Novel three-piston pump design for a slipper test rig

Slipper's micro motions including the squeezing motion, spinning motion, and tilting motion have a significant impact on its lubricating condition and dynamic behavior. However, few experimental studies are on these micro motions within a real axial piston pump, especially the slipper's spinning motion. The experimental investigations on the slipper in the past mainly focused on the parameters of the oil film such as pressure, thickness, and temperature. The sensors were often installed in the fixed swash plate when the cylinder block was chosen to rotate. Alternatively, the sensors were mounted in the fixed modified slipper when the swash plate rotated. The biggest challenge of the direct measurements of these micro motions is the space limitation for the sensor installation due to the compact structure of axial piston pumps as well as the slipper's macro motion. This paper presents a new three-piston pump for the slipper test rig which can provide enough installation space for the sensor. To realize the cylinder block balance, a hold-down plate is first introduced into this three-piston pump. In addition, a detailed set of relevant equations is derived to evaluate the functionality of the hold-down plate. Finally, the slipper's spinning motion was measured directly and continuously using this three-piston pump, which confirmed the capability of the slipper test rig.