Available online at www.sciencedirect.

com

ScienceDirect
Procedia Engineering 177 (2017) 532 539

XXI International Polish-Slovak Conference Machine Modeling and Simulations 2016

Non-stationary CFD simulation of a gear pump

Martin Moilana*, tefan Husrb, Jn Labajc, Milan mindka
a
University of ilina, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Slovak Republic
b
Faculty of Production Technology and Management,, J.E. Purkyn University in st nad Labem, Czech Republic
c
Dubnica Insttute of Technology,Department of Technology, ilina, Slovak Republic

Abstract

The use of modern CAD and CFD techniques in the conception and simulation of industrial products has had huge applications
in the mechanical, automotive and aerospace industries. This paper includes all the steps to follow, from the treatment of CAD
geometry up to the analysis of the simulation results. In particular we treat CAD simplification, the meshing of the geometry, the
numerical strategy and, finally, analysis of the simulation results.
This paper presents important aspects of a practical methodology applied to design a gear pump using the ANSYS Gambit
software parametric abilities followed by a FVM analysis of its assembly to identify the most stressed components. A model for
the prediction of the dynamic behaviour of an external gear pump is presented. We took into account the most important
phenomena involved in the operation of this kind of machines. Fluid pressure distribution on gears, which is time-varying, is
instantaneously computed and included as a resultant external force and torque acting on the gears.
2017
2017TheTheAuthors.
Authors. Published
Published by Elsevier
by Elsevier Ltd. is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
Ltd. This
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of MMS 2016.
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of MMS 2016
Keywords: Gear Pump, CFD, Cavitation;

1. Introduction

Currently, numerical methods are increasingly often used in modelling of fluid problems. Current CFD
simulations mainly use the FVM and FEM [1,2]. Besides that numerical methods as is Finite element method
(FEM), Finite volume method (FVM), meshless methods etc. allow to analyze the technological processes [3-5] as
far as complex shapes are concerned and to stimulate different starting and boundary conditions. The impact of
cavitation effects due to gas generation is a common problem in the design of hydraulic systems. Cavitation is the
formation of hydrodynamic cavities in a liquid subjected to rapid local changes of surrounding pressure.

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: martin.mocilan@fstroj.uniza.sk

1877-7058 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of MMS 2016
doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2017.02.257
 Martin Moilan et al. / Procedia Engineering 177 (2017) 532 539 533

When subjected to higher pressure (no negative pressure) the void ceases to exist in the so-called implosion [6,7].
If, in the physical terms, the liquid is considered incompressible, then a rapid local pressure drop causes evacuation
of the liquid from a certain place, and a liquid-free zone (bubble or void) called cavity is formed. This cavity is
initially vacuum empty, but continuation of the dynamic negative pressure results in the vapour diffusion from the
cavity walls. Ceasing of the excitation negative pressure is followed by the cavity extinction (the surrounding liquid
rapidly fills the empty space), generating an intense shock wave a microscopic implosion spreading through the
surrounding liquid, which manifests as an acoustic pulse. If the place of implosion contains solid material (such as
turbine blade, propeller, pipeline, etc.), the result is a destructive effect manifested by puling out micro-particles of
the material, which causes rapid wear [8,9]. The emergence of cavities is mainly affected by the flow velocity,
surface tension of the liquid, and its viscosity.
The liquid and vapour phases are described as a mixture by transportation equations, with a volume fraction of
the vapour phase described by equation [10].

w aQ
 aQ u  S aQ (1)
wt

where the index indicates the vapour phase, u is the flow velocity, S a is the cavitation mass source/collapse with
the volume fraction a that is calculated based on the bubble growth theory

4 S R 2 no dR
S aQ
 
1  4 S R 3 / 3 no d t
(2)

The bubble diameter R changes on the local pressure p around the bubble as the bubble moves through the
computational domain, but the number of bubbles per unit volume of the liquid.
For this reason cavitation is a problem in hydraulic systems in all components exposed to low pressure. The
adverse effects of cavitation phenomena, such as structural damage and erosion due to air or bubble vapour, results
in reduced flow capacity through the hygrostat and in increased noise. Therefore, the number of components
operating under pressure must be kept at a minimum.
Thanks to the advanced CFD simulations there is a great demand for precise, accurate and reliable simulations.
These requirements force us to a more precise geometry resolution and a more accurate meshing. Standard
Probability density function (PDF) methods based on Navier-Stokes equations will still dominate, but there are also
other mathematical models that can be used in certain applications in industry, such as Euler-Lagrange, Lattice
Boltzmann, Monte Carlo, PDF transport, discrete elements, etc. These methods may be used in some applications,
such as gas dynamics, multiple-phase flows, combustion, etc.
The space through which the liquid flows is divided into a finite number of small volumes. For each volume we
calculate the transport of mass, momentum and energy. As an example, let us consider Euler equations in integral
form:
w
U dx dy + [ F.dy - G.dx ] = 0 (3)
wt 'R R

where R is the flow region, R is the flow boundary, x and y are the Cartesian coordinates. The vectors U, F and G
in equation (2) are as follows:

U Uu Uv

Uu U u2 + p Uuv
U= , F= , G= (4)
Uv Uuv U v2 + p

U E U u H U v H
534 Martin Moilan et al. / Procedia Engineering 177 (2017) 532 539

where , u, v, p, E and H are density, velocity components in directions x and y, pressure, total energy and total
enthalpy. For an ideal gas applies where = cp/cv (specific heats ratio).

2. Modelling and computation

Computation utilized a linear evaporation and condensation model as a function of pressure, neglecting the
uncondensed gas component (dissolved gas). The cavitation simulation computations most frequently utilised the
cavitation bubble diameter of 1e-6 m, and kernel density from 1e+14 m-3, with good compliance with practical
measurements on real nozzles.

Table. 1 Turbulent models used in the cavity simulation computation

Turbulence model / wall function Time step ( s ) Germ bubble diameter (m) Number of kernels
k- low Reynolds /hybrid
k- high Reynolds /hybrid Small
k- SST low Reynolds /hybrid (5.0E-07) 1.0E-05 1.0E+12
k- SST high Reynolds /standard Large
k- SST standard /low Reynolds /hybrid
2.0E-06 5.0E-05 1.0E+16
k- SST standard /high Reynolds /standard
k- RNG / standard

3. Boundary conditions and choice of models

Solving the flow dynamics with cavitation required choosing the appropriate solver for a two-phase flow, two-
phase flow model, turbulence due to the mesh density and computer performance. We chose the following methods
for solving: Multi-phase model for oil oil vapour cavitation: Mixture, viscosity model: realisable k-, standard wall
function, pre-defined constants to the software equations, model of the liquid: compressible, dynamic viscosity
0.001316 kg/ms at 45 C, the inlet pressure is 0.1 MPa. The intensity of turbulence at the inlet is 10% of the total
kinetic energy. The back pressure at the outlet is 25 MPa. The intensity of reverse flow turbulence at the outlet is 10
%. The oil temperature is 45C. Computation was carried out as isothermal due to the reduced time demands on
computation, taking into account the oil heating by viscosity dissipation of the turbulent energy [7]. When taking
into consideration the heat transfer we would need to model the entire pump, or estimate the heat transfer
coefficient, which would be burdened with too much inaccuracy. The pump revolutions are 1000/min. The time step
is 10-5 to 10-7 seconds, according to numerical stability. The number of iterations per time step: 20. Dynamic mesh
the model remeshing after each time step, and a new mesh uploaded after 1 degree of rotation of the drive wheel.
a) b)

Fig. 1. a) Model of the pump, b) Wire model of the pump in the region of the liquid.

The drive wheel has 12 teeth, the driven wheel has 13 teeth. Uploading into the modeller we found out that the
gear wheels show zero tolerance against the housing. This means that the pump is absolutely tight. When we created
a tolerance between the gearing and the housing for the given boundary condition on the outlet 25x106 Pa, the oil
was not forced through, but leaked through the tolerance to the suction system. Creating a narrow slit of 0.001 mm
or less would require a supercomputer that is not available, unfortunately. We considered using a porous layer that
 Martin Moilan et al. / Procedia Engineering 177 (2017) 532 539 535

would simulate the fluid leakage, using the prescribed pressure gradient, but this problem required more than 20
million elements in the mesh as well. We tried and tested five different models (2.5- and 3-D), and finally chose the
way of addressing an ideally sealed pump by plotting a model with wheel rotation by 1 degree, and within this time
interval we uploaded a new mesh. A time interval was chosen among these steps in order to remesh the model with
respect to the rotation of the wheels.
The pump model was created using Gambit software. Due to high demands regarding the number of elements for
the simulation computation we made the model for only half of the pump (symmetry section plane), the other half
being its mirror image.
Certain tolerance was made on the suction side of the pump (Fig. 2) to avoid decoupling of the volume between
the discharge and suction. Otherwise, the above-mentioned volume would fall out of the addressed task. The
discharge part is ideally sealed. In the model we created individual zones for each material used and named the
surfaces respective thereof. The figure shows the surface mesh.
a)
b)

Fig. 2. a) Suction side of the pump (volumes with gear tolerance against the housing are marked )
b) Pump pressure side (ideally sealed gear against the housing).

The model was meshed using 4 walls. Fig. 3 shows the mesh in the teeth contact region. The volume between the
pump discharge and suction is interrupted due to ideal sealing at teeth engagement. Tolerance meshing between the
wheels required a very dense mesh, otherwise oil leakage would occur there, and the pump has not pushed it, in
computation terms, against the high pressure given by the boundary condition. For this reason we chose an ideally
sealed contact for simulation.

Fig. 3. Detail of the inter-teeth geared wheel space and teeth contact.

Four wall elements are enough for the given task due to a small proportion of convective heat transport. During
computation, the four walls allow carrying out mesh adaptations to the changed gradients of individual variables.
The computation also verified the cavitation model, but with vapour pressure parameters one order less than those
pertaining to water. So far, we have not obtained vapour pressure inputs and oil oil vapour interfacial tension.
The computation was carried out as non-stationary, with the maximum time step of 8.66 x 10 -5 seconds when
starting the computation. The parameters stabilised at the time step of 1.66 x 10 -5 seconds, which corresponded to
536 Martin Moilan et al. / Procedia Engineering 177 (2017) 532 539

0.1 drive shaft rotation. We carried out approximately 3,000 iterations with re-meshing after each computational
step at 1,000 rev/min. The inlet pressure was 0.1 MPa, the pressure at the outlet was 2.5 x 10 7 Pa.

3.1 Pump start

The pump started with a time step of 8.66 x 10 -5 seconds, which is half a degree rotation of the drive wheel. The
starting step was considerably large. Given the first calculation step the gear wheels represent a step change in their
peripheral speed. That is why a pressure surge is generated in the pump discharge, having the maximum pressure
wave value of 60 MPa, and thereby generating a flow surge with a reflected wave on the pump outlet.
The pressure wave progresses into the space between the gear wheels teeth, and leaks into the space of inter-teeth
volumes in the pump discharge (Fig. 4 and Fig. 5) at the above-mentioned value until its attenuation. This wave
parameters will actually be much smaller because the pump does not start with such a large step change. This wave
is attenuated in a short time, as seen in Fig. 6 and Fig. 7.

Fig. 4 Pressure (MPa) in the plane of symmetry. Pressure Fig. 5 Pressure (MPa) in the plane of symmetry. Pressure surge in
surge in the inter-teeth space at time 9.9 x 10-5 s. the inter-teeth space at time 1.162 x 10-4 s.

Fig. 6 Pressure (MPa) in the plane of symmetry. Pressure surge in Fig. 7 Pressure (MPa) in the plane of symmetry. High pressure leaks
the inter-teeth space at time 1.9245 x 10-4 s. into the inter-teeth space at time 1.328 x 10-4 s.

3.2. Steady state

Oscillating course of the parameters attenuated to a natural rate only after we computationally rotated the drive
wheel by 20 degrees against the state shown in Fig. 1. The computation step with 20 iterations was chosen as 0.1
degree of rotation of the drive wheel at 1000 revolutions per minute, with data writing after 5 time steps. This is the
maximum time step for the computation of cavitation that can still be accepted. Pressure surges attenuated gradually
from 31 MPa to 26.7 MPa. The minimum pressure in the discharge is 25.3 MPa at the boundary condition of 25
 Martin Moilan et al. / Procedia Engineering 177 (2017) 532 539 537

MPa at the outlet. The computation was carried out for half of the pump because the pump model exhibits
symmetry. The flow rate varies from 0.04 to 0.1 kg/s for half of the pump. When the suction inter-teeth volume
opens to the discharge, a pressure pulse occurs and pressure gradually equalises between the pump discharge
volumes, as shown in the following Fig. 8 to Fig. 11 that present the static pressure in the plane of symmetry and in
the inter-teeth spaces of the pump discharge and suction. When computing the resulting forces in the following
graphs, we present the sum of forces from pressure, viscosity taking into account the pressure, and viscosity
coefficients for half the pump.

Fig. 8. Static pressure (MPa) in the plane of symmetry at time 4.432 Fig. 9. Static pressure in the inter-teeth space at time 4.432 x 10-4 s.
x 10-4 s. Maximum pressure 25.5 MPa (white discharge, red suction)

Fig. 10. Static pressure (MPa) in the plane of symmetry at time se Fig. 11. Static pressure in the inter-teeth space at time 4.7642 x 10-4 s.
4.7642 x 10-4 s. Maximum pressure 25.5 MPa (white discharge, red suction)

The forces in the dischargesuction direction in the plane of symmetry reach 10 and 11.7 kN (Fig. 11 and 12).
Perpendicular to this direction in the plane of symmetry there are forces acting on the wheels approximately 8 kN.

Fig. 12. Resulting force (N) acting on the driven wheel of the gear Fig. 13. Resulting force (N) acting on the drive wheel of the gear
pump in the range of 20 to 30 degrees of rotation of the drive wheel at pump in the range of 20 to 30 degrees of rotation of the drive wheel at
1000 rev/min in the dischargesuction direction. 1000 rev./min in the dischargesuction direction.
538 Martin Moilan et al. / Procedia Engineering 177 (2017) 532 539

The vector sum of the forces in the plane of symmetry (with axial forces neglected) fluctuates at around 12 kN,
and the vector angle ranges from 10 to the maximum deflection from the dischargesuction axis of 33 and 37
degrees in the plane of symmetry. The resulting moments stabilised at the value of 22 Nm for 1000 rev/min and for
half pump, as shown in the following Fig. 14 and Fig. 15.

Fig. 14. Moments (Nm) of the forces of the drive wheel of the gear Fig. 15. Moments (Nm) of the forces of the driven wheel of the
pump in the range of 20 to 30 degrees of rotation of the drive wheel gear pump in the range of 20 to 30 degrees of rotation of the drive
at 1000 rev./min towards its axis. wheel at 1000 rev./min towards its axis.

3.3. Cavitation in the pump

The decrease in the flow rate (from 130 m/s to approximately 30 m/s) of oil in the inter-teeth space of the pump
discharge (re-pressuring the inter-teeth volume from the lateral upper part of teeth) does not generate cavitation
Fig. 16 and Fig. 17.

Fig. 16. Velocity field in the plane of symmetry Fig. 17.Velocity field in the plane of symmetry
at time 2.041 x 10-4 s. at time 4.7642 x 10-4 s.

The chosen computational model of the pump provides cavitation phenomena in the suction part, where the liquid
expands among the teeth, as shown in Fig. 18.

Fig. 18. Oil vapour concentration in the inter-teeth space and at the teeth edges in the pump suction part.
 Martin Moilan et al. / Procedia Engineering 177 (2017) 532 539 539

Cavitation occurs also at the edges of the teeth adjacent to the pump housing lateral volume. The discharge has a
pressure that is too high to allow cavitation to appear. The wheels engaged are ideally sealed (the interrupted volume
between suction and discharge in the figure), therefore there is no liquid leakage and thus no cavitation phenomena
of this cause.

4. Conclusion

This paper is focused on simulating the flow of oil in the gear pump. The condition was that the pump be able to
push the liquid at the outlet pressure of 25 MPa. We created a model with ideally sealed discharge and ideally sealed
wheels in their co-engagement. When solving, we drew 30 models with wheel rotation by 1 degree, that were
gradually, at a given point in time, uploaded to the previous model as a new mesh with data interpolation. Between
these steps we carried out dynamic computations with re-meshing at each computational step with wheels rotation.
The pump flow computationally stabilised only after the drive wheel rotation by 20 degrees. Then, a pressure surge
was generated by opening (arrival) of the inter-teeth volume to the teeth lateral volume of the pump discharge that
was subsequently re-pressurised. The result is a small pressure surge. All in all, we can conclude that the minimum
pressure in the pump discharge is 25.2 MPa, and the pressure pulses on it with the pressure of 26.8 to approximately
30 MPa. The mass flow, of course, varies from 0.04 to 0.1 kg/s for half of the pump. The forces in the discharge
suction direction in the plane of symmetry reach 10 and 11.7 kN. Perpendicular to this direction in the plane of
symmetry there are forces acting on the wheels approximately 8 kN. The vector sum of forces in the plane of
symmetry (axial forces neglected) fluctuates at around 12 kN, and the vector angle ranges from 10 to the maximum
deflection from the dischargesuction axis 33 and 37 degrees in the plane of symmetry. The resulting moments
stabilised at the value of 22 Nm for 1000 rev/min. All data are for half of the pump. The chosen model eliminates
cavitation in the pump discharge. The model provides cavitation phenomena in the suction part, where the liquid
expands between teeth. Cavitation appears also at the edges of the teeth adjacent to the pump housing lateral
volume.

Acknowledgement

The authors gratefully acknowledge for support the Slovak Grant Agency VEGA 1/0983/15.

References

[1] Y. Bayilevs, K. Tzkiyawa, T.E. Teyduyar, Computational fluid-structure iteration, methods and applications, Wiley 2013.
[2] K. Kotrasova, The study of fluid sloshing in a tank-fluid system. Boundary Field Problems and Computer Simulation, doi:
10.7250/bfpcs.2015.004.
[3] M. Kubiak, W. Piekarska, Z. Saternus, T. Domaski, Numerical prediction of fusion zone and heat affected zone in hybrid Yb:YAG laser +
GMAW welding process with experimental verification, Procedia Engineering, 136 (2016) 88 94.
[4] M. Kubiak, W. Piekarska, Z. Saternus, T. Domaski, S. Stano, Simulations and Experimental Research on Laser Butt-welded T-joints,
METAL 2014: 23rd International Conference on Metallurgy and Materials, Czech Republic, 2014, pp. 726-731.
[5] S. Razowicz, S. Tofil, A. Zrak, An analysis of the microstructure, macrostructure and microhardness of NiCrIR joints prodused by laser
welding with preheat, Archives of Metallurgy and Materials, 61(2), (2016) 1157-1162.
[6] L. Nelik, Centrifugal and Rotary Pumps: Fundamentals and Applications, CRC Press, 1999.
[7] G. Houeaux, R. Codina, Numerical simulation of gear pumps, CIMNE, 2003.
[8] A. Bakowski, L. Radziszewski, Determining selected diesel engine combustion descriptors based on the analysis of the coefficient of
variation of in-chamber pressure, Bulletin of the Polish Academy of Sciences-Technical Sciences, 63/2 (2015), 457-464.
[9] Z. Stankovicova, V. Dekys, P. Novak, The average synchronization in thermoelastic stress analysis, in: J. Vavro, D. Ondrusova, M.
Pajtasova (Eds.), 20th International conference Slovak-Polish Conference on Machine Modeling and Simulations (MMS2016, Terchova,
Slovakia, 2016, pp. 204-210.
[10] J. Boudet J., Finite volume methods, in: F. Magouls (Ed.) Computational Fluid Dynamics, CRC Press, 2011.