In this paper, the long-term reliability of swash plate type hydraulic pump is studied by prognostics method. For the purpose, the pumping power of hydraulic pump is measured for 00 cycles and the performance after 00 cycles is estimated using the particle filter method. To verify the predicted 00 cycle's performance, the actual test results are compared with the estimated result and the trend of estimation is well matched with actual test results. The long-term reliability evaluation using the prognostics method performed in this study shows the feasibility that can be utilized in development phase of tracked vehicle to improve the quality of initial products.

The suspension system of special tracked vehicle is using hydraulic piston pump to adjust track tension and control vehicle position change. During operation of vehicle on rough field, failure of suspension control was occurred due to the piston pump failure. In this study, investigation was performed to analyze the cause of hydraulic piston pump failure. Main reason of piston pump failure is strong peak pressure and insufficient structural safety of shoe. The static stress analysis considering peak pressure was performed to find the weak point of the shoe. From the result, it is confirmed that pass hole of lubrication is the weakest point. Improved piston shoe shows 27% decrease in maximum stress and satisfies the design target which is less than 40% of stress margin.