Models for Flow Rate Simulation in Gear Pumps: A Review

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.