Film Thickness and Asperity Load Formulas for Line-Contact Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication With Provision for Surface Roughness

2012 ◽  
Vol 134 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Masjedi ◽  
M. M. Khonsari

Three formulas are derived for predicting the central and the minimum film thickness as well as the asperity load ratio in line-contact EHL with provision for surface roughness. These expressions are based on the simultaneous solution to the modified Reynolds equation and surface deformation with consideration of elastic, plastic and elasto-plastic deformation of the surface asperities. The formulas cover a wide range of input and they are of the form f(W, U, G, σ¯, V), where the parameters represented are dimensionless load, speed, material, surface roughness and hardness, respectively.

Author(s):  
Mongkol Mongkolwongrojn ◽  
Khanittha Wongseedakaew ◽  
Francis E. Kennedy

This paper presents the analysis of elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) of two parallel cylinders in line contact with non-Newtonian fluids under oscillatory motion. The effects of transverse harmonic surface roughness are also investigated in the numerical simulation. The time-dependent Reynolds equation uses a power law model for viscosity. The simultaneous system of modified Reynolds equation and elasticity equation with initial conditions was solved using multi-grid multi-level method with full approximation technique. Film thickness and pressure profiles were determined for smooth and rough surfaces in the oscillatory EHL conjunctions, and the film thickness predictions were verified experimentally. For an increase in the applied load on the cylinders, the minimum film thickness calculated numerically becomes smaller. The predicted film thickness is slightly higher than the film thickness obtained experimentally, owing to cavitation that occurred in the experiments. For both hard and soft EHL contacts, the minimum film thickness under oscillatory motion is very thin near the trailing edge of the contact, especially for stiffer surfaces. The surface roughness and power law index of the non-Newtonian lubricant both have significant effects on the film thickness and pressure profile between the cylinders under oscillatory motion.


Author(s):  
V. D’Agostino ◽  
V. Petrone ◽  
A. Senatore

A numerical solution of elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) contact between two rough surface cylinders is presented. In the theoretical approach the free-volume viscosity model is used to describe the piezo-viscous behavior of the lubricant in a Newtonian Elastohydrodynamic line contact [1,2]. Random rough surfaces with Gaussian and exponential statistics have been generated using a method outlined by Garcia and Stoll [3], where an uncorrelated distribution of surface points using a random number generator is convolved with a Gaussian filter to achieve correlation. This convolution is most efficiently performed using the discrete Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithm, which in MATLAB is based on the FFTW library [4]. The maximum pressure and average film thickness are studied at different values of RMS, skewness, kurtosis, autocorrelation function and correlation length. Numerical examples show that skewness and kurtosis have a great effect on the parameters of EHD lubrication. Surface roughness, indeed, tends to reduce the minimum film thickness and it produces pressure fluctuations inside the conjunction which tend to increase the maximum stress. In this way the dynamic stress increases and tends to reduce the fatigue life of the components. It can be seen that the pressures developed in the fluid film in the case of rough surfaces fluctuate with the same frequency of the surface roughness. These pressure ripples correspond to the asperity peaks. This indicates that surface roughness causes very high local contact pressures which may lead to local thinning of the film. A significant reduction has been also observed in the minimum film thickness due to surface roughness.


2017 ◽  
Vol 140 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Pu ◽  
Dong Zhu ◽  
Jiaxu Wang

In this study, a modified mixed lubrication model is developed with consideration of machined surface roughness, arbitrary entraining velocity angle, starvation, and cavitation. Model validation is executed by means of comparison between the obtained numerical results and the available starved elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) data found from some previous studies. A comprehensive analysis for the effect of inlet oil supply condition on starvation and cavitation, mixed EHL characteristics, friction and flash temperature in elliptical contacts is conducted in a wide range of operating conditions. In addition, the influence of roughness orientation on film thickness and friction is discussed under different starved lubrication conditions. Obtained results reveal that inlet starvation leads to an obvious reduction of average film thickness and an increase in interasperity cavitation area due to surface roughness, which results in significant increment of asperity contacts, friction, and flash temperature. Besides, the effect of entrainment angle on film thickness will be weakened if the two surfaces operate under starved lubrication condition. Furthermore, the results show that the transverse roughness may yield thicker EHL films and lower friction than the isotropic and longitudinal if starvation is taken into account. Therefore, the starved mixed EHL model can be considered as a useful engineering tool for industrial applications.


Author(s):  
P Sinha ◽  
J S Kennedy ◽  
C M Rodkiewicz ◽  
P Chandra ◽  
R Sharma ◽  
...  

To study the effects of surface roughness and additives in lubrication, a generalized form of Reynolds equation is derived by taking into account the roughness interaction zones adjacent to the moving rough surfaces as sparsely porous matrices and purely hydrodynamic film of micropolar fluid characterizing the lubricant with additives. A particular, one-dimensional form of this equation is used to study these effects on the elastohydrodynamic (EHD) minimum film thickness at the inlet, between two rough rollers. It is shown that for the low permeability of the roughness zone, the EHD film thickness increases as the mean height of the asperities increases, whereas for the high permeability it decreases. The EHD film thickness is also found to increase with the concentration of the additives and the molecular size of the particles. These results are in conformity at least qualitatively, with various experimental and theoretical investigations, cited in the paper.


2016 ◽  
Vol 08 (02) ◽  
pp. 1650014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kun Zhou ◽  
Qingbing Dong

This paper develops a three-dimensional (3D) model for a heterogeneous half-space with inclusions distributed periodically beneath its surface subject to elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) line-contact applied by a cylindrical loading body. The model takes into account the interactions between the loading body, the fluid lubricant and the heterogeneous half-space. In the absence of subsurface inclusions, the surface contact pressure distribution, the half-space surface deformation and the lubricant film thickness profile are obtained through solving a unified Reynolds equation system. The inclusions are homogenized according to Eshelby’s equivalent inclusion method (EIM) with unknown eigenstrains to be determined. The disturbed half-space surface deformations induced by the subsurface inclusions or eigenstrains are iteratively introduced into the lubricant film thickness until the surface deformation finally converges. Both time-independent smooth surface contact and time-dependent rough surface contact are considered for the lubricated contact problem.


2000 ◽  
Vol 122 (4) ◽  
pp. 711-720 ◽  
Author(s):  
Young S. Kang ◽  
Farshid Sadeghi ◽  
Xiaolan Ai

A model was developed to study the effects of a rigid debris on elastohydrodynamic lubrication of rolling/sliding contacts. In order to achieve the objectives the time dependent Reynolds equation was modified to include the effects of an ellipsoidal shaped debris. The modified time dependent Reynolds and elasticity equations were simultaneously solved to determine the pressure and film thickness in EHL contacts. The debris force balance equation was solved to determine the debris velocity. The model was then used to obtain results for a variety of loads, speeds, and debris sizes. The results indicate that the debris has a significant effect on the pressure distribution and causes a dent on the rolling/sliding bounding surfaces. Depending on the size and location of the debris the pressure generated within the contact can be high enough to plastically deform the bounding surfaces. Debris smaller than the minimum film thickness do not enter the contact and only large and more spherical debris move toward the contact. [S0742-4787(11)00501-7]


2013 ◽  
Vol 281 ◽  
pp. 329-334
Author(s):  
Jun He ◽  
Huang Ping ◽  
Qian Qian Yang

In the present paper, a new method for measuring elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) pressure in line contact is proposed, which is based on the photoelastic technique. The pressure distribution of EHL film and the inner stresses in the friction pairs are fundamental issues to carry out EHL research. The film thickness, pressure and temperature have been successfully obtained with solving the basic equations such as Reynolds equation and energy equation simultaneously or separately, with numerical model of EHL problem. The film thickness can be also measured with the optical interference technique. However, the pressure measurement is still a problem which has not been well solved yet, so as the inner stresses inside the friction pairs. With the experimental mechanics, the photoelastic technique is a possible method to be used for measuring the pressure distribution of EHL film and inner friction pair in the line contact. Therefore, A flat plastic disk and a steel roller compose the frictional pairs of the photoelastic pressure measuring rig with combining the monochromatic LED light source, polarizer CCD camera and stereomicroscope to form the whole pressure measuring system of the line contact EHL. The experimental results with the rig display the typical features of EHL pressure. This shows that the method is feasible to be used for measuring the pressure of EHL film and the inner stresses of the friction pairs in the line contact.


Author(s):  
C J Hooke

The elastohydrodynamic lubrication of point contacts is examined and results for the minimum film thickness are presented for a wide range of radius ratios and operating conditions. The results are compared with the predictions of the appropriate regime formulae. Although these formulae give a reasonable estimate of the contact's behaviour, the actual clearances are often substantially different, particularly close to the regime boundaries. Interpolation equations for seven values of radius ratio are given and these should be sufficient to allow the minimum clearance to be estimated for most isoviscous point contacts.


Author(s):  
C. J. Hooke ◽  
P Huang

The paper discusses the influence of viscoelasticity in elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL). It is shown that viscoelastic effects, particularly in soft materials such as rubber and polymers, may significantly affect the lubrication process. The variations of the pressure and film thickness with viscoelasticity are discussed, as is the internal energy loss in the material. Two effects are present. The first, controlled by the Deborah number based on the Hertz contact width, determines the width of the contact, the overall pressure distribution and the energy loss. The second, controlled by the Deborah number based on the entrainment length, largely determines the thickness of the entrained film and the minimum film thickness.


Author(s):  
Amir Torabi ◽  
Saleh Akbarzadeh ◽  
Mohammadreza Salimpour

In this study, a numerical model is developed to show the performance improvement of a cam–follower mechanism when using a roller type follower compared to the flat-faced follower. Nonconformal geometry besides the thermal effects due to the shearing of the lubricant film results in formation of a thin film in which the asperities contribute in carrying the load. The numerical model is developed in which the geometry, load, speed, lubricant properties, and the surface roughness profile is taken as input and the film thickness and friction coefficient as a function of cam angle are predicted. The asperities are assumed to have elastic, elasto-plastic, and plastic deformation. Simulation results indicated that the thermal effects cannot be neglected. Surface roughness is also a key parameter that affects the pressure distribution, film thickness, and friction coefficient. Finally, asperity and hydrodynamic pressure is reported and the performance of the two mechanisms is compared. Roller follower has a considerable preference in terms of friction coefficient compared to flat-faced follower. The minimum film thickness, however, is slightly larger in the flat follower.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document