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In this ever-changing field of automotive industry where there is high competition to seek a place in market, it is necessary to design and develop products with a minimum lead time meeting the target specifications. This is normally achieved through product variants specific to customer requirements from the repository of design base created. Design bases are created based on the previous products and by bench marking. Vacuum Pump is an engine driven part identified for this study. The main aim of this study is to create a mathematical model, and use Artificial Neural Networking (ANN) to arrive at a design base. In the process of building the mathematical model, two key design parameters namely profile and performance were identified and model was constructed. Using this mathematical model, proto samples were prepared for a range of vacuum pump capacities and were tested. These test results were used for training the ANN to create the design base for any future design.

Vacuum pumps are predominantly used in diesel engines of passenger cars and trucks for generating vacuum in servo brake applications. With the emission norms getting stringent, there is a need for vacuum signal for EGR actuation, turbo-charger waste gate actuation and other servo applications. These multi-functional applications of vacuum pumps and the functional criticality in application like braking system demand an effective and reliable performance. In gasoline engines, the vacuum generated in the intake manifold is tapped for braking. The recent technology of gasoline direct injection compels the use of vacuum pump in gasoline engines also due to scarce vacuum in intake manifold. The performance of the vacuum pump is highly dependent on the opening and closing of the check valve sub-system, which is positioned between the vacuum reservoir and the pump at the suction side.

Vacuum pump is a device which gets the drive from engine cam shaft. In some designs, it is driven by the alternator shaft. The main function of vacuum pump is to evacuate the air from the brake booster tank, thus creating vacuum, which can be used for brake application. In addition to this, in new generation engines, to meet the Euro V emission targets, vacuum pump also has to create vacuum in the auxiliary tank which will be used to actuate the turbo charger waste gate actuation mechanism and EGR valve. The vacuum pump used for brake application when modified to perform the additional function of turbocharger may deteriorate the primary application performance. The tapping position and the size of the vacuum port for the auxiliary tank will influence the primary braking performance of the pump. The work described in this paper involves the systematic analysis of layout study of vacuum pump to meet the performance of the vehicle for brake and turbocharger applications.