ACOUSTICAL EVALUATION OF POWER SKIVING GEARS FOR HYDRAULIC PUMPS

This paper describes the results of a research project aimed at evaluating to what extent the technology used for manufacturing the gear set can affect the performances of a gear pump. Two different kinds of gears were tested, the first manufactured according to the traditional process and the other one manufactured according to the skiving technology. Specific investigations were performed in order to quantify the effects referring to the life cycle of the pump and its noise emission. As for the acoustical characterization, in particular, sound intensity measurements were carried out in different operating conditions in order to quantify the differences induced by the two gear sets on the emitted sound power level. The noise frequency content was also analyzed to quantify the noise impact of the two gear configurations on the perceived annoyance. Results confirmed the potentiality of the skiving technology to improve the pump performances in terms of efficiency and better resistance to wear and stress. Referring to the noise emission, the pump mounting the skiving gear set generated higher noise levels at the beginning; however, after 10,000 cycles of endurance tests the emitted noise was reduced at the same levels as that in the standard configuration. The noise levels further decreased while the pump working time further increased.