Measurement of Hydrodynamic Pressure Distribution between a Piston and Cylinder

The piston-cylinder mechanism is widely adopted in the hydraulic machine components. In these cases, the hydrodynamic pressures are generated in the clearance gap between the piston and cylinder under lubrication action of the oils. Under the eccentric condition of the piston in the cylinder bore, the asymmetric pressure distributions in the circumferential direction result in lateral forces on the piston. When the lateral forces act as increasing the piston eccentricity, excessive wear can be occurs in the cylinder bore and piston. In this paper, the hydrodynamic pressures generated in the clearance are measured using a stationary piston and moving cylinder apparatus. The experimental results showed that the hydrodynamic pressure distributions are highly affected by the eccentricity of the piston.