Impact of Duty Cycle on Wear Progression in Variable-displacement Vane Oil Pumps

Variable-displacement vane oil pumps are increasingly employed in automotive powertrains for their efficiency benefits through reduced losses. However, confirming long life reliability of a new commodity based on limited data available from product development tests and early field experience is a significant challenge, which is addressed by the work presented in this paper. The approach presented combines physical examination of pumps returned from tests, with analysis of damage factors for pump wear progression, and an analysis of functional parameters for the powertrain system focused on the cause effect linkages across the systems hierarchy. The metrology results from physical measurements of used parts provide useful insights for the wear progression and the expected service performance of the pump. The paper also expands towards a data driven approach based on ECU data analysis that could provide a pathway towards the development of online health monitoring and diagnostics of the oil pumps.