Study on the screening of materials for the friction pairs in an axial piston swashplate seawater hydraulic pump

Choosing the appropriate materials for the friction pairs in a swashplate axial piston hydraulic pump fully lubricated with seawater is very important in order to overcome the problems related to corrosion, friction and wear. Many different types of materials including engineering ceramics such as zirconia, silicon nitride, engineering polymer composites polyetheretherketone, and corrosion-resistant alloys like bronze, stainless steel were investigated by means of tribological experiment. The experimental results are analyzed. The optimum matching of materials for the main friction pairs in the pump were determined based on the experiment results which exhibited satisfying anti-wear capability in a seawater hydraulic pump.