A Novel Axial Piston Pump/Motor Principle With Floating Pistons: Design and Testing

This paper presents the first prototype of a novel axial piston pump/motor of slipper type. The pistons are floating in the cylinders and hence the name floating piston pump. The novel pump design fills a gap in the traditional pump design. The pump is made to fit the automobile requirements to use fluid power in a more prominent manner. One of the expected benefits of this design is its simplicity and therefore the machine does not require high manufacturing capabilities. The production cost is expected to be low. The machine is designed with high number of pistons, which leads to a pump/motor with low noise level. The displacement angle is small, 8 degrees, which leads to low piston speeds with its benefits. The main challenge in the design is the piston seal configuration. The seals will both, deform (ovality) and move in a circle relative to the pistons. The paper discusses design considerations and proposes a design. The efficiency measurement of the first prototype is in level of a series produced slipper type machine at its sweet spot.