Experimental Assessment of Fatigue Reliability For High-Pressure Plunger Pumps

Current research at the University of Salento’s Department of Innovation Engineering aims to the development of the next generation of high-pressure pumps for Diesel common rail systems. In order to improve both performance and reliability, a better understanding of the mechanisms, underlying the fatigue behavior of high pressure reciprocating plunger pump, is necessary. Previous studies based on static and dynamic FEM simulations provided results to be confirmed by experimental tests. In this paper, we present an experimental approach to better assess the fatigue behavior of this critical component, toward an increase in both robustness, and speed and rail pressure. Based on the analysis of the worst contact conditions under service, the important parameters to be considered for the experimental set-up are isolated and selected; in particular the friction influence and the mutual position of the parts is crucial to establish the real stress state in the pump plunger.