In the list of potential technologies to reduce the power consumption of an automotive IC engine, variable displacement oil pumps (VDOP) are a recently developed cost efficient option. This paper deals with VDOP reliability evaluation. It is focused on the contact between vane and control ring which is one of the most critical points in this kind of application.
Goal of the paper is the validation of a simulation model for the description of damaging phenomenon occurred in an aggressive durability test. A simplified dynamic multibody model was initially not able to reply the damaging phenomenon. The model has been more and more refined with subsequent steps of complexity until a good correlation with experimental evidence has been reached.
The overall dynamic of the pump is strongly affected by the hydraulic pressures of internal chambers. 1-D fluid-dynamic simulations are carried out with a set of simulation parameters in order to reply the hydraulic performance and as consequence the hydraulic loads.
This paper describes the evolution of both rigid body model and fluid model used for the calculation of internal loads best fitting the experimental evidences.