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Hydraulic operating pressures on offhighway vehicles have increased steadily over the years. Depending on the function, the majority of the systems now operate between 2250 psi and 3500 psi. External gear pumps have provided the reliability and performance required for most of these applications and with improvements in gear pump technology, they will keep pace with the higher pressure requirements of the earthmoving industry. This paper addresses the development of gear pumps that will meet the future demands of vehicle designers for pumps rated at 4500 psi.

A few years ago hydraulic fluid power component manufacturers had the luxury of long lead times to develop new products. In today's competitive global market, pump and valve design engineers must be able to shorten development lead times and get new, less costly products to production in order to satisfy customer demands. This paper describes how one fluid power component manufacturer uses rapid prototyping technology to speed up the development cycle by making: fit and form models, design evaluation test samples, and tooling for prototype castings.

In today's global fluid power industry, successful hydraulic component manufacturers must utilize technical resources to maintain a competitive edge. When designing new products, past practice required an understanding of engineering theory and reliable and accurate lab and field testing of new products, but today's designers have a new tool at their disposal. Personal computer based software can be used to model and simulate individual hydraulic components or entire systems before prototypes are available for design and performance evaluation. This paper discusses the design of a hydraulic safety valve and how PC simulation was used to design and analyze valve performance during the design process.