Development of a Standard Test Procedure to Experimentally Determine the Inherent Pulsation Power Generated by a Hydraulic Pump

This paper is concerned with the experimental determination of an inherent pulsation power level generated by a hydraulic pump, using both the test method originally developed for the measurement of fluid pulsation power in a pipeline and the theoretically derived conversion equation for eliminating the influence of a hydraulic circuit. The suitability of the test procedure as a standard method for assessment of an inherent source pulsation power of a hydraulic pump was confirmed. First, it was found that the pulsation power in a pipeline can be measured using a pressure sensor unit called a “pulsation intensity probe” with the same measurement principle as the conventional sound intensity probe, with good repeatability and with sufficient accuracy for practical usage. Next, the standard test procedure for determining the inherent source pulsation power of a hydraulic pump, which is independent of a hydraulic circuit connected to the pump, from the measurements of the pulsation power in a reference pipe was proposed. Finally, it was verified from the experimental measurements and simulations that this proposed standard test method was very useful for both the absolute and relative assessments of source pulsation power level of a hydraulic pump.