Chapter 3

OPERATING PRINCIPLES
OF HYDRAULIC SECTIONS
(ROTOR/STATOR PAIRS)

If one examines the geometry of a rotor, it will appear amaz-

ingly similar to a bolt or a screw, having thread crests with very
smooth, blended, continuous transitions from one section to
another along the axis. The same applies to a stator: it resem-
bles a nut into which the rotor is inserted. Stator geometry is,
likewise, smooth and continuously blended along the axis.
What differentiates a rotor/stator pair from a regular mechani-
cal screw/nut couple is that the number of lobes of the rotor
does not equal that of the stator. A screw and matching nut
have the same number of leads and the same pitch; otherwise,
they would not go together. The number of leads (lobes) of a
stator, on the other hand, is equal to the number of rotor leads
plus one (N8 = N r + 1). Their pitches are different, too. A pitch is
an axial distance between the start of a particular lobe and its
end (a 360-degree wraparound). This is different from a lead,
which is an axial distance between two adjacent lobes.
For example, for a five-lobed stator, there are five leads per
one pitch. You could not, therefore, insert a rotor into a stator
and "thread it in," as you would for a screw and a nut. The
profile geometries of a rotor and a stator are made differently
from those of screws and nuts. The center of a screw always
stays lined up with the center of a matching nut, but the cen-
ter of a rotor changes its position along its axis. Each individ-
ual cross section of a rotor is offset from the center of a
"matching" stator, from section to section. In addition, rotor
sections "whirl around" the center of a stator during opera-
tion. This whirling motion of a rotor center around the center
of a stator is called "nutation." This intentional lack of sym-
metry of a rotor in relation to a stator creates a complex cavity
between them, and the nutation causes this cavity to be dis-
placed (i.e., to progress) along the axis during the rotor rota-
tion. Figure 5 illustrates this mechanism for a case of a 1:2
lobe unit, as further explained below.
For multilobe units, the same principle applies, except that
there are multiple cavities created, which all move along the
axis of the stator during the rotor revolution, and the total
fluid displacement per one revolution of input shaft is equal to
the product of the net (open) cross-sectional flow area times
the number of rotor lobes, times the stator pitch. A product of
the input shaft rpm times the rotor lobes is called a "nuta-
tional" speed, which will be discussed in more detail below.
Obviously, for a single-lobe rotor, nutational speed is equal to
rotational pump shaft speed (rpmn = rpm x 1).
FIGURE 5 Concept A and H, pipe OD BC and 1%, iubber
(Point "P" tracks rotor rotation/roMkig} B and G, pipe ID
ofa cavity formed Rotor section Rubber Row direction (Z-axIs) DE, rotor Solid line: rubber
C Dash line: rotor
between the stator D
internal void and the
(a)
rotor. Cross-hatched
areas in (b) and (c)
show liquid at a given QnIeQ
vm
cross section. View (d)
shows cavity forma- "Bottom cavity" (b)
tion at incremental
UquldflHed Cavity closed Another cavity
time, as the rotor is max. opening decressiny developing area
rotated Vs of a turn,
as compared with Topcavlty* (C)
view (c). Views (c)
and (d) demonstrate Cavity closed Cavity develops and CmHy begins to close
at Inlet reaches max. Oosed-off
the concept ofa "pro-
gressing" cavity.
-lap cavity
(See section uCavity/ Mime = V* of
stum tan
Displacement" in Rotor in these sections (1-4) moved and made Rotor in these sections (5-8) is TWb section
Chapter 4.) room for !quid to enter moving to "pusti* liquid out 'recerved liquid
 The cavity(ies), progressing from suction to discharge,
pump out a constant volume, equal to the volume of cavity(ies).
This volume is practically constant, regardless of inlet or dis-
charge conditions (second-order factors and corrections to this
will be touched on later), which is why PC pumps belong to a
class of PD pumps (a rotary subclass). Therefore, if the geome-
try of the rotor-to-stator cavity is understood, all consequent
parameters and mechanisms of the operation of a PC pump
become clear and easy to derive.