This paper reports on the experimental determination of the level of inherent pulsation power generated by a hydraulic pump, using both a test method newly developed for the measurement of fluid pulsation power in a pipeline and a theoretically derived conversion equation for eliminating the influence of a hydraulic circuit on the measurement. The suitability of the test procedure as a standard method for assessment of the inherent source pulsation power of a hydraulic pump is confirmed. 
First, it was determined that the pulsation power in a pipeline can be measured using a pressure sensor unit called the “pulsation intensity probe”, which utilizes the same measurement principle as a conventional “sound intensity probe”, with good repeatability and with sufficient accuracy for practical usage. Next, a standard test procedure for determining the inherent source pulsation power of a hydraulic pump, which is independent of the hydraulic circuit, from the measurements of a pulsation power in a reference pipe was proposed. Finally, it was verified from the experimental measurements and simulations that this proposed standard test method is very useful for both absolute and relative assessments of the level of source pulsation power of a hydraulic pump.

Keywords: hydraulic pump, fluid-borne vibration, pressure pulsation, pulsation power, standard test method