Simulation of the Pressure Ripple Characteristics of Hydraulic Circuits

Abstract

The pressure ripple in a hydraulic circuit is commonly a major source of noise. A computer program has been written to simulate the pressure ripple characteristics of hydraulic circuits and to aid in the design of low noise circuits. Mathematical models of flexible hose and of pump flow ripple and source impedance have been developed. Validation tests on various circuits show that the program produces good correlation with experimental measurements. A simple silencer consisting of an asymmetric pipe loop, known as a Quincke tube, was analysed. Its performance was shown to be limited, providing attenuation over very narrow bandwidths.