Abstract
As a core power component, aviation piston pumps are widely used in aircraft hydraulic systems. The piston pump’s power-to-weight ratio is extremely crucial in the aviation industry, and the “ceiling effect” of the PV value (product of compressive stress and linear velocity) limits the piston pump’s ability to increase working pressure. Therefore, increasing the piston pump’s speed has been a real breakthrough in terms of further enhancing the power-to-weight ratio. However, the piston pump’s design faces several challenges under the extreme operating conditions at high speeds. This study reviews several problems aviation axial piston pumps face under high-speed operating conditions, including friction loss, cavitation, cylinder overturning, flow pressure pulsation, and noise. It provides a detailed description of the research state of the art of these problems and potential solutions. The axial piston pump’s inherent sliding friction pair, according to the report, considerably restricts further increasing of its speed and power-to-weight ratio. With its mature technology and deep research base, the axial piston pump will continue to dominate the aviation pumps. Furthermore, breaking the limitation of the sliding friction pair on speed and power density, thus innovating a novel structure of the piston pump, is also crucial. Therefore, this study also elaborates on the working principle and development process of the two-dimensional (2D) piston pump, which is a representative of current high-speed pump structure innovation.
Highlights
The axial piston pump fits the development and application needs of airborne hydraulic power sources that require high power-toweight ratio owing to its compact structure, high pressure, high speed, and large flowrate
The demands for high speed and high power-to-weight ratio of aviation piston pumps are in conflict with the existing techniques of suppressing cavitation; it is difficult to achieve them in the short term
The method to reduce the pulsation of the piston pump is mainly to optimize the structural parameters of the pump and add a pressure pulsation attenuator. The former increases the manufacturing difficulty and processing cost, while the latter increases the weight of the piston pump, which is inconsistent with the inherent demand of the high power-to-weight ratio of the aviation piston pump
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. The axial piston pump fits the development and application needs of airborne hydraulic power sources that require high power-toweight ratio owing to its compact structure, high pressure, high speed, and large flowrate. It is widely used in aircraft hydraulic systems. This article reviews several technical challenges that aviation piston pumps endure at high speeds, including friction loss, cavitation, cylinder overturning, flow pressure pulsation, and noise. It describes the current research status of global scholars in these fields and summarizes the potential solutions to these challenges. The working principle and development process of a typical two-dimensional piston pump in the existing high-speed pump structure innovation are elaborated
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