Abstract
Electro-hydrostatic actuators (EHA) offer highperformance hydraulic control while featuring a range of advantages compared to classic valve-controlled actuation. They are highly efficient, modular, power-by-wire actuators thus enabling the design of efficient hydroelectric drives urgently needed for the electrification of hydraulic machinery. EHAs are therefore steadily replacing valve-controlled actuators in many applications. However, in some cases, the robustness of the existing EHA systems has proven to be insufficient for their respective applications. Especially pumps are known to limit the service life of EHAs. [1]
A very commonly used pump type here is the axial piston pump. The robustness of its hydrostatically partially balanced contacts has proven to be particularly challenging under the variable load conditions typically arising in EHA applications. [1], [12], [13]
This contribution aims at the description of the relevant wear effects on the slipper-swashplate contact under variable load conditions as well as the impact of the wear on the load-carrying capabilities of the slipper contact. For this, occurring wear is experimentally identified on component-level tests. A simulative elastohydrodynamic lubrication study of the slipper-swashplate contact allows the identification of the wear progress as well as a study of the influence of existing wear profiles on the slipper behavior.
