Methodology for the Evaluation of Gear Pump Performance

Abstract Currently, most performance curves of gear pumps present volumetric efficiency as a function of one or more operating conditions. However, the nature of gear pumps is that volumetric efficiency is dependent on pump speed, pump pressure rise, and fluid viscosity. This dependency on multiple parameters impedes direct comparisons between pumps tested at disparate operating conditions or on different testbeds. A new method has been developed that formulates the volumetric efficiency as a function of a single parameter that captures pump speed, pressure, and fluid viscosity. The characteristics of the pump is then captured by curve fitting two constants to empirical data. This method allows extrapolation of pump performance beyond empirical data and direct comparison of the volumetric efficiency curves of two pumps tested under disparate conditions within a single plot. This work describes the analytical derivation of the methodology and the empirical data used for validations. Additionally, several possible applications of this method are presented.