TECHNICAL PAPER

Theoretical Analysis of Flow Characteristics and Bearing Load for

Mass-produced External Gear Pump

N. YOSHIDA

This paper presents theoretical equations for calculating pump flow rate and bearing applied load which
are important characteristics within external gear pump design. In the external gear pump mass-produced at
JTEKT, the eccentricity of the gear housing greatly affects its characteristics. Taking this fact into consideration,
I conducted theoretical analysis of leakage through gear tip clearances. This paper describes the equations for
the physical model and the analytical solutions of the equations as well as the numerical calculation method for
calculating the eccentricity position. It also contains a comparison of the values calculated using my proposed
theoretical equations with previous theoretical values and the experimental values. Furthermore, this paper shows
examples of calculated results for the theoretical optimum conditions for the eccentricity position.

Key Words: fluid power system, hydraulic pump, external gear pump, leakage flow rate, bearing load, theoretical
analysis

the eccentricity of the gears within the detailed theoretical

1. Introduction
The external gear pump composed of circumscribing
twin gears has been used for various machines,
such as industrial equipment and automobiles, since
ancient times. Its flow rate performance is very high in
comparison with other gear type hydraulic pumps, as it
can be operated at high pressures over 10 MPa. Therefore
it has an advantage in regards to energy saving and
device downsizing. JTEKT has been mass-producing the
external gear pump driven by an electric motor for the
automobile hydraulic power steering system known as
®
H-EPS (Hydraulic-Electric Power Steering), and hopes
that it will be used in the future for automotive driveline
systems requiring a high pressure hydraulic power source.
In the external gear pump such as that mass-produced
by our company which is described in this paper, it
is known from experience that the eccentricity of the
gear housing greatly influences pump performance and
that the delivery flow rate performance increases as the
eccentricity increases to a certain extent. The eccentricity
state varies due to the following two reasons. One is
dispersion of the parts’ dimensions caused by machining.
The other is the use of journal bearings, which are low
in cost. Due to the insufficient supporting rigidity of
the journal bearing, the rotating center position of the
pump gear varies according to the operating conditions
(especially delivery pressure).
1)-3)
Previous studies took no account of the influence of
analysis of the flow rate characteristics of the pump, with
4)
the exception of Ichikawa’s study , which analyzed it
theoretically with simple equations. Ichikawa’s analysis
is straightforward and its equations can be calculated
easily. However, it is insufficient in accuracy because
the equations used were simple, and mathematical
approximations were applied under several assumptions.
Additionally, although the eccentricity direction is
considered to be the same as the load direction in his
analysis, it is not so in our pump with journal bearings.
Therefore, previous theoretical analyses are not
appropriate for pumps such as our external gear pump.
For the purpose of obtaining theoretical equations
to accurately represent the characteristics of the
delivery flow rate and bearing load for an actual pump,
I have developed a new theoretical analysis of the
leakage through the clearances between gear tips with
eccentricity and the housing, and the pressure state
which is distributed along the gear circumference.
This new theoretical analysis is useful in the prediction
of the optimization of flow rate performance and its
dispersion according to the tolerance of the dimensions,
as well as the prediction of bearing load which is very
important within the design stage of rotary machines.
It also has the ability to elucidate physical mechanisms
which significantly influence pump characteristics and
contribute to the development of superior new products.

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 −Theoretical Analysis of Flow Characteristics and Bearing Load for Mass-produced External Gear Pump−

d : distance between gear center and housing

2. Nomenclature center (eccentricity amount)
b : face width of gear (axial length)
FG : central direction force acting on gear Subscripts
circumference (gear tips and tooth spaces) i : place number i of the gear tip clearance or
FJ : reaction force of journal bearing which tooth space within the seal area from the inlet
supports shaft space side
FZ : force of engagement between two gears x : x direction component of force
h : amount of clearance between gear tip and y : y direction component of force
housing (gear tip clearance) o : central direction component of force
h0 : fundamental amount of gear tip clearance
(clearance between gear tips and housing
without eccentricity)
3. Structure of pump
lS : circumference length of gear tooth addendum
(gear tip length) Journal Bearing
nG : rotational speed of gear
p Ci : pressure at engagement closing Shaft

pM : pressure of fluid in tooth space

Side Plate
pS : pressure of fluid in gear tip clearance
Dp P : pressure differential across pump Drive Gear
Dp S : change amount of pressure across gear tip
Driven Gear
clearance
QP : actual pump flow rate
DQ P : total leakage flow rate in pump
Housing
DQ P1 : leakage flow rate for single gear
rG : radius of gear addendum
rH : radius of housing internal circumference
r Zi : radial distance of position of gear engagement
contact point i Inlet

TP : theoretical torque of pump

U : relative velocity of one wall of gear tip
clearance
u : fluid velocity in gear tip clearance
V th : theoretical pump displacement per revolution
zG : number of teeth in gear
zS : number of sealed teeth in gear Outlet
aG : pressure angle of contact point
: The transport route of the fluid
eG : eccentricity ratio of gear center to housing
center Fig. 1 Structure of external gear pump manufactured by
eJ : eccentricity ratio of shaft center to journal JTEKT
bearing center
gV : volumetric efficiency of pump The structure of the external gear pump studied in this
l : fluid viscosity paper is shown in Fig. 1. The gears are assembled in the
hGe : angle of eccentricity direction of gear center to housing hole, which has an inner diameter slightly larger
housing center than the gear addendum diameter. During operation, the
hJe : angle of eccentricity direction of shaft in drive gear is driven by an electric motor and rotates, and
journal bearing the driven gear rotates by engagement with the drive gear.
hs : angle of inlet side edge of gear tip clearance The gear shaft is supported by a journal bearing. Working
hZ0 : angle of point where distance between the teeth fluid (oil) is transported from the inlet space to the outlet
surfaces in the engagement closing space is space through the tooth spaces of the rotating gear via the
smallest route of the side opposite the gear engagement, as shown
hZi : angle of contact point i in Fig. 1. It is then pressurized and discharged by the
Dhs : amount of angle range of gear tip clearance in decreasing volumetric change caused by the engagement
circumference direction of the gears.

46 JTEKT ENGINEERING JOURNAL English Edition No. 1013E (2016)

−Theoretical Analysis of Flow Characteristics and Bearing Load for Mass-produced External Gear Pump−

To understand the actual flow rate of the displacement When eccentricity of the gear housing arises
type pump, it is necessary to take into account not only (eccentricity ratio eG and eccentricity direction hGe), the
the theoretical displacement volume V th obtained from gear tip clearance between the gear tip and the housing
the geometric form and the rotational speed n G, but also inner diameter changes according to position angle h.
the leakage flow rate. The leakage flow rate refers to the When the pump operates (i.e. when the gear rotates),
part of the delivered flow rate which flows backward during the state in which oil has filled the pump space, the
into the inlet space. It is caused by leakage flow from outlet pressure increases relatively by only Dp P in respect
the high-pressure outlet space to the low-pressure inlet to the inlet pressure. The gear tip clearance functions to
space through gaps between the parts of the pump. Taking seal oil leakage from the outlet side to the inlet side. In
into account the leakage flow rate DQ P, the volumetric this analysis, the pressure pulsation in the outlet space and
efficiency representing the flow rate performance is the flow unsteadiness are considered to be negligible, and
5)
defined by the following equation . therefore static analysis is conducted with consideration
to a steady state. It is assumed that pressure inside each
DQ P
gV ＝ 1 − ⑴ tooth space is uniform, and that there is no inlet/outlet
Vth · nG
pressure loss at the edge of each gear tip clearance and no
change in the viscosity and density of the fluid.
1) Equations for calculating leakage flow rate through
4. Theoretical analysis single gear tip clearance
4. 1 Equations for calculating leakage flow rate
through gear tip clearances with eccentricity Tooth space of the Tooth space of the
low-pressure side high-pressure side
Figure 2 shows the designated dimensions and
definitions of the coordinates (circumference direction Gear tip i
lS
position h and the Cartesian coordinates x and y). Here, Tooth space Tooth space
i −1 Moving velocity of wall surface U
the directions of the angle of circumference position and i

gear rotation are the same, and the positive direction of i xi ）

p（0）
＝0 Leakage flow rate DQ P1 p l S）
（ ＝Dp Si
yi
h（
xi
the leakage flow rate is the opposite direction. Each tooth
Housing
and tooth space in the sealed area between the gear tips
and the housing have been given consecutive numbers
Fig. 3 Spatial configuration and fluid condition in the tooth
starting from the inlet space side shown in Fig. 2. In this
tip clearance
analysis, the inlet pressure is defined as 0.

Outer diameter It is assumed that, for the flow in the space of a single
Inlet space of shaft
p ＝0 Inner diameter of gear tip clearance i as shown in Fig. 3, the wall surface
journal bearing of the housing can be displayed as a linear plane as the
2 2 1
curvatures of the gear and housing are extremely large in
h
i

1
hS

respect to the gap amount.

i
S
Dh

y When a sealed tooth exists in the position at the

hG e

i Rotational direction
arbitrary angle h, the gap amount h at the gear tip can be
hs1

PSi
x of the gear

approximated by the following equation,

d

P Mi
Tooth
space h（h）＝h 0｛1−eG・cos（h−he）｝ ⑵
Direction of Zs
Gear tip
rG

pump flow rate where the variables are as follows.

rH

Zs -1 Outlet space clearance

p ＝D p P
Gear addendum
diameter Housing inner h 0＝r H−r G ⑶
diameter
Drive gear Driven gear (sealing area) d
Enlarged view of engagement eG ＝ ⑷
h0
r Z1
hZ 1 h

FGz1
pC1 The position x i in the flow direction at each gap is
Z0

r Z2 expressed by the following equation.

hZ 2

pC 2
Closing space xi
FGz2
xi ＝ r G（ h− hsi ）⇔ h ＝ hsi ＋ r ⑸
G

The following equations are also introduced.

Fig. 2 Schematic diagram of gear and housing of pump lS
(Cross section of pump shaft) Dhs ＝ ⑹
rG

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 −Theoretical Analysis of Flow Characteristics and Bearing Load for Mass-produced External Gear Pump−

zS
2p
（ i − 1）
hsi ＝ hs1 ＋
zG
⑺ R Dp
i ＝1
Si ＝ D pP ⑿

To consider the influence of the flow velocity in the gap By solving equation ⑾ for pressure differential Dp P,
caused by the gear rotation, it is assumed that the gear the following equation was obtained.
wall surface moves in the direction shown in Fig. 3 at the
ls 12l·DQ P 1 ls
constant velocity U expressed by the following equation. DpSi ＝ 6lU ∫ h （x ）dx ＋
0
−2
i i
b ∫ h （x ）dx
0
−3
i i ⒀

U ＝2pr Gn G ⑻
Substituting this in equation ⑿ and I solved for DQ P1,
In this space, the position x i in the flow direction is thus obtaining the following equation of the leakage flow
determined from the edge of the upstream side (inlet per gear.
space side) in the flow passage shown in Fig. 3, and the zS −1
gap amount h i changes according to x i. As the pressure b ls

12l R（∫
DQ P 1＝ dx ）
h （x ） −3
i i i
0
is different within each tooth space, the static pressure i ＝1
zS
ls
differential Dp Si exists between the two edges of the flow
passage.
（DpP − 6lU R
i ＝1
∫ h （x ）dx ）
0
−2
i i i

⒁
In this flow passage space, it could be considered that b
zS hsi＋Dhs −1

the flow is laminar as the Reynolds number is very low, ＝

12l iR（∫
＝1
hsi
−3
h （h）
dh ）
due to the fact that the gap amount is much smaller than zS hsi＋Dhs
the flow passage length. Furthermore, it is assumed that （Dp − 6lU R∫
P
hsi
h−2
（h）
dh ）
the velocity component of the teeth width direction is i ＝1

negligible, since the flow passage width is much larger
than the gap amount. Furthermore, it is assumed that the
velocity component of the y direction can be overlooked
since the change in the gap amount in respect to x is
extremely small.
The equation of motion, the boundary conditions and
the equation of continuity for the state of pressure p
and velocity u of a Newtonian fluid in such a space are
expressed by the following simultaneous equations.
The total leakage flow rate of the pump is expressed as
DQ P＝2・DQ P1, since there are two gears.
4. 2 Calculation of the bearing load force
There are four kinds of pressure acting on the gear
circumference, which are divided by their position ranges
on the circumference.
・Tooth space closed by the sealing internal diameter of
the housing

dp（x i ） d 2u（yi ） p（ h ）＝p Mi（ h ）

−l ＝0 ⑼
⒂
dx i dy i
2
2p 2p
（hs1 ＋ （ i − 1）
＋D hs < h < hs1 ＋ i）
u（ 0 ）＝ 0 , u（h ）＝U zG zG
p（ ＝ 0 , p（
S 0） S l S）
＝ DpSi ・Gear tip sealed by the internal diameter of the housing
h ( xi )
p（ h ）＝p Si（ h ）
b∫ 0
1 xi）
u dy ＝−DQ P（ ＝（constant） ⑽
2p 2p ⒃
（hs1 ＋ （ i − 1）< h < hs1 ＋ （ i −1）
＋D hs ）
zG zG
By solving equation ⑼ by the variable separation
method and integrating the solution into equation ⑽ I ・Outlet space in the pump
obtained the following equation of the leakage flow rate,
p（h）＝Dp P  （−hs1＜h＜−hZ2） ⒄
which depends on the pressure differential Dp Si across
both edges of the gear tip clearance h i. ・Range of closing space formed by the engagement of two
ls
gears

DQ P 1 ＝ b
1
DpSi −
U ∫h
0
−2
i dx
⑾ p（ h ）＝
p C1 （ hZ 0 < h < hZ 1）
⒅
ls ls
2 p C2 （ hZ 2 < h < hZ 0）
∫
12 l h i dx
0
−3
∫h
0
−3
i dx
Next, I described the derivations of the above
2) Equation for calculating leakage flow rate in entire mentioned equations ⒂ to ⒅
pump
The pressure differential Dp P across the inlet space 1) Equations for calculating pressure distribution in
and the outlet space equals the total loss of pressure from sealed areas
the several sealing gear tip clearances. Therefore, the I obtained the following equation on the pressure p Mi
following equation was obtained. in each tooth space i that is closed by the sealed inner

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−Theoretical Analysis of Flow Characteristics and Bearing Load for Mass-produced External Gear Pump−

circumference of the housing. circumference around the two contact points of the gears.
i
The volume of these closed spaces changes due to gear
pMi ＝ R DpSi ⒆ rotation, however the pressure inside can become to be
i ＝1 higher than that of the pump outlet. This is due to the
From this, the following equation is obtained by difficult compressibility of the fluid, and because a flow
substituting equation ⒀. passage with insufficient area forms between the two
i i
tooth surfaces or in a notch of the side plate. This paper
ls 2 ·DQ P 1 ls
omits description of this theoretical analysis.
pMi ＝ 6l UR ∫ 0
h−2
i （x i ）
dx i −
b R ∫ h （x ）dx
i ＝1 0
−3
i i i
i ＝1
⒇
When two gears engage each other with contact at one
i
hsi＋Dhs
2 ·DQ P 1
i
hsi＋Dhs or two points as shown in Fig. 2, the engagement force
＝ 6l UR ∫ hsi
h−2（ h ）dh −
b
R∫
i ＝1 hsi
h−3（ h ）dh acts in the circumference direction (h) and its magnitude
i ＝1
is expressed in the following equation, where the torque
Pressure distribution in the gear tip clearance is T Pi is the torque received at each engagement point i .
affected by a phenomenon called the “edge effect”.
TPi
As a result, pressure in the flow passage becomes to FZi ＝ rZi （
, i ＝ 1, 2 ）
higher than that of both edges due to the inflow of oil
T P＝T P1＋T P2
caused by the movement of the wall in the flow passage
direction. Consequently, the pressure in the gap does not The actual pump torque T P is expressed by the
simply drop linearly in the flow direction. The following following equation, in which several losses are not taken
equation obtained from the solution of equations ⑼ into account because the dominant factor is the act of
and ⑽ expresses the pressure distribution caused by the high-pressure pumping.
phenomenon.
Vth
TP ＝ D pp
U xi 1 xi 1 2p
Si x i ）
p（ ＝pM（ i−1）＋12l
2 （ ∫h 0
i
2 dx i −DQ P 1 ∫h
0
i
3 dx i ）
The central direction component of the engagement
U h 1 h force F Zi is expressed by the following equation, where aG
⇔ p（ ＝pM（ i−1）＋12l
Si h ）
（ 2∫ hsi
2
h（ h）
d h −DQ P 1 ∫ h（1h）dh ）
hsi
3
is the engagement pressure angle of the gear.

Analytical solution of the integral calculus shown in the ｜F Zio｜＝｜F Zi｜sinaG

following equations should be applied to the two kinds The following equations, which present the component
of definite integrals in equations ⒁, ⒇ and obtained of the x direction and that of the y direction in the
6),7)
above , Cartesian coordinates of the central direction component
dh eG sin h
a
of the engagement forces, are derived from equations
a 1
∫ 2 ＝
b（1＋e G cos h） 1−eG
2 J（h）
−
1＋eG cos h b
to .

a dh FZx ＝− R FZio cos hZi

∫（1＋e cos h）
b G
3
2
Vth cos hZi
1 2 3 eG sin h （ 1−e ）eG sin h G
2 a
＝−
2p
D pp sin aG R rZi
＝ 2 2 （ 2＋ e G ）J（h）− − i ＝1
2
2（ 1−eG ） 1＋eG cos h （1＋eG cos h ） b

1−eG sin h
FZy ＝− R FZio sin hZi
2 tan
−1
J（h）＝
1−eG
2 1＋eG 1＋cos h 2
Vth sin hZi
＝−
2p
D pp sin aG R rZi
where the domain of function is −p/2 h＜p/2, i ＝1

as it is not continuous at h＝p/2. Furthermore, both a

and b of equations and are constants. 3) Equations for calculating force of bearing load
The force applied to the bearing is the central direction
2) Other forces acting on gear circumference component of the force acting on the gear circumference
The forces acting on the gear circumference excluding and can be calculated using the pressure distribution
the distributed pressure in the area sealed by the housing p (h) expressed in equations ⒂ to ⒅ and the engagement
are as follows: the force due to the pressure Dp P in the forces expressed in and . The x direction
outlet space, the closing pressure p Ci, and the engagement component, the y direction component and the magnitude
force F Zi. of these forces are expressed in the following equations.
Tw o c l o s e d s p a c e s a r e f o r m e d b y t h e g e a r

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 −Theoretical Analysis of Flow Characteristics and Bearing Load for Mass-produced External Gear Pump−

2p
It is obvious that the bearing characteristics of the
FGx ＝−rG b ∫ p（ h）coshd h ＋ F
0
Zx
external gear pump obey the previous established theory.
FGy
2p
＝−r b∫ p（ h ）sinh d h ＋ F In this paper, the bearing performance numerical values
G Zy
0
used in the calculation are referenced from a separate
7)
FG ＝ FGx 2 ＋ FGy 2 document .

4. 3 Method for calculating pump characteristics

with consideration to gear support by journal
5. Results of calculations
bearings Table 1 Geometry of actual gear pump (Typical values)
From the aforementioned equations, the pump Radius of gear addendum : r G, mm 20
characteristics can be calculated when the rotational Number of teeth on gear : z G 22
center position of the gear is known. However, when
Number of sealed teeth on gear : z S 12
using journal bearings, the position of the gear rotational
Gear tip circumference length : l S, mm 0.2
center is not known, and must therefore be calculated.
This is because both the bearing load force vector (which Face width of gear : b , mm 15
depends on pressure distribution) and the rotational center Theoretical pump displacement per
1.7
position of the gear (which depends on the bearing load revolution : V th，cc/rev.
force vector) are dependent on each other. Rotational speed of gear : n G, min
−1
3 000
It is therefore necessary to conduct numerical iteration Fluid viscosity : l, Pa･s 0.018
calculation to solve the equations, under the condition Pressure differential across pump : Dp P, MPa 10
that the bearing load force vector and journal bearing
supporting force vector are equal. Figure 4 shows the
flow chart of the calculation program. 5. 1 Comparison with values from previous theory
A comparison between the calculated values of the
volumetric efficiency according to the proposed theory
4)
and those of the previous theory is shown in Fig. 5. The
calculation conditions are the dimensions and operation
Determination of calculation conditions conditions described in Table 1.
As shown in Fig. 5, the values between the previous
Assumption:eccetricity vector of gear theory and the proposed theory have very little difference
(Direction hG e , amount of eccetricity eG )
only when the eccentricity ratio is small. Also, the
value of volumetric efficiency of the proposed theory
Calculation:gap amount of Calculation: differs greatly from that of the previous theory when
each gear tip hi shaft in the journal bearing
・angle of eccentricity
the nonlinearity of its change in the proposed theory, in
Calculation:leakage flow
direction hJ e regard to the eccentricity ratio, is large. An eccentricity
・eccentricity ratio eJ
rate of pump DQP1 ratio equal to 1 physically contradicts a volumetric
efficiency that is not equal to 1, since this refers to the
Calculation: occurrence of leakage.
each gear tip gap
・Change amount of pressure D p Si In the derivation of the equations in the previous
Calculation:
・Distribution of pressure Counter force vector from theory, the fundamental equations are based on a
in gear tip gap p（
Si x） journal bearing (FJx ，FJy )
Pressure in each tooth space p Mi theoretical equation based on constant gap amount, and
higher order components in the equations are omitted in
Calculation:
closing pressure FCi Calculation: order to easily obtain solutions. Therefore, as shown in
centra direction force vector Fig. 5, approximate accuracy is poor and there are large
Calculation: force of of gear (FGx ，FGy )
engagement F Zi errors when the conditions are not limited to a lower
eccentricity ratio, or to a small nonlinearity of the change
No
Judgment: ( FGx , FGy）=− (FJx ，FJy ) in volumetric efficiency in regard to the eccentricity ratio.
As a result, the proposed theoretical equations have
Yes
much higher accuracy than the previous equations in
Calculation: the case of a large eccentricity ratio. The bearing load
・pump flow rate Q P
・force of journal bearing load FG characteristic is the same as well, since its calculation
equations depend on the leakage flow rate.
Fig. 4 Flow chart for calculating characteristics of journal
bearing support structure pump

50 JTEKT ENGINEERING JOURNAL English Edition No. 1013E (2016)

−Theoretical Analysis of Flow Characteristics and Bearing Load for Mass-produced External Gear Pump−

Solid line :Proposed theoretical vallue 5.5

Dotted line :Previous theoretical value

Pump delivery flow rate Q P , L/min

1.1 5.0
Volumetric efficiency of pump g v

1.0
4.5
0.9
4.0
0.8
Eccentricity Solid line :Experimental Tested pump
0.7 direction hG ［°］
e measured value
3.5 No.1
0 Dotted line :Theoretical
90 calculated value No.2
0.6
180
270 3.0
0.5 0 2 4 6 8
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Pressure differential across a pump Dp P , MPa
Eccentricity ratio e G , −
(a) Flow rate of entire pump
Fig. 5 Comparison of proposed theoretical values and

Chage amount of leakage flow rate, L/min

conventional theoretical values 0.12
0.10 Experimental
Theoretical
0.08
5. 2 Comparison between theoretical values and 0.06
experimental values 0.04
Figure 6 shows the results of a comparison between 0.02
experimental values from an actual pump and the 0.00
theoretical values. Typical pump conditions are described −8 −6 −4 −2
-0.02
0 2 4 6 8
in Table 1. -0.04
The experimental values shown in Fig. 6 (a) are
-0.06
measured under the condition where the pump speed is y direction position of journal bearing, µm
constant and the pump outlet pressure has been changed
(b) Amount of change due to component dimension affecting tooth tip
by altering the outlet side pipe resistance. The two tested clearance
pumps differ only in the dimensions which influence
the amount of gear tip clearances. The values show Fig. 6 Comparison of experimental values and theoretical
that the calculation results of the pump flow rate using values of pump flow rate
the proposed theoretical equations are larger than the
experimental one. This difference is derived from the
fact that the leakage occurs through gaps other than that 5. 3 Discussion of theoretical optimum conditions
of the gear tip on the actual pump. Inferring that leakage Figure 7 shows the theoretical calculation results of
through other gaps with constant clearance besides the the pump flow rate and the bearing load obtained by
gear tip clearance is directly proportional to the pressure, changing the eccentricity direction and the eccentricity
it would be physically justifiable that this difference ratio. The pump flow rate characteristic is expressed as
increases with an increase in pressure. the volumetric efficiency, and bearing load is expressed as
To validate the accuracy of the theoretical value of the normalized amount when the value of the eccentricity
only the leakage through gear tip clearances, Fig. 6 (b) ratio is zero. The reason that the volumetric efficiency
shows the investigated results obtained by changing the may be over 1 is that fluid oil is dragged and transported
y direction position of the center of the journal bearing by the gear tip outer surface due to the viscosity of the
shown in Fig. 2 so that only the gear tip clearances oil.
change. On the axis of ordinate, the change in leakage These results indicate the following facts: the
flow rate is plotted against the leakage flow rate characteristics of the flow rate are influenced greatly by
when the abscissa is at zero. The leakage flow rate is the eccentricity ratio, but not so much by the eccentricity
calculated through equation ⑴ after solving for DQ P and direction, and the eccentricity direction is optimum at 180
substituting the pump flow rate Q P measured in the actual degrees when the eccentricity ratio is small.
machine. According to this graph, it is evident that the It is obvious that the bearing load decreases when
theoretical value nearly coincides with the experimental eccentricity arises in the direction of the inlet space side.
value. This proves that the proposed theoretical equations On the other hand, the bearing load increases significantly
can predict loss due to the leakage of the actual pump when eccentricity arises in the direction around 180
flow rate from the gear tip clearances. degrees. This is because, when sealing is conducted on
the inlet space side, the y direction components of the

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 −Theoretical Analysis of Flow Characteristics and Bearing Load for Mass-produced External Gear Pump−

forces acting due to the pressure distributed along the ・This theory takes into account the eccentricity of the
circumference of the gear cancel each other out in the gear more correctly than the previous theory, and its
second and third quadrants of the coordinate space in calculation results are much different from those of the
Fig. 2, and the x direction components counteract the previous theory, except for the local conditions.
closing pressure and engagement force and decrease. In ・When the experimental values are compared with the
addition, the bearing load increases with an increase in calculated values according to the proposed theory, the
the eccentricity ratio because the pressure is distributed calculated values are confirmed as valid.
unevenly. Taking into account that the life of the rolling ・The leakage flow rate through the gear tip clearances
element type bearing is generally inversely proportional greatly changes according to the eccentricity ratio.
8)
to approximately the cube of the load , attention must be ・The bearing load changes greatly due to the eccentricity
given during design because even a change in the load as direction.
small as that in Fig. 7 (b) greatly influences the reliability
of the product.
References
1.02 1) Atsushi Miyadzu: Optimum Radial Tip Clearance of
1.00
Volumentric efficiency of pump gV

Gear Pump, Transactions of the JSME Vol. 17, No. 56

0.98
(1951) 36 (in Japanese).
0.96
Eccentricity
0.94
2) Syo−ju Itaya, Tsuneo Ichikawa: Leakage in Gear Pump
direction h Ge［°］
0.92 hs1 (1st Report), Transactions of the JSME Vol. 17, No. 60
90
0.90 (1951) 162 (in Japanese).
135
0.88 180 3) Tsuneo Ichikawa: Leakage in Gear Pump (4th Report),
0.86 225
270
Transactions of the JSME Vol. 18, No. 66 (1952) 160 (in
0.84 −hs1 Japanese).
0.82
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 4) Tsuneo Ichikawa: On Unusual Characteristics in Gear
Eccentricity ratio eG , − Pump, Transactions of the JSME Vol. 24, No. 137 (1958)
(a) Flow rate characteristics 28 (in Japanese).
5) The Japan Fluid Power System Society: Hydro-
1.5 Pneumatic Hand Book, Ohmsha. (1989) 205
Bearing load (Dimensionless amount)

6) Yukio Hori: Hydrodynamic Lubrication, Yo −

kendo− .
1.4
(2002) 31 (in Japanese).
1.3
7) Yukio Hori: Hydrodynamic Lubrication, Yo −
kendo− .
1.2 (2002) 79 (in Japanese).
Eccentricity ratio eG
1.1 8) The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers: JSME
1−(1/2)1
1.0 1−(1/2)2
Mechanical Engineers Hand Book, Maruzen. (1987)
1−(1/2)3 B1-36 (in Japanese).
0.9
1−(1/2)4
0.8
90 120 150 180 210 240 270
Eccentricity direction hG e, °

(b) Bearing applied load characteristics

Fig. 7 Eccentricity ratio of theoretical value and changes

in eccentric direction

6. Conclusion
I have proposed new theoretical equations for the
external gear pump to calculate the bearing load and
the leakage flow rate caused by gear tip clearances. In
addition, I have created a program that calculates the
numerical values of the unknown eccentricity position N.YOSHIDA*
of the gear when the bearing type of the pump is a
journal bearing. By investigating the proposed theoretical * Hydraulic System Engineering Dept., Driveline Systems
equations, the following conclusions were drawn. Operations Headquarters

52 JTEKT ENGINEERING JOURNAL English Edition No. 1013E (2016)