Effect of groove configurations on noise characteristics in piston pump

A new method was proposed to investigate the effect of relief groove configurations on pump noise. The relief groove in piston pump was mapped to the notch on spool valve, so the cavitation noise of groove could be investigated separately. The pressure distributions and noise signals in two typical configurations of groove were measured, one groove with increasing sectional area (V groove), the other with constant sectional area (U groove). The experimental results of pressure distribution were validated by the numerical data obtained with the Fluent code. The results show that the noise characteristics of the groove are directly related to the pattern of the pressure distributions in the groove. The V groove shows a pattern of pressure distribution that causes a lot of bubbles and induces severe cavitation noise, while the U groove shows very good performance in restraining the formation of bubbles.