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The Fourteenth Scandinavian International Conference on Fluid Power, May 20-22, 2015, Tampere, Finland

GENERAL RULES FOR THE DESIGN


OF EFFICIENT HYDROSTATIC MACHINES
Peter A.J. Achten
Innas
Nikkelstr. 15, 4823 AE Breda, the Netherlands
pachten@innas.com

ABSTRACT
Current pumps and motors have already passed their expiration date. Especially the manufacturing costs
and the energy efficiency dont meet up to todays market demands. New pumps and motors should already
have replaced the current inadequate designs, if only the industry would have developed such alternative
solutions. This paper not only calls for such an innovation, it also outlines the guidelines for efficient, heavyduty hydrostatic principles:
Avoid lateral loads in sliding interfaces;
Avoid high bearing loads;
Avoid piston rings;
Avoid wide seal lands;
Avoid high velocities in sliding interfaces;
Avoid the risk for cavitation;
Avoid large dead volumes;
Avoid complicated tolerance chains and kinematic conflicts;
Reduce the barrel spring force;
Reduce the losses of the displacement control in variable displacement pumps and motors.
The company who succeeds in such an innovation has the opportunity to strengthen its own market position,
but more importantly, will also be able to open entirely new markets for hydraulic applications.
KEYWORDS:

Design rules, efficiency, heavy duty, pump, motor

1. THE IMPORTANCE OF EFFICIENCY


For many years, efficiency has not been a major topic in the hydraulic industry. Productivity was the prime
requirement: hydraulic systems were favoured because they offered robustness in conditions that no other
technology could endure. But this has changed. Without sacrificing the durability, reliability, power density
and other productivity demands, the market today demands energy efficiency. Obviously, losses result in
higher cost of ownership. Table 1 gives a simple example of a small application, in which an average power
loss of only 20% results in an increased fuel consumption of several thousands litres of fuel per year. The
annual cost of this extra consumption is often higher than the initial investment costs of the pump itself.

Table 1. Example of the effect of pump losses on the fuel consumption

Average pump input power and efficiency:


Average loss:
Annual operation time:
Annual pump losses:
Average engine efficiency:
Fuel consumption related to pump losses:
Diesel fuel:
Fuel consumption related to pump losses:

50 kW at 80% average efficiency


20% i.e. 10 kW
1000 hours/year
10 000 kWh/year
33%
30 000 kWh/year = 108 GJ/year
28 liter/GJ
3024 liter/year

In addition, losses increase the oil temperature and therefore the cost and the size of coolers. Friction losses
are also often related to wear: severe friction in sliding interfaces generally reduces the durability and
reliability. Furthermore, friction losses limit the operation at low operational speeds. To overcome the torque
losses during start-up, the displacement of the motor needs to be increased, which results in strong part-load
operation at normal operating speeds. Stick-slip also results in a strong non-linear behaviour of pumps when
being operated at close to zero operating speeds, thereby resulting in restrained controllability. Volumetric
losses, on the other hand, result in creeping movements with hanging loads, which is often undesirable. The
reduction of losses in hydrostatic machines is therefore, without doubt, one of the most important design
criteria for modern machines.
This paper describes a number of guidelines for the design of efficient hydrostatic pumps and motors. The
paper is limited to heavy-duty machines, which can be operated at high-pressure levels of 350 bar and
above.
Before discussing these guidelines, it should be noted that current definitions and standards for efficiency
are confusing and often even misleading. In the literature, the efficiency is mostly split into hydraulicmechanical and volumetric efficiencies [1]. But these definitions do not give a correct representation of the
real volumetric losses (i.e. leakage) and the real friction losses, which makes it difficult to get a proper
understanding of the losses. It is, for instance, nearly impossible to decide whether the losses, which occur
in the silencing grooves during commutation, should be referred to as volumetric losses or flow resistance
losses i.e. friction related losses. In this paper, these definitions are therefore not used.
Furthermore, the current standards for efficiency measurements of hydrostatic machines, like the ISO4409
[2], do not take the losses of the control system of variable displacement machines into account. There is
almost no literature about the effect of the control system on the overall pump or motor efficiency. This is
most curious, since variable displacement pumps and motors always need to be controlled in some way or
the other, and the losses related to the control valves, control pistons and others should be included in the
efficiency measurements in order to get a correct understanding of the actual losses of variable
displacement pumps and motors in real applications.

2. EVERYTHING CHANGES AT HIGH PRESSURES


According to Dias [4], only 2% of the most common sources of hydraulic pump failures are related to the
pump design itself. Most failures (80%) are due to mistakes in operation and maintenance (Table 2).

Table 2. Most common sources of hydraulic pump failures [4]

Source

Failure
frequency

Design

2%

Manufacture

6%

Installation

12%

Operation and maintenance

80%

However, for heavy-duty machines, which operate at high pressure levels, the risk for design failures is much
higher:
Higher pressure loads result in stronger deformations of components, both overall and local;
The throttle losses are higher at high pressures, which influences the oil temperature, and thus the
viscosity of oil in sealing and bearing gaps;
The viscosity is pressure dependent, which has a strong effect on the pressure profile in the sealing
and bearing gaps;
These previous three effects make it more difficult to achieve a correct hydrostatic balance of the
sliding interfaces. Any unbalance will result in higher contact forces, due to the higher pressure
levels, and thus in increased friction and wear;
Smaller gap heights are required in order to maintain a low leakage at high pressures. This makes
the construction more vulnerable to abrasion due to debris carried by the oil flow;
The amplitude and variation of the load acting on the roller bearings and the swash plate bearings of
variable displacement pumps is larger, which increases the risk for spalling [3], brinelling (impact
deformation) and scuffing or galling [4];
The load on the drive shaft creates a deformation, which can increase the inclination of the inner
rings of the roller bearings. This reduces the lifetime of the bearings.
At high pressure levels, many design aspects that could be neglected before, suddenly become key
parameters. The first parameter to consider is deformation. All hydrostatic principles have sliding contact
areas, which can only function if the construction is hydrostatically or hydrodynamically compensated. The oil
film in between the sealing and bearing areas, has a gap height which is mostly below 10 m. Any
deformation of the components facing these oil films, results in a change of the pressure profile in the gaps,
and thus in the bearing and sealing capacity of the contact area. Even without any general bending or
distortion of the components, the local compression of the material itself will already cause a different gap
profile. As an example, a steel component, having a bulk modulus of 160 GPa, compresses 0,03% at a
pressure of 500 bar. This may not seem much, but for a component with a thickness of 1 cm, a compression
of 0,03% equals a deformation of 3 m. This is in the same order of magnitude as the gap height itself. In
most pump designs, the deformation will even be larger, due to general distortion of the components. Figure
1 shows, as an example, the axial deformation of a valve plate at a pressure load of 350 bar [5]. The figure
shows the combined deformation of the valve plate and the underlying housing, which carries and supports
the valve plate. Combined with the additional deformation of the cylinder barrel, the gap height variation due
to deformation can amount to 12 m at 350 bar.

Figure 1. Axial deformation in m of a port plate (p = 350 bar) [5]

Another key parameter for designing heavy-duty pumps and motors is the dynamic viscosity of the oil, which
can change to a large extend while passing the sealing gap. The viscosity is both temperature and pressure
dependent. At 500 bar, the dynamic oil viscosity is 2 to 3 times as viscous, compared to oil at atmospheric
conditions. In addition, the oil heats up while passing the gap due to throttling effects (the gap acts as a
resistance). In case of a relative movement between the contact areas, for instance between the rotating
barrel of an axial piston pump and the stationary valve plate, the viscous and (potential) coulomb friction will
further heat up the oil in the gap, thereby reducing viscosity of the oil even more while the oil passes the gap.
A pressure drop of 500 bar, combined with a temperature increase of the oil in the gap of 20C, result in a
viscosity increase by a factor of five during the passage of the oil through the gap [6].
The change of viscosity has a strong effect on the pressure profile in the gap, and therefore also on the
bearing and sealing capacity of the sliding contact areas in hydrostatic pumps. All these effects are pressure
dependent and become more important (and difficult to handle) at high oil pressures. In addition there is the
thermal expansion, which can especially be large in areas where poor lubrication conditions cause more
friction, and therefore create a (local) temperature increase [7].
The complex relationship between the design parameters, the operating conditions, and the
elastohydrodynamic (EHD) lubrication is still not completely understood. A pump has to work in a large range
of operating conditions (pressures, rotational speeds, temperatures, swash angles): a specific design needs
to fulfil all demands in all of the relevant and required operating pressures, speeds, displacements and
temperatures. If, for instance also at low operating speeds, high torque losses due to friction need to be
avoided, then it is no longer possible to rely on hydrodynamic lubrication. In that case, a hydrostatic solution
needs to be found or the lateral forces need to be strongly reduced. The designer has the task to find
solutions, which functions at all required operating conditions. Furthermore, the solution needs to be robust,
despite inevitable production tolerances and component wear.

3. CONTROL OF VARIABLE DISPLACEMENT MACHINES


Variable displacement, heavy-duty pumps and motors are, without exception, axial piston or radial piston
designs. The displacement is varied by means of changing the eccentricity in radial piston machines, or the
swash angle in axial piston designs. An exception is the Digital Displacement principle [9] in which the
displacement is changed and controlled by means of solenoid-activated valves for the commutation.

In most variable displacement pumps and motors, the displacement is controlled by means of a hydraulic
system, often consisting of an actuator piston and a valve system to set and control the pressure in the
actuator cylinder. There are many types of control valves, but, in a simplified representation, the control can
be regarded as a simple pressure divider (see Figure 2) in which the resistance R1 represents the control
valve itself.

Figure 2. Control of a variable displacement slipper-type pump [11]


Due to the limited numbers of pistons, the pistons create a varying torque load on the swash plate, which
results in an oscillation of the swash plate [11], [12]. The oscillation is counteracted by the pressure variation
in the control piston, i.e. by the damping action of resistances R1 and R2. The dissipation in the resistances,
and the leakage flow of the pressure divider, both have a detrimental effect on the efficiency. Other optional
control valves, like the flow control, create substantial, additional losses.
These losses have a significant effect on the total efficiency. The leakage of the control system can be
several litres per minute [13]. Bosch Rexroth mentions a fluid consumption of up to 4.5 l/min, also for
relatively small variable displacement pumps [14]. Especially at low rotational speeds and small
displacements, the influence of the control system on the efficiency can be dominant.
More research on the effects of the control system is urgently needed. For the designer, it is the task to
design a control system, which avoids or, at least, minimizes the losses of the control system.

4. THE INFLUENCE OF THE ROTATIONAL SPEED


Many losses in hydrostatic machines are related to the rotational speed:
At higher speeds, the risk for cavitation increases. A charge pump can be used and mounted to the
main pump to overcome cavitation, but the charge pump will reduce the overall efficiency of the
combination of main pump and charge pump. The charge pump is also used in closed circuits for
compensating for the fluid compressibility, for replenishing hydraulic fluid that is lost due to leakage
and for auxiliary functions and cooling [13]. Charge pumps are constant displacement pumps, which
are dimensioned for worst cases, especially for maximum cooling demands. A low pump and motor

efficiency requires a larger cooling system (having more flow resistance) and a larger charge pump.
This will further deteriorate the efficiency of the total system, but the basis is the often, poor
efficiency of the pumps and motors.
Higher rotational speeds result in increased flow losses, churning losses and flow impulse losses.
High rotational speeds also increase the risk for tipping of the cylinder barrel of axial piston pumps
and motors. In axial piston machines, the centrifugal forces of the pistons create a tipping torque on
the cylinder barrel [15] (Manring). The friction between the pistons and the cylinders further
increases the tipping torque. To counteract the total tipping torque, a spring is mounted to prevent
the barrel from tipping. The spring force creates an additional load on the sliding contact area
between the cylinder barrel and the valve plate. This additional load results in extra friction. Once a
certain spring is chosen, the spring force and the related friction are always there, also at low
operating speeds and low pressure levels, when a high spring force is not needed.
All of these factors are important at high rotational speeds. But efficiency is also a concern at low operating
speeds. Hydraulic motors often suffer from stick-slip effects at low rotational speeds when mixed-lubrication
and coulomb friction become dominant. As a result, the torque capacity is reduced at start-up and
breakaway conditions, sometimes as much as 40% [16]. In addition, the torque is further reduced as a result
of the limited number of pistons, which causes a variation of the drive torque. The reduction of the torque
forces designers of hydraulic transmissions to compensate for these losses by oversizing the motors. As a
consequence, the motors are often driven in part load conditions, and therefore reduced efficiency, as soon
as the stick-slip effects have overcome.
Stick-slip is also detrimental for electro-hydraulic actuators, in which a speed-controlled electric motor is
driving a constant displacement pump. The Stribeck-effects cause a strong non-linear behaviour of the
control of these actuators [17]. Furthermore, these units are often driven at low rotational speeds. The
increased friction and the often relatively high leakage losses strongly reduce the operating efficiency at
these conditions.
Leakage is also a concern for holding a load at near zero speed conditions or when a complete standstill is
required. Volumetric losses in hydraulic motors will then result in creeping movement, which is extremely
undesirable in many applications.

5. WHAT TO DO?
Hydrostatic machines are not restricted in their efficiency by thermodynamic limitations, unlike for instance
thermal engines, for which the efficiency is restrained by Carnots theorem. In principle, the efficiency can
approach 100%. Hydrostatic machines are comparable to gear transmissions, in which one form of
mechanical power is transformed to another (hydraulic power can be considered as a form of mechanical
power). Yet, the peak efficiency of hydraulic pumps and motors is around 90% for most axial piston pumps
and motors [18]. This is the overall efficiency in the best point, without the losses of the control system. In
reality, the average real world efficiency is much lower.
This paragraph describes a number of design guidelines for the design of efficient hydrostatic machines. The
guidelines are meant for designers who need to develop a new (heavy duty) hydrostatic principle:
Avoid lateral loads in sliding interfaces;
Avoid high bearing loads;
Avoid piston rings;
Avoid wide seal lands;
Avoid high velocities in sliding interfaces;
Avoid the risk for cavitation;
Avoid large dead volumes;
Avoid complicated tolerance chains and kinematic conflicts;

Reduce the barrel spring force;


Reduce the losses of the displacement control

5.1.

Avoid lateral loads in sliding interfaces.

In slipper type pumps and motors, the full hydrostatic power is transferred via the sliding contacts between
the pistons and the cylinders. In addition, the centrifugal forces often create an additional side load between
the piston and the cylinder. These lateral forces result in high friction losses and wear. Large friction forces
also increase the tipping torque of the cylinder barrel. In order to prevent the barrel from tipping, a relatively
strong axial force is needed in the contact between the barrel and the valve plate. This further reduces the
efficiency.

Figure 3. Slipper type (swash plate) principle (left) and bent axis principle (right). The red arrows show the
principle hydrostatic piston force. The blue arrows show the resulting lateral reaction forces.

In other designs, the lateral loads in sliding interfaces are avoided or strongly reduced. In bent axis
machines, the pistons directly drive the shaft. The slightly tilted position of the pistons and the piston rings
still create some friction in the contact between the piston and the cylinder, but this is smaller than the friction
caused by the slipper type principle. Other examples, in which lateral forces in the sliding contact areas are
(in principle) avoided, are the Digital Displacement principle from Artemis IP [9], the RAC-principle from Dr.
Berbuer [8], and the Floating Cup principle [10] from Innas.

5.2.

Avoid high bearing loads

The friction of rolling bearings is almost negligible if the bearings are small and only have to carry a minor
load. The bent axis design is a clear example where this guideline has not been followed. The complete
hydrostatic force of all pistons is acting on the main bearing, thereby creating a strong axial and radial
bearing load. This again results in large bearings having a large diameter. The heavy load combined with the
large bearing diameter results in relatively high losses and cooling issues [20].
The slipper type machine avoids strong axial loads on the roller bearings of the main drive shaft. The
hydrostatic force from each piston is counteracted by the slipper and by the contact between the piston and
the cylinder (thereby creating another friction loss; see the previous paragraph). The balancing principle is
also applied in double, mirrored construction of the Floating Cup principle.

Figure 4. Mirrored, balanced construction of the Floating Cup principle

5.3.

Avoid piston rings

In many piston machines, the piston has a line contact with the cylinder. In these machines, piston rings are
generally used as a sealing element.
Piston rings are needed as a flexible sealing element, if the deformation of the cylinders is not rotational
symmetric. Figure 5 shows, as an example, the result of a FEM analysis of the barrel of a 45 cc bent axis
pump at a pressure level of 350 bar. The four plots show the (magnified) radial deformation of the cylinder at
four different positions of the pistons (i.e. the sealing line of the piston rings). The analysis indicates that, in
such a construction, the deformation is not rotational symmetrical. This is for a part due to the construction of
the barrel itself. But also the pressurized neighbouring cylinders have a strong effect on the deformation.
Furthermore, the deformation varies, depending on the piston position. In these constructions, only piston
rings can be used to follow the unpredictable and variable deformation of the cylinders.

Figure 5. FEA of the cylinder barrel of a 45cc bent axis pump at 350 bar. The figures show the radial
deformation at the sealing line of the piston relative to the original perfect circles, of 4 cylinders at different
piston positions x (defined relative to the bottom dead centre).

Piston rings do not have a complete hydrostatic balance. The unbalance helps to pressurise the piston ring
against the cylinder wall, thereby closing the gap between the circumference of the ring and the cylinder. But

the unbalance also results in friction losses. In addition, the expansion of the piston ring results in a gap of
the piston ring slot being opened and leakage occurs [21]. The leakage often increases due to wear.
Piston rings can be avoided if both the piston and the cylinder have the same predictable expansion due to
pressure loads and thermal expansion. In order to match the expansion of the piston and the cylinder, the
piston head must have a cavity. The pressure forces can then expand the piston head to match the
expansion of the cylinder. Since the expansion of the piston will be equal in all, radial directions, the cylinder
must have a rotational symmetrical expansion as well. Because of this, the cylinders must be isolated from
the barrel: each piston must have its own cylindrically shaped cylinder, completely isolated from the pressure
load of the neighbouring cylinders. This concept is applied in the Floating Cup principle.

5.4.

Avoid wide seal lands

Due to the uncertainties related to the pressure profile in the sealing gaps, it is advantageous to reduce the
sealing areas to a minimum. Figure 6 shows two situations, one with wide seal lands, and one with narrow
seal lands. In both cases a hydrostatic balanced construction can be calculated assuming a linear pressure
drop in the gap. For the construction with wide seal lands, the pressure in the sealing areas has a much
larger contribution than the sealing (and pressure balancing) areas with narrow seal lands. Due to the factors
mentioned before in paragraph 2, the pressure profile in the gap will not be linear. Any deviation from the
assumed profile will cause a mismatch. This is true for both situations show in Figure 5. The consequences
are however much smaller for the construction having narrow seal lands.

Figure 6. Pressure profiles for two hydrostatically balanced constructions, one with wide seal lands (left) and
one with narrow seal lands (right).

It could be argued, that a wide seal land offers a better sealing function and, thus, reduces the volumetric
losses. But the gap height has a much stronger influence on the leakage than the width of the seal land, and
the leakage will predominantly be determined by the part of the seal land, which has the smallest gap height.

5.5.

Avoid high velocities in sliding interfaces

The viscous friction represents another group of energy dissipation. Viscous friction losses are related to the
size of the contact areas, the (non-uniform) gap heights, the oil viscosity and the sliding velocities. Slipper
type machines are characterised by large contact areas, being operated at high sliding velocities: between
the pistons and the cylinders, between the barrel and the port plate and between the slippers and the swash
plate. Due to the relatively large radius of the piston pitch circle of these machines, the sliding velocities are
often high.

The Floating Cup principle has a similar disadvantage. Due to the large number of pistons and the small tilt
angle of the barrels, the pistons in the Floating Cup principle run on a relatively large pitch circle. As a result,
the barrel ports are also running at a relatively high velocity. The situation is even worsened by the double,
mirrored design, in which two barrels are running on two port plates. A solution has been found in the
application of a special design of the seal lands of the barrels [22]. In addition, the Floating Cup principle
hardly has any losses between the pistons and the (cuplike) cylinders.
The viscous losses are strongly related to the gap height: a narrow gap results in high viscous losses. A
large gap height, on the other hand, results in high leakage. In reality, gaps do not have a constant gap
height. Due to deformation and tilting, the gap heights vary strongly across the sealing areas. In most cases
there will be spots where the gap height is very small, and high viscous losses occur, whereas on other
places of the same gap, the gap height is relatively large, having a high leakage as a consequence. It is the
task of the designer to find a bearing and sealing construction, which creates a more or less constant gap
height, and which offers a good resistance against torque and force loads acting on the moving parts.

5.6.

Avoid the risk for cavitation

The flow resistance of the low-pressure lines, up to the cylinders of the rotating barrel, causes a throttle loss,
which directly influences the efficiency. But the flow resistance also increases the risk for cavitation. In order
to avoid cavitation, it could be necessary to pre-charge the supply side. The charge pump will then create
additional losses, especially since its (constant) displacement cannot be matched with the variable
displacement of the main pump.

Figure 7. The port opening areas of the barrel a slipper type pump compared to the port opening areas of the
two barrels of a Floating Cup pump, having the same displacement

To avoid or to at least reduce the need for pre-charging, the resistance of the supply lines needs to be
reduced to a minimum. Aside from having large flow areas (which is not possible if the supply side is not
predefined), it is also advantageous to increase the number of pistons and reduce the piston stroke. A short
piston stroke increases the piston area and often also the port opening area of the cylinder barrel. The short
stroke also reduces the piston acceleration, and thus the required pressure for accelerating the oil column to

feed the cylinder during the suction stroke. The application of more pistons furthermore increases the total
opening area of the barrel ports.
A bent axis pump performs worst in this respect. The number of pistons is smaller, and, due to the large
swash angle, the stroke length is rather large compared to the piston diameter. The floating cup principle is
on the other end of the design spectrum. It features a large number of pistons, which results in a large
opening area of the barrel ports (see Figure 7).

5.7.

Avoid large dead volumes

In positive displacement machines, the displacement chambers need to switch between the high and lowpressure lines. Every time, this switching or commutation occurs, the oil volume in the displacement chamber
needs to be compressed and expanded, in an alternating way. In theory, the oil volume can be pressurised
and depressurised without any losses, by using the movement of a piston (creating a certain volume change
V) to create the required pressure change ( p). In reality, the bulk modulus of the oil varies too much and is
too uncertain to allow for such a construction. Moreover, the required volume change ( V) varies with the
operating conditions, i.e. the operating speed, pressure, displacement and even temperature.
In most hydrostatic pumps and motors, pressure relief or silencing grooves are used to soften the
commutation. The throttle losses, which are a result of this commutation, are dependent on the volume of the
displacement chamber during commutation. Part of this volume (the dead volume) does not contribute to the
actual displacement, but nevertheless needs to be compressed and expanded as well for each commutation
event. Depending on the design of the hydrostatic machine, this dead volume can be large or small. Large
dead volumes, however, result in significant losses.
Slipper type pumps often have large dead volumes (Figure 7). The pistons have a large axial bore, which
helps to reduce the centrifugal forces of the pistons. This results in lower friction forces between the pistons
and the cylinders, and in a reduction of the tipping torque load on the cylinder barrel (paragraph 5.9), but it
also increases the dead volume, and the related compression and expansion losses.

Figure 8. Dead volume in a slipper type pump

5.8.

Avoid complicated tolerance chains and kinematic conflicts

Complicated tolerance chains and narrow tolerances not only increase the manufacturing cost; they also
increase the risk for kinematic conflicts due to deformation of the components because of pressure loads
and thermal expansion. Once a kinematic conflict occurs, it results in a strong increase of both friction and
wear. Wear can further deteriorate the gap profile of sliding contacts, thereby destroying the hydrostatic
balance, and thus, further increasing wear and friction. Friction will also cause local heat generation and
thermal deformation, which can additionally worsen the situation.
It is strongly recommended to avoid constructions were the components are interlocked and cannot position
themselves. A clear example of a problematic design is the gerotor principle in which a multi-lobbed inner
gear is positioned inside an outer gear. On each tooth pair, a sealing line needs to be established, which
makes the construction undefined. Better design examples are the axial piston machines, in which the barrel
is free to find its position on the valve plate.

5.9.

Reduce the barrel spring force

In axial piston designs, the barrel spring needs to be strong enough to avoid tipping of the barrel due to the
combined action of centrifugal forces and piston friction. The barrel spring however increases the friction
between the barrel and the port plate, and it is therefore important to reduce this force by means of reducing
the piston friction (see paragraph 5.1), and by reducing the centrifugal forces of the pistons. Bent axis motors
are better fitted for high rotational speeds than slipper type motors, largely due to the lower centrifugal forces
of the pistons acting on the barrel. In the floating cup principle, the pistons are press-fitted into the rotor and
are therefore unable to create a tipping torque. Instead, the centrifugal forces of cups will create a torque
load on the barrel. However, this effect is rather small, due to the low weight of the cups and the short cup
stroke.

5.10. Reduce the losses of the displacement control


For variable displacement pumps and motors it is imperative to reduce the losses off the system, which
varies and controls the effective displacement. There is hardly any research being published about this topic.
Nevertheless, there are sufficient indications that pump and motor control systems are the cause of
significant losses, often more than all the previous losses together. More research in this area is urgently
needed.

6.

THE DEMANDING MARKET

The market favours improvements. It is willing to buy a new technology, if the new technology offers a crucial
advancement. The efficiency is certainly such a key performance parameter. But the market is demanding: it
wants improvements without sacrificing any of the other advantages.
For the designer, this means that the new principle needs to have an improved efficiency, without sacrificing
the durability, the reliability, the power density, the noise and pulsations levels, the dynamic control
performance, manufacturing costs, or any of the other characteristics.
It is tempting to incrementally improve the design of current hydrostatic principles, since this reduces the
development risks. But this has been tried in the past decades. A large effort has been spent on new
materials and coatings, on micro finishing of pistons and piston skirts, and on reducing the churning losses,
with only incremental progress. It is fair to conclude that the current axial and radial piston principles have
come a maturity level, which cannot be improved any further, and that new principles need to be designed
and developed.

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