Multibody Dynamics of a Fluid Power Radial Piston Motor Including Transient Hydrodynamic Pressure Models of Lubricating Gaps

The increasing interest in hydraulic transmissions in wind and wave energy applications has created an incentive for the development of high efficiency fluid power machinery. Modeling and analysis of fluid power machinery loss mechanisms are necessary in order to accommodate this demand. At present fully coupled thermo-elastic models has been used to simulate and study loss mechanisms in various tribological interfaces. Consequently, a reasonable focus of further development is to couple the interface models and the rigid body mechanics of fluid power machinery. The focus of the current paper is a multibody dynamics model of a radial piston fluid power motor, which connects the rigid bodies through models of the transient hydrodynamic lubrication pressure in the joint clearance. A finite volume approach is used to model the pressure dynamics of the fluid film lubrication. The model structure and model equations are explained in this paper and simulation results are shown in terms macroscopic and microscopic dynamics.