Numerical vibro-acoustic analysis of gear pumps for automotive applications

In this work a combined model for the vibro-acoustic analysis of an external gear pump for automotive applications is presented and experimentally assessed. The model includes a lumped-parameter model, a finite-element model and a boundary-element model. The lumped-parameter (LP) model regards the interior parts of the pump (bearing blocks and gears), the finite element (FE) model regards the external parts of the pump (casing and end plates), while the boundary element (BE) model estimates the noise generation in operational conditions. Attention has been devoted to the inclusion of the oil effect inside the pump casing: the fluid-structure interaction between oil and pump casing was taken into account. The model has been assessed using experiments: the experimental accelerations and acoustic pressure measured in operational conditions have been compared with the simulated data coming from the combined LP/FE/BE model. Eventually, model results and limitations are presented.