Validation of a new tribological test bench for lightweight hydraulic components

The presented paper deals with tribological contacts in “lightweight” hydraulic pumps. One approach for the mass reduction of hydraulic systems is the material substitution. According to this strategy, steel-components are replaced with polymeric material or hybrid design components. The consequences of this material substitution are tribological changes of the contact pairings. Hence, there is research necessary on the tribological behavior of the specific contacts between polymers or hybrid components. For the characterization of these tribological contacts, a test bench was developed. With this test bench the analysis of the tribological behavior of the contact between cylinder and control plate in the axial piston variable pump is possible. A description of the modeling and a validation of the test bench are presented in the this paper. The result is, the test bench indicates good measurement result quality. In addition a cooling system is necessary to guarantee a constant test fluid temperature