An Acoustical Performance Appraisal Technique for Fluid Power Pumps

Recent noise legislation has forced designers to evaluate carefully the acoustical characteristics of each system component in order to keep total machine sound levels within acceptable limits. Fluid power pumps represent one of the principle sources of noise which need to be acoustically evaluated prior to installation on a machine. The airborne sound power level of a fluid power pump can be appraised in several ways.

This paper presents an engineering method for appraising the sound power output of fluid power pumps. The appraisal technique, based on a minimum number of tests, provides an engineering method for predicting a pump's sound level as a function of speed and pressure, and also allows reproducible rank ordering of components for accurate engineering discrimination.