Influence of Two-Sided Surface Waviness on the EHL Behavior of Rolling/Sliding Point Contacts Under Thermal and Non-Newtonian Conditions

2008 ◽  
Vol 130 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peiran Yang ◽  
Jinlei Cui ◽  
Z. M. Jin ◽  
D. Dowson

The influence of the transversely and/or longitudinally oriented surface waviness on the lubricating behavior in the rolling/sliding elliptic contact composed of two steel bodies and lubricated with a non-Newtonian lubricant was investigated theoretically with full numerical solution of the thermal elastohydrodynamic lubrication. The entrainment velocity was assumed to be along the minor axis of the Hertzian contact ellipse. The waviness of each surface was given by a sinusoidal function. The non-Newtonian flow of the lubricant was described by the Eyring model with a constant Eyring shear stress at the ambient pressure and temperature. The velocity of the faster surface was assumed to be four times as that of the slower surface in order not only to highlight the thermal and non-Newtonian effects, but also to ensure a cyclic solution when both surfaces were with transversely oriented waviness. Starting from a quasisteady solution, the cyclic time-dependent solution was achieved numerically time step by time step. The results show that the thermal and non-Newtonian effects can be enlarged significantly by the surface waviness, and the worst configuration of the surface topography is that both surfaces are with longitudinal waviness.

Author(s):  
Mingfei Ma ◽  
Wen Wang ◽  
Wenxun Jiang

As a common phenomenon in elastohydrodynamic lubrication, cavitation has an effect on the completeness of the oil film in the contact area. Many studies have therefore been conducted on cavitation. Experimental researches on cavitation usually rely on optical interference observation, which offers a limited resolution and observation range. In this paper, an infrared thermal camera is used to observe the cavity bubbles on a ball-on-disc setup under sliding/rolling conditions. The results show that the cavity length increases with an increases of the entrainment speed and the viscosity of the lubricants. These observations are explained by a numerical model based on Elrod's algorithm. Effects of entrainment speed and lubricant viscosity on the breakup of cavitation bubbles and the cavitation states are investigated. Both the simulation and experimental results show that a negative pressure area is present behind the Hertzian contact area. The ambient pressure plays a role in maintaining cavitation state 1. The cavitation pressure is close to the vacuum pressure when the entrainment speed is low and to the ambient pressure instead when the entrainment speed is high.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Abd Alsamieh

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the behavior of a single ridge passing through elastohydrodynamic lubrication of point contacts problem for different ridge shapes and sizes, including flat-top, triangular and cosine wave pattern to get an optimal ridge profile. Design/methodology/approach The time-dependent Reynolds’ equation is solved using Newton–Raphson technique. Several shapes of surface feature are simulated and the film thickness and pressure distribution are obtained at every time step by simultaneous solution of the Reynolds’ equation and film thickness equation, including elastic deformation. Film thickness and pressure distribution are chosen to be the criteria in the comparisons. Findings The geometrical characteristics of the ridge play an important role in the formation of lubricant film thickness profile and the pressure distribution through the contact zone. To minimize wear, friction and fatigue life, an optimal ridge profile should have smooth shape with small ridge size. Obtained results are compared with other published numerical results and show a good agreement. Originality/value The study evaluates the performance of different surface features of a single ridge with different shapes and sizes passing through elastohydrodynamic of point contact problem in relation to film thickness and pressure profile.


Author(s):  
Binbin Zhang ◽  
Jing Wang

In the current study, in order to obtain a thick film thickness under zero entrainment velocity at low surface velocity, the effects of ambient viscosity, pressure–viscosity index of the lubricant, and the surface waviness are investigated numerically based on a thermal elastohydrodynamic lubrication mathematical model. The increasing ambient viscosity and modest waviness can deepen the dimple by a stronger “temperature-viscosity wedge” effect. With the combined effect of ambient viscosity, pressure–viscosity index, and surface waviness, a small centralized dimple in smooth contact evolves into a big classical one together with the disappearance of the former thin droopy film thickness.


Author(s):  
Milan Omasta ◽  
Ivan Krupka ◽  
Martin Hartl

In general contact conditions, the surface velocities are variously oriented, thus the entrainment and sliding velocity act at different directions. The effects of magnitude and direction of the sliding velocity in elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) circular contact have been investigated. Film thickness distribution has been obtained using thin-film colorimetric interferometry. It has been found that direction of sliding velocity with respect to entrainment velocity play a role in film thickness distribution, particularly at high slide-to-roll ratios. A superposition of the effects of a pure rolling and of an opposite sliding has been considered. The pure rolling condition creates typical horse-shoe shaped film, whereas under the opposite sliding condition (i.e. zero entrainment velocity) conical depression in the central area of Hertzian contact called “dimple” has been observed.


2005 ◽  
Vol 127 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoling Liu ◽  
Ming Jiang ◽  
Peiran Yang ◽  
Motohiro Kaneta

A non-Newtonian numerical solution system for the thermal elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) problems in point contacts has been developed. The Eyring rheology model has been used to describe the non-Newtonian flow of the lubricant. An effective viscosity has been defined for the Eyring fluid. The Newtonian solver can be applied easily to the non-Newtonian problems when the viscosity of the Newtonian fluid is replaced by the effective viscosity. A novel technique for the determination of the effective viscosity is proposed. Numerical solutions for the conventional point contact and normally crossing cylinders contact problems are presented and the effects of the entraining velocity, the load, the slide-roll ratio, and the characteristic shear stress of the Eyring fluid on the lubricating performance are discussed. The results indicate that the non-Newtonian thermal EHL theory predicts more realistic film temperatures and traction coefficients.


2014 ◽  
Vol 136 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Pu ◽  
Jiaxu Wang ◽  
Ying Zhang ◽  
Dong Zhu

Numerical simulations of the elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) have been conducted by many researchers, in which the entrainment velocity is usually parallel to one of the axes of Hertzian contact ellipse. However, in some engineering applications, such as the counterformal contacts in spiral bevel and hypoid gears, entraining velocity vector may have an oblique angle that could possibly influence the lubrication characteristics significantly. Also, a vast majority of gears operate in mixed EHL mode in which the rough surface asperity contacts and lubricant films coexist. These gears are key elements widely used for transmitting significant power in various types of vehicles and engineering machinery. Therefore, model development for the mixed EHL in elliptical contacts with an arbitrary entrainment angle is of great importance. In the present paper, a recently developed mixed EHL model is modified to consider the effect of arbitrary entraining velocity angle, and the model is validated by comparing its results with available experimental data and previous numerical analyses found in literature. Based on this, numerical simulations are conducted to systematically study the influence of entrainment angle on lubricant film thickness in wide ranges of speed, load, and contact ellipticity. The obtained results cover the entire lubrication spectrum from thick-film and thin-film lubrication all the way down to mixed and boundary lubrication. In addition, minimum film thickness prediction formula is also developed through curve-fitting of the numerical results.


Author(s):  
Eduardo de la Guerra Ochoa ◽  
Javier Echávarri Otero ◽  
Enrique Chacón Tanarro ◽  
Benito del Río López

This article presents a thermal resistances-based approach for solving the thermal-elastohydrodynamic lubrication problem in point contact, taking the lubricant rheology into account. The friction coefficient in the contact is estimated, along with the distribution of both film thickness and temperature. A commercial tribometer is used in order to measure the friction coefficient at a ball-on-disc point contact lubricated with a polyalphaolefin base. These data and other experimental results available in the bibliography are compared to those obtained by using the proposed methodology, and thermal effects are analysed. The new approach shows good accuracy for predicting the friction coefficient and requires less computational cost than full thermal-elastohydrodynamic simulations.


2013 ◽  
Vol 135 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Wang ◽  
C. H. Venner ◽  
A. A. Lubrecht

The effect of single-sided and double-sided harmonic surface waviness on the film thickness, pressure, and temperature oscillations in an elastohydrodynamically lubricated eccentric-tappet pair has been investigated in relation to the eccentricity and the waviness wavelength. The results show that, during one working cycle, the waviness causes significant fluctuations of the oil film, pressure, and temperature, as well as a reduction in minimum film thickness. Smaller wavelength causes more dramatic variations in oil film. The fluctuations of the pressure, film thickness, temperature, and traction coefficient caused by double-sided waviness are nearly the same compared with the single-sided waviness, but the variations are less intense.


Author(s):  
Fadi Ali ◽  
Ivan Křupka ◽  
Martin Hartl

This study presents experimental results on the effect of out-of-contact lubricant channeling on the tribological performance of nonconformal contacts under starved lubrication. Channeling of lubricant was carried out by adding a slider with a limited slot for scraping the displaced lubricant on one of mating surfaces (ball). Thus, the scraped lubricant is forced to flow back into the depleted track through the limited slot resulting in robust replenishment. The measurements have been conducted using optical tribometer (ball-on-disc) equipped with a digital camera and torque sensor. The effect of lubricant channeling was compared to the original contact condition by means of measuring friction and film thickness. The results show that the out-of-contact lubricant channeling leads to a significant enhancement of film thickness and friction reduction under starved conditions. Indeed, the starved elastohydrodynamic lubrication contacts transformed to the fully flooded regime after introducing the flow reconditioning. Moreover, the film thickness decay over time, which is common with starved elastohydrodynamic lubrication contacts, has not been observed in the case of lubricant channeling. However, the beneficial effect of lubricant channeling diminishes as the original contact condition tends to the fully flooded regime. The results of this study can be easily implemented in practical applications such as radial and thrust rolling-element bearings.


2012 ◽  
Vol 184-185 ◽  
pp. 86-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shian Gao ◽  
Sutthinan Srirattayawong

The surface roughness plays an important role in elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL). To improve the lubrication system the flow behavior and lubrication mechanism must be understood, especially in the thin film classification. The effects of surface roughness in the EHL problem are complicated and difficult to measure by experiment. Therefore numerical simulation using the computational fluid dynamic (CFD) approach is proposed in this research. The CFD model developed has taken the arbitrary surface roughness into consideration, and has been used to predict the characteristics of fluid flow, such as the pressure distribution, the minimal film thickness and the shear stress. The cylinder is considered to be under elastic deformation according to the theory of Hertzian contact and the surface of cylinder is defined to have an arbitrary roughness. The simulation results show that the surface roughness has significant effects on the pressure profile and shear stress, especially in the case of pure rolling, where the two parameters in the rough surface case show large fluctuations that are much higher than the corresponding smooth surface case.


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