Experimental study on the pressure distribution of piston/cylinder lubricating interface based on time domain location method.

• A novel pressure distribution testing method of piston/cylinder interface. • A piston pump test rig has been set up. • Experimental investigations are conducted and a hydrodynamic lubrication model is developed. • The experimental results closely match the numerical simulations. The piston/cylinder lubricating interface is one of the most critical components in piston pumps. The characteristics of the interface, such as pressure distribution, leakage flow and viscous friction, etc., have significant effect on the performance of the piston pump. Previous experiments obtained data distribution by installing pressure sensors on a fixed cylinder block. However, too many measurement points on the cylinder block may disrupt the lubricating film; insufficient measurement points will result in incomplete oil film pressure distribution. This paper presents a novel time domain location testing method which a measuring point is placed on each cylinder surface as a time-domain calibration reference, enabling the acquisition of the pressure distribution over one shaft revolution. Real-time pressure between the piston and cylinder is measured under various operating conditions. Further research results show that the pressure distribution obtained through this method exhibits a high degree of conformity with the simulation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]