Contact problems of a trochoidal-gear pump

The aim of the approach of this paper is to characterise contact stress of a trochoidal-gear set when it works as part of the hydraulic machine. It is important to know that the contact stress forces in a trochoidal-type machine is important because the machine cannot be adjusted for wear. The main difficulty in calculating the contact forces is to determine the forces that are transmitted through each contact point. Since there are many points of contact, at any instant, the problem is statically indeterminate. The first part of this paper presents a simplified analytical model of a trochoidal-type machine when friction at the contact points is neglected. From this study, the performance of the gear set is evaluated through the calculation of the normal maximum contact stress in the gear teeth. Then the second part of the paper presents a finite element model of the same machine. The analysis of both models is for quasi-static conditions. An experimental approach using a prototype model of the gear set provides the maximum contact stress on a pair of teeth through photoelasticity measurement techniques of the same machine. The results from the two models and the experimental work are compared and important conclusions are drawn and discussed. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.