Development of an electronically controlled variable displacement vane pump for engine lubrication

Lubrication is one of the most important factors in developing internal combustion engines. And vane pumps are known as potential choices for conducting the engine lubrication systems. To better optimize the lubrication performance, an electronically controlled variable displacement vane pump developed from a typical vane pump is newly introduced in this paper. Firstly, the concept and methodology to design properly an electric actuator to provide an additionally degree of pump control by regulating the pump displacement is carefully considered. Secondly, a control logic is developed to manage the operation of the actuator and subsequently, smoothly varying the pump output in order to satisfy any given lubrication profile. Finally, test rigs are setup to investigate the performances of the fabricated actuator and pump prototype. Practical tests are performed to evaluate the effectiveness of the newly pump design over the typical one.