At first glance understanding hydraulic pumps can seem like a daunting task, But when you

take a closer look, there are only three basic designs that can function in only one of two
different modes.

Pump design

Gear Vane Piston

Displacement
modes

Fixed Variable

fixed displacement pump

A fixed displacement pump, as the name suggests, does not have a control to change its
displacement.
Assuming that it is receiving a full charge of fluid, it will always displace the same amount of
fluid per revolution.

If you want to change the flow rate, the only way to do so is to change the pump RPMs by
changing the speed of the prime mover

The most common fixed displacement pumps are gear pumps.

There are also some vane pump designs that are fixed displacement.

Variable displacement pumps

Variable displacement pumps, on the other hand, can change displacement
while continuing to turn at the same RPMs.
The most common variable displacement pumps are piston pumps.
There are also some types of vane pumps, called unbalanced vane pumps,
that are variable displacement as well.
Gear pumps
Gear pumps come in either an external or internal gear design, both of
which are fixed displacement pumps.

vane pumps
There are two main designs for vane pumps.
Piston pumps
Piston pumps mainly consist of the variable displacement type