifies the flow ripple unfavour-
ably and thus in turn causes sharper changes in the pres-
sure ripple in the delivery line, Pd.
Fig. 7c shows the result for a V-groove at the beginning
of the kidney port. The groove begins to open at 6 = 2-8"
and the shape of the groove is characterized by angle
Proc lnstn Mech Engrs 1974
7 = 14.5" and angle f = 60" (see Fig. 5). The area before
pressure equalization is much smaller than in the previous
case and the reverse flow is thus reduced. A penalty for
this gain is, however, apparent in the undesirable over-
shoot in cylinder pressure, P,, early in the delivery period.
This is caused by throttling of the piston-excited outflow,
the groove restriction continuing well beyond the point of
pressure equalization.
A further penalty of introducing restrictions is shown
in Fig. 7 4 where the predicted transients for the suction
stroke are plotted; the running conditions are as before,
except that a narrow angle groove (7 = 10') has been
chosen to accentuate the effects of the restriction and S is
now 26". The potential pressure 'undershoot' (shown
dotted) corresponding to the previous overshoot of pres-
sure in Fig. 7c is prevented from materializing by cavi-
tation. The formation of a cavity allows the flow into the
cylinder to be significantly smaller than the rate of volu-
metric displacement of the piston and during this phase
the pressure in the cylinder remains constant at the vapour
pressure. The duration of cavitation, indicated in Fig. 7d
by the flat base to the graph of cylinder pressure, is con-
siderable and is due to the continued restriction of the
port area beyond the point where the cylinder and delivery
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 PRESSURE TRANSIENTS I N AN AXIAL PISTON HYDRAULIC PUMP
port pressures equalize. A further effect of cavitation is
that there is no pressure force available to hold the piston
and slipper pad in close contact with the cam plate. If it
were not for the auxiliary cam plate, the predicted rise
of the slipper would be 0.158 in. Also, cavitation will be
experienced both below the slipper pad and in the ball
joint holding the slipper on to the piston.
It is clear that the ‘overshoot’ and ‘undershoot’ of the
cylinder pressure P, shown by curves c and d of Fig. 7
are the result of grooves that are too long. It might be
thought that it would be better to limit the length so that
the pressure swings are acceptable. The problem is that
the length required varies with pressure and swashplate
setting in a manner similar to the variation of the ideal
timing and also depends upon the speed of rotation, be-
cause time is now required for any equalizing flow. Some
compromise is possible where the reversed flow and over-
shoot are minimized for some optimum running conditions
and the variation of both of these quantities is kept within
reasonable bounds over the rest of the operating range.
I n all the cases presented so far, the pressure in the
cylinder at b.d.c. has been assumed to be suction pressure
and at t.d.c. has been assumed to be delivery pressure;
this would be the case if the kidney ports closed exactly at
b.d.c. and t.d.c. respectively without any prior restrictions.
In Fig. 7e, however, the case is presented for a port plate
with a V-groove cut at each end of the kidney ports to
allow reversed rotation. The problem here is that at the end
of the suction stroke, the groove that is not required for
the particular direction of rotation chosen restricts the
flow into the cylinder more severely than the same size of
groove at the beginning of the stroke. I n the latter case,
there is already high-pressure oil in the cylinder as it
enters the groove in the port and suction into the cylinder
will only occur towards the end of the groove, where it is
widest. At the end of the kidney port, however, suction
occurs over the whole of the travel of the cylinder along
the groove right to the narrowest part and, in consequence,
cavitation may be severe. A fuaher effect is that cavitation
does not end till the pump has rotated 12” past b.d.c., i.e.
almost at the end of the V-groove, so that the pressure
rises late and quickly. To be effective on the delivery
stroke, the restriction provided by the groove should begin
later, but if this were done, it would make the cavitation
worse. Thus it is clear that using triangular grooves in a
bi-directional pump does not necessarily give the same
benefit as a uni-directional one.
One further point about Fig. 7e is that the grooves are
shorter than in Figs 7c and d. This results in less overshoot
for the running conditions chosen. For smaller swashplate
angles, the groove would not be long enough and there
would be much more reverse flow.
5 EXPERIMENTAL R E S U L T S
5.1 Pressure fluctuations
The good agreement between theory and experiment is
shown in Fig. 8. This comprises two specimen diagrams,
chosen to represent the extreme ends of the working range
of a pump with triangular entry grooves in the kidney
ports. Case (a) is that of a low swashplate angle with a
high delivery pressure where there is insufficient pre-
compression so that there is no overshoot, but an initial
reverse flow into the cylinder resulting in a slight pressure
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195
oscillation as the cylinder pressure equalizes with the
delivery pressure. Case ( b ) is that of a large swashplate
angle and a small difference between suction and delivery
pressures, resulting in too much precompression and a
consequent large pressure overshoot. In both cases, the
slope of the pressure rise depends upon the speed of pump
rotation and the restriction afforded by the entry groove
and the correlation is seen to be good over the whole of
the trace, both when the groove is dominant and when it
is not.
I n case (b), in addition, using a high suction pressure
means the cavitation is inhibited and it is possible to see
the effect of a groove in causing a very severe undershoot
in cylinder pressure when passing from delivery to suction.
5.2 Noise
Noise is regarded as the result of rate of change of strain
in the casing of the pump or in the connecting pipes that
is transmitted to the surroundings as pressure waves in the
air. The results of an investigation into the vibrations in
the pump are given in (I), but very briefly the procedure
was as follows. The basic shape of the variation of strain
with time in various parts of the pump body, which was
periodic, with a sharp rise and fall at a frequency of seven
times the speed of the pump, was predicted theoretically.
Experimentally, strain gauge measurements on the pump
body showed a good agreement with the basic shape, but
also showed that ripples of various higher frequencies
were superimposed on the basic shape. These super-
imposed frequencies corresponded with the natural fre-
quencies in the pump casing and assembly which were
later identified by electrically exciting the pump whilst
stationary and empty.
The strain records were analysed to find the frequency
spectra of the noise. These results were cross-checked
with accelerometer measurements at the same points and
also with acoustic signals picked up close to the mounting
points for the strain gauges and accelerometers. The
majority of these tests were carried out with a standard
port plate that gave the highest noise when the port timing
was not ‘ideal’.
The analysis of the accelerometer and noise measure-
ments showed that the natural frequencies of the pump
casing were excited enough to make a significant contri-
bution to the noise. The total noise measured in each case
showed that a standard pump with no delay in timing was
the most noisy, the pump with ideal timing was least
noisy, whilst a pump with V-grooves in the port plate gave
a noise level slightly higher than that for ideal timing. For
operating at a speed of 1000 revlmin, delivery pressure of
2000 Ibf/in2, boost pressure of 100 lbf/in2 and maximum
swashplate angle, the measured values close to the centre
of the middle of the rear cover plate of the unit were
97.2 dB, 87 dB and 90 dB respectively for each of the
three port plate configurations.
Although these results are for a specific condition of
measurement and operation, the trend of difference shown
between the port plates was similar for all the measure-
ments. Thus the evidence is that ‘ideal’ timing gives the
lowest noise levels, but that V-restrictors are a good second
best. A difference of 7-2 dB between the ‘standard’ and
V-grooves port plate was noted, a very significant reduction
from a noise and discomfort viewpoint.
Vol 188 17/74
196 B. 0. HELGESTAD, K. FOSTER AND F. K. BANNISTER

Angle o f rotatlon, 0
rad

Fig. 8a. Comparison of theory (full line) and experiment (broken line) for port plate
with triangular entry groove. In both cases, N is 1000 rev/min, S is 24",q i s 10" and
5 is 60". p d is 3000 Ibf/in2, p , is 100 Ibf/in2 and a is 2"

0 d 2d
tdc bdc t d.c.
Angle o f r o t a t i o n , 0
rad

Fig. 8b. Comparison of theory (full line) and experiment (broken line) for port plate
w i t h triangular entry groove. In both cases, N is 1000 rev/min, S is 2.8". q is 10"
and is 60". pd is 1500 Ibf/inz, Pi is 100 Ibf/in2 and a is 20"

6 T H E U S E OF PARALLEL S L O T S parallel slot varies linearly with angle of rotation of the

A S RESTRICTORS
It has been pointed out that, theoretically, using V-grooves
in a bi-directional pump has the disadvantage that greater
cavitation may occur at the end of the suction stroke than
at the beginning. Similarly a greater pressure peak could
be predicted at the end of the delivery stroke than at the
beginning. A better compromise may be to use parallel
slots rather than V-grooves so that the restriction is less
severe at the end of a kidney port. It is easier to design
parallel slots for use as restrictors because the area of a
cylinder block and therefore is roughly proportional to the
piston-produced flow passing through the slot early in the
delivery stroke. By calculating the width of the slot to give
a pressure difference at maximum pump speed and swash-
plate angle that is just equal to the boost pressure, cavitation
is avoided at any point in the cycle. The length of the slot
is fixed for operation at a minimum swashplate angle,
where a larger rotation of the pump is required for pre-
compression of the fluid in the cylinder. The disadvantage
of this design is that, on the delivery stroke, the backflow

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 PRESSURE TRANSIENTS I N AN AXIAL PISTON HYDRAULIC PUMP
Fig. 9. Comparison of theory (full line) and experiment (broken line) for port plate
w i t h parallel entry slot 0.04 in wide. N is 1000 rev/min, Fd is 2000 Ibf/in*, is
100 Ibf/inz, a is 1.58" and S is 0.5'
Radians rotated from b d c
A Standard port plate.
B Port plate with parallel entry slots.
C Port plate with triangular entry grooves.
D Port plate set to give 'ideal' timing.
Fig. 10. Rate of rise of cylinder pressure against rotation
from b.d.c. for various port configurations
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197
is not reduced as much as in the case for a narrow groove
so that the rate of pressure change in a cylinder at the
beginning of the stroke is somethat greater (similarly for
the beginning of the suction stroke). A comparison be-
tween theory and experiment for the delivery stroke is
given in Fig. 9 for the case of a parallel slot restrictor.
Comparison with Fig. 8a illustrates the rather faster
pressure change, but also the absence of both overshoot
and cavitation.
Finally, further noise and vibrator tests were carried
out to assess the effect of this design of port plate, and the
noise level under the same conditions quoted in the pre-
vious section was 92 dB. Thus the noise is higher than for
the cases with 'ideal' precompression and with V-
restrictors. It is, however, significantly lower than for the
pump with the standard port plate-5 dB is a considerable
improvement.
7 SUMMARY OF EFFECTS OF GROOVES
The more rapid the rise in cylinder pressure during change-
over from suction to delivery, the closer the loading of the
mechanical parts approaches sudden loading with its well-
laown attendant noise problems. The gradient dPJdt
would therefore appear to he of some interest in the pump
noise context and Fig. 10 shows it plotted against angle of
rotation for various configurations. The standard port
plate clearly gives the highest value for dPJdt, whilst the
ordinary shape of kidney port with delayed opening to
give precompression and expansion provides the lowest
value. Neither the groove nor the parallel slots give such a
low value of dPJdt as the 'ideal' precompression arrange-
ment, but nevertheless are significantly better than the
standard port plate. The negative values of dPJdt for the
slot and groove indicate a pressure overshoot in each case,
hut in the case of the parallel slot this has a lower value
and, as explained earlier, the pressure overshoot in this
latter case is more controllable. Fig. 11 indicates the
Vol 188 17/74
198 B. 0. HELGESTAD, K. FOSTER AND F. K, BANNISTER
Y I
I at each end of each kidney slot are desirable. The design
I
1000 21 0
Pump rotational s p e e d
revirnin
Fig. 11. Effect of rotational speed on the maximum pre-
dictedvaluesof dPJdtforvarious port plate configura-
tions. The key is as in Fig. 10 except that for case
C, two triangular grooves are considered, i.e. for (i)
q = 23.5' and for (ii) q = 19.9"; 5. = 60"
variation of the maximum value of dPJdt with speed and,
taking into consideration the reduction of cavitation for
reversed rotation, the parallel slot is seen as a reasonable
compromise.
The previous arguments suggest that if the port can be
arranged to suddenly open fully when the cylinder pres-
sure is equal to the delivery pressure (or to the suction
pressure on the suction stroke), then the timing is as good
as one can achieve. This ideal may be realized on the
delivery stroke by connecting a non-return valve from a
hole in the land of the port plate at b.d.c., midway between
the ends of the two kidney ports, to the delivery chamber.
This allows oil to pass only when the pressure in the cylin-
der is greater than that of the delivery chamber. The
delivery kidney port is arranged to open rather later than
normal to prevent any reverse flow. Such a design was
tested and gave a considerable reduction in noise. Further
work will be carried out on this particular feature.
8 CONCLUSIONS
It is possible to connect the pressure variations in the
cylinders of an axial piston pump with the strain wave-
forms in the casing. It may also be shown that the pressure
transients excite the natural frequencies of various parts
of the pump and it is thought that the rate of pressure rise
in a cylinder is a significantparameter in this respect. The
paper shows that there is nothing fundamentally obscure
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about the generation of pressure transients and that, with
careful design of the port plate. the rate of pressure rise and
fall in the cylinders may be controlled in such a way that
the noise level of a given pump may be reduced. The main
recommendations are as follows :
(1) For a pump rotating in one direction and oper-
ating at a substantially constant pressure and flow, it is
better to use a port plate without silencing grooves. The
port timing should be such that full precompression and
pre-expansion is achieved on delivery and suction strokes
respectively. The cut-off at the end of each of the
kidneys should be exactly at b.d.c. or t.d.c. as appro-
priate.
(2) For a pump operating in one direction, but under
varying output conditions, triangular silencing grooves
should be used to optimize the pressure transients at
some chosen operating conditions. A final design can
only be achieved by trial and error, but use of the com-
puter can reduce the problem to manageable propor-
tions.
(3) For a bi-directional pump, parallel slot restrictors
of these is relatively simple; by choosing the width so
that the pressure drop is equal to the boost pressure at
i the maximum flow conditions, cavitation is avoided, but
at the same time, some degree of control of the pressure
transient is maintained.
3000 When this has been done, the noise can only be reduced
further by increasing the stiffness of the pump casing.
Some of the theoretical results show that modifications
to the port timing change the shape of the pressure ripple
in the output and suction lines. There does not appear to
be a simple correlation between the cylinder pressure
transients and this ripple, so that an improvement in the
one does not necessarily mean an improvement in the
other. Our work has concentrated on the effects in the
pump proper, but in a system with a considerable pipe
run, the input and output ripple could be an important
source of noise. In such a situation the effect of progres-
sive waves could provide an additional complication by
further modifying the shape of the ripple and thus the
frequency spectrum of the noise.
Finally, it would be desirable to assess the effects of
alternative output loadings on the pressure transients in
the pump and pressure ripple in the connecting pipes. An
important case in mobile equipment is the complete
hydraulic transmission where the output is a motor with
inertia and friction loading. The effect of interaction
between pump and motor on the pressure ripple could be
a particularly challenging problem.
9 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT§
We would like to thank Lucas Industrial Hydraulics
Limited for sponsoring this project and for permission
to publish the results.
APPENDIX 1
LEAKAGE FROM S L I P P E R B E A R I N G
Oil from a drilling in each piston (Fig. 12) enters the
slipper cavity through a restrictor hole of length Lr and
diameter D, before leaking radially to the pump casing
through the complete slipper gap (annular radii R, and
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 PRESSURE TRANSIENTS IN AN AXIAL PISTON HYDRAULIC PUMP
Fig. 12. Section through slipper and ball-joint
assembly
Rb).The leakage thus depends on the resistances, in series,
of the restrictor and gap; the latter depends on the gap
height h, which varies cyclically, as determined by the
balance between the external and inertia forces on the
piston-slipper assembly.
The present analysis gives approximate relationships
between the cylinder, slipper cavity and pump casing
pressure (Po, P,,, P h ) y the leakage rate qsn, slipper bearing
load F,, and gap height h,. The slipper separation velo-
city v, (=dh,/dt = w dh,/d0) relates to the squeezing out or
sucking in of oil, within the varying gap. Sliding between
slipper and cam plate is neglected.
For radial laminar flow through the gap h, the total flow
(qsn-rr2vn) and pressure P, both at radius r and time t ,
are related by
Integration with appropriate boundary conditions gives
and hence, by integration of 2 ~ r dr
P over the annulus and
adding rRS2Psnfor the cavity, the instantaneous slipper
bearing load is
For flow, qsn, through the restrictor hole, the standard
equations for laminar or turbulent pipe flow give
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199
or
the choice depending on the Reynolds number.
With R, the piston radius and Rb the outer slipper
radius, the leftward axial forces on the piston-slipper
assembly of Fig. 12 at position 8, are (1) the net force
~(Pc,R,'-PbR,2+PbR,,2 cos a ) due to the oil in the cylin-
der and pump casing, (2) the bearing thrust component
(-Fs cos a), (3) a small viscous drag ( - C dsldt =
(-wCVJ2rrRP2) sin 8,) on the piston, with the constant C
calculated for Couette flow in the clearance, and (4)the
axial spring force Fa per cylinder due to the central spring,
assumed constant. Thus, considering the acceleration
W2(d2s/dP) of the piston-slipper assembly (of total
equivalent mass M ) :
~(l',,R~~-l'bR,~+PbRb~ cos a)-Fs cos c(.
MVsw2
- (wCYs/27rRp2)sin 0, Fa = +
27rRp2
cos 8,~
mu2 d2h
cos olden2 (15)
Of these forces, the axial spring force is the most difficult
to assess because this may or may not be shared between
all the slippers, depending on the amount they are lifted
off the cam plate, dependent in turn on the solution of
seven simultaneous equations of motion such as equation
(15). Since this analysis was concerned with the worst
problem of piston motion, that is when a particular piston
makes a very large movement away from the cam plate on
first entering the suction port, the assumption was made
that this one piston carries the auxiliary cam plate away
from the main cam plate, causing it to pivot about the two
slippers directly opposite to it. The effect of the spring
force is thus simply calculated. If during the time of this
large excursion, any other piston had a large movement off
the cam plate, then this assumption would be suspect.
Reference the cavitation portion of curve e of Fig. 7 shows
that the slipper would have left and returned to the cam
plate in 1 rad, i.e. about one sixth of a revolution. With
seven pistons, this means that there would be some inter-
ference with the motion from another piston, but the effect
will only occur at the end of this particular phase of
motion which is of least interest.
In calculating the effective mass of the piston-slipper
assembly for equation (15), the effective inertia due to the
rocking of the auxiliary cam plate is also included,
referred to the centre line of the piston.
APPENDIX 2
REFERENCE
(I) HELGESTAD, B. O., FOSTER, K. and BANNISTER, F. K. 'Noise
in an axial piston p u m p ' , Noise emitted by fluid power equip-
ment-its cause3 and control 1973, 51-62 (Institution of
Mechanical Engineers, London).
Voll88 17/74
Discussion on B. 0. Helgestad, K. Foster and F. K. Bannister: PRESSURE TRANSIENTS IN AN AXIAL PISTON HYDRAULIC PUMP
Discussion
D. E. Bowns Member and D. McCandlish
Member
The authors have tackled a difficult but important aspect
of fluid power equipment design. They have given
interesting comparisons between theory and experi-
mental results.
We are, however, having difficulty in relating equa-
tions (3) and (4) to the rig drawing of Fig. 2. If valves E
and G are open so that the base pressure can be varied,
then it should be possible to control the inlet pressure Pi
within narrow limits and, because of the opening, the
inlet capacitance would be large. This would correspond
with the normal arrangement in hydrostatic systems.
The base pressure in these systems is usually controlled
by a relief valve, and the pressure fluctuations in the
base line (due to pump and motor flow fluctuations)
will depend very much on the relief valve dynamic
characteristics.
The authors state that the paper provides a method for
calculating pressure transients in an axial piston pump.
This is an important design parameter and such a
method would be valuable. It appears, however, that the
differential equations may only be solved if empirical
pump-performance data available, enabling various
constants to be evaluated. We suggest the paper con-
tributes more to an understanding of the behaviour of
an existing pump, rather than predicting that of a
proposed pump.
The pressure transients occur in each cylinder close to
top- and bottom-dead-centre when the piston is barely
moving. The instantaneous cylinder volume is changing
slowly and leakage effects are important. The authors
admit the difficulty of estimating leakages past the piston
and past the port plate and suggest that experimental
values are used. Leakage past the slippers is even harder
to estimate, despite the analysis given in Appendix 1.
Royle and Raizada (2) have shown the important
effects of slipper tilt. The authors have ignored this
parameter, assuming a parallel oil film, though it is well
known that the pads run in a tilted attitude. Typically,
the leakage from a stationary pad is increased by some
27 per cent if the angle of slipper tilt is 25 per cent of
maximum for a pad with radius ratio Rb/Rs= 1.5. This
effect is increased if the pad moves axially or transversely.
An even more fundamental problem is the instanta-
neous value of the oil film thickness h. An assumption
that the piston pad makes a large excursion from the
cam plate, moving the auxiliary cam plate, at the start of
the suction stroke requires confirmation. The time
available for this excursion is extremely short (a few
milliseconds) which suggests variations in oil film thick-
ness of a few micrometres.
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The paper contains a useful comparison of the pressure
transients for various valve plate configurations, but the
emphasis is on asymmetrical configurations. In this
the authors proceed in the same way as Zaichenko and
Boltyanskii (3) who also showed theoretically and
practically that positive asymmetrical overlap gave lower
pressure-peaks than did positive symmetrical overlap.
They also showed that, with ideal precompression, a
reduction in noise level of up to 4 dB could be obtained
on the Russian pump tested, compared with the sym-
metrical case.
Neither the present paper nor that quoted above
mentions the possibility of the symmetrical case with a
small underlap so that distance 6 becomes negative. Such
arrangements allow reversed rotation. The pressure
transient is then displaced towards the t.d.c. and b.d.c.
positions, the rate of pressure rise may be controlled to
any given value, and there is no tendency to cavitation.
The design calculations are simplified if the grooves are
wedge-shaped rather than triangular, giving a linear
change of cross-sectional area with rotation.
Finally, we would point out that discussion of pressure
transients caused by the degree of precompression can be
extended to the whole field of hydrostatic pump design.
Similar factors occur in the porting of vane pumps and
in the detail design of gear pumps. Improved designs
with careful control of pressure variation can possibly
reduce noise of these units in the same manner as in axial
piston units.
REFERENCES
(2) ROYLE,J. K. and RAIZADA, R. S. ‘Numerical analysis of effects of
tilt, sliding and squeeze action on externally pressurized oil-film
bearings’, I. Mech.E. Lubrication and Wear, 4th Convention.
May 1966.
(3) ZAICHENKO, I. Z. and BOLTYANSKII, A. D. ‘Reducing noise levels of
axial-piston pumps’, Russian Engnng J. 1969.
C. M. Edghill Liverpool
Designers should find the paper valuable in that it clearly
indicates the effect of so-called silencing grooves altering
the rate of change of pressure as the rotor kidney-ports
pass from delivery to inlet and vice versa. It should also
be clear that placing a restriction in the port creates a
cylinder pressure (equation (9)) well above the system
pressure and designers must, of course, take this into
account.
In similar work we found it necessary to express the
final equation of peak cyclinder pressure in a simple
form :
+
P , = A4p Y x rev/min
where P, = peak cylinder pressure; A4 = a constant;
D33 Vol 188 17/74
D34 DISCUSSION ON B. 0. HELGESTAD, K. FOSTER A N D F. K. BANNISTER
p = system pressure and Y = a constant. This empirical
equation is easily handled by the designer.
I realize such an equation would not adequately
describe all types of groove considered in the paper, but
wonder if the authors would comment on this simpler
approach for a particular design of insert.
There are a few minor points which perhaps they could
clarify. In Fig. 8b the graph shows pressure rising from
1000 to just over 2000 lbf/in2 but the text suggests that
the inlet pressure is 100 lbf/in2. We have assumed this
should read 1000 lbf/in2 (6.9 MPa). Also, Fig. 10 does
not show a speed but I assume this is 3000 rev/min.
B. 0. Helgestad Kongsberg, Norway, K. Foster
Fellow and F. K. Bannister Fellow (Authors)
Replying to D. E. Bowns and D. McCandish, we agree
first of all that conditions on the suction side of the
pump are less controlled than on the pressure side, so
agreement between theory and experiment for the
pressure pulsation in the input line is less good. Never-
theless, prediction of pressure transients in a cylinder
coming on to suction is still good and, in particular,
prediction of possible cavitation is valuable.
Whether one considers the paper to present a method
of calculation or merely an understanding of the be-
haviour of an existing pump, it is still true that solution of
the equations listed can give a good first-assessment of
pressure transients in an axial piston unit. At the time
of writing the paper, the only unit for which sufficient
experimental information was available was that for
which the results were presented. One has to start some-
where! More recently, the method has been applied to a
totally different unit, and the results have proved useful
design-aids even without accurate leakage data. The
reason is that, whilst leakage is important, it is not totally
dominant: for example, if the port opens suddenly to
high pressure at b.d.c., the rate at which flow rushes into
the piston is much greater than flow due to leakage. At
the other extreme, one might consider port timing to give
full precompression. In this case a simple way of viewing
the effect of leakage is to say that the compressibility loss
in a pump is typically some 2 per cent with leakage some-
what higher. But whereas the compression loss for one
piston occurs within perhaps half a piston pitch of rota-
tion, the leakage is spread over half a revolution and is
therefore bound to be a somewaht lower effect.
Nevertheless, we agree that design information should
be less empirical. In a separate project at Birmingham
we have, for the last five years, been developing a better
prediction of the conditions at the port-plate/cylinder-
block interface. The distortions of casing and of shaft
with cylinder block are calculated in order to derive the
tilt of the block against the port plate. This allows the
hydrodynamic forces on the block to be calculated,
which in turn modifies the conditions of equilibrium. An
iterative procedure gives a reasonable prediction of tilt
and film thickness and this, in turn, allows a better
estimate of local leakage around the port plate. The
results are now being fed back into the calculation of
pressure transients.
The problem of slipper behaviour is much more
complex and, though we appreciate the value of the
information in the paper by Royle and Raizada (2) we
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have not yet been able to make use of it. The problem
lies in determining the actual tilt of the slipper under
running conditions. Friction at the ball-joints is likely to
create a dominant moment whence, under real condi-
tions, slipper and piston will rotate. The resulting
motion appears difficult to predict. Some attempt is
being made at present to instrument a pump in order
to obtain practical data on this point, but we would,
certainly welcome any other information.
This proposed instrumentation will also shed some
light on the possible instantaneous excursion of the
slipper from the cam plate at the start of the suction
stroke, which we agree requires confirmation. We point
out in the paper that, if rather narrow silencing grooves
are employed, there is always the possibility of cavitation
in the slipper recess at this point in the rotation, and that
if it were not for the auxiliary cam plate, piston and
slipper could be predicted to move a good distance off
the swashplate-in other words, the inertia effects are
considerable. Nevertheless, this was an extreme case
unlikely to be met in practice.
The contributors quote from Zaichenko and Bolty-
anskii (3) and go on to say that a small underlap allows
the rate of pressure rise to be controlled to any given
values and there is no tendency to cavitate. This simply is
not true. The purpose of the groove is to restrict the flow
into the cylinder due to compression or decompression
of the oil at the beginning of the pressure stroke or suc-
tion stroke respectively. Under these conditions, the full
system pressure is available to drive oil through the
groove, whereas at the end of the suction or pressure
ports, the pressure in the kidney port is substantially the
same as in the cylinder. Thus the pressure differences
are not symmetrical and no arrangement of symmetrical
ports can, whether with underlap or overlap, satisfy all
conditions. To be specific, if a groove is used with an
area so small that the rate of pressure rise during a
transient is limited almost to the ideal value, the restric-
tion will be too great at the end of the suction port, and
cavitation will occur. If a groove is used that gives a linear
change of area with rotation, the size can be easily
calculated to avoid cavitation. We chose a parallel slot
(rather than a wedge) to give this characteristic and the
results in Fig. 10 illustrate the point. The parallel slot is
designed to just avoid cavitation if direction of rotation
is reserved, and curve B shows that the maximum rate
of pressure rise is somewhat higher than for the tri-
angular slot which was not designed to avoid cavitation,
and higher than the ideal precompression which is only
to be used for undirection pumps. In addition, the use
of underlap worsens the output flow ripple and also the
efficiency of the pump unit, so we cannot recommend it.
We thank D. E. Browns and D. McCandish for raising
a number of useful points and agree that similar argu-
ments apply to the porting of other types of positive
displacement pump.
C . M. Edghill’s easily handled empirical equation is
interesting. We had not discounted such an idea, but so
far had not found a simple analytical expression that
would deal with a wide range of cases. However, one can
appreciate the value of producing an expression in which
the constants can be determined experimentally for a
given pump geometry and a certain range of operating
conditions.
@ Proc lnstn Mech Engrs 1974
 PRESSURE TRANSIENTS IN A N AXIAL PISTON HYDRAULIC PUMP D35

To comment specifically on the form of expression
used, one could observe that the peak pressure in the
cylinder is a function of the compression of oil in the
cylinder and pressure drop across the silencing groove.
Thus, for a given geometry, peak pressure would primarily
be a function of swashplate angle, rotational speed and
system pressure. Therefore, if a linearized equation of
the type suggested were generally possible, we would
expect it to include an additional team consisting of a
coefficient x swashplate angle.

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