Investigation into the effects of orifice size, offset and overclamp ratio on the lubrication of slipper bearings

This paper represents the results of an experimental investigation of the performance of hydrostatic slipper bearings in axial piston pumps and motors. The effect of clamping ratio, offset loading and orifice size on the behaviour of overclamped and underclamped slippers is outlined. It is shown that the slippers run satisfactorily with no orifice and have their greatest resistance to tilting couples and to minimum film thickness. The underclamped slippers and slippers with larger orifice diameter run with relatively larger clearance and tilt than those of overclamped slippers with no orifice. Cavitation tends to affect the slippers, especially at the rear of the slipper. Ineffective flood lubrication may be the cause and oil jet pressure must be maintained to prevent oil starvation. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd