Finite Element Analysis of the Crimping Process of the Piston-slipper Component in Hydraulic Pumps

Hydraulic pumps and motors are widely used in mobile equipment for construction, mining and agriculture. The piston-slipper component is one of the critical parts of a hydraulic pump. A crimping process is used for connecting the piston to the slipper component. Like most of the manufacturing processes that involve large deformations, high stresses are created in the slipper and piston during the crimping process. This paper presents a finite element method for the analysis of the stresses, strains, and forces associated with the crimping process. This method can be used in the optimization of the piston, slipper and die designs. The commercial finite element package ANSYS was used to simulate the crimping process. The simulation procedure is used to obtain a better understanding of the effect of the die geometry on the crimping process. [S1050-0472(00)00303-2]