Modeling Noise Sources and Propagation in External Gear Pumps

As a key component in power transfer, positive displacement machines often represent the major source of noise in hydraulic systems. Thus, investigation into the sources of noise and discovering strategies to reduce noise is a key part of improving the performance of current hydraulic systems, as well as applying fluid power systems to a wider range of applications. The present work aims at developing modeling techniques on the topic of noise generation caused by external gear pumps for high pressure applications, which can be useful and effective in investigating the interaction between noise sources and radiated noise and establishing the design guide for a quiet pump. In particular, this study classifies the internal noise sources into four types of effective load functions and, in the proposed model, these load functions are applied to the corresponding areas of the pump case in a realistic way. Vibration and sound radiation can then be predicted using a combined finite element and boundary element vibro-acoustic model. The radiated sound power and sound pressure for the different operating conditions are presented as the main outcomes of the acoustic model. The noise prediction was validated through comparison with the experimentally measured sound power levels.