A study on the suppression of cavitation flow inside an axial piston pump

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is employed in this paper to study the cavitation flow near a damping groove of a valve plate inside an axial piston pump. Effects of common U-shaped groove and V-shaped groove on the cavitation phenomenon are analyzed, and the process of cavitation bubbles from growth to collapse is studied numerically. It is shown that the cavitation can be effectively restrained to a certain extent by increasing the number of V-shaped grooves or the aspect ratio of the cross section of a U-shaped groove under the same flow area. The erosion caused by the cavitation can be effectively reduced leading to a substantial improvement of the reliability and lifespan of axial piston pumps.