Design and experimental investigation of an additive manufactured compact drive

In recent years, additive manufacturing (AM) has become one of the most revolutionary and promising technologies in manufacturing. The process of making a product layer by layer is also often referred to as 3D printing. Once employed purely for prototyping, AM is now increasingly used for small series production, for example in aerospace applications. The paper starts with a motivation for AM in hydraulic applications and the development of an AM internal gear pump. For a better understanding of the manufacturing process, a brief introduction to AM highlighting the advantages and challenges is given. The AM internal gear pump is part of an electrohydraulic power pack, which is used to power an electrohydraulic actuator (EHA). The power pack contains all necessary peripherals to realise the hydraulic system of the EHA. The AM process allows for new design possibilities, but the process differs strongly compared to subtractive manufacturing processes and therefore is outlined here. The paper concludes by presenting measurement results of the AM internal gear pump.