Revision of a Fundamental Assumption in the Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication Theory and Friction in Heavily Loaded Line Contacts With Notable Sliding

2015 ◽  
Vol 138 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilya I. Kudish

An analysis of the classic friction modeling in lubricated contacts is conducted. Its major deficiency for soft materials (low-elastic moduli) leading to significant overstating of friction in heavily loaded isothermal and thermal lubricated contacts is revealed. An improved model of friction in a heavily loaded lubricated contact is proposed. The model is based on incorporating the tangential displacements of the solid surfaces in contact, leading to a significant reduction of the frictional stress due to the decrease of the actual sliding of lubricated surfaces. Generally, this frictional stress reduction increases with the slide-to-roll ratio, and it is extremely important for high slide-to-roll ratios for which classic approaches lead to unrealistically overestimated values of frictional stresses. The high slide-to-roll ratio values can be found in many practical applications, such as clutches. Several examples of the frictional stress calculated based on this model as well as the comparison with the classical results are given for the case of smooth solid surfaces and lubricants with Newtonian rheology. Also, the results allow to take a look at the role and the necessity of considering thermal and lubricant non-Newtonian effects on solution of various EHL problems for such heavily loaded contacts.

2005 ◽  
Vol 128 (2) ◽  
pp. 282-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Yang ◽  
J. Wang ◽  
M. Kaneta

This paper focuses on the mechanism of starvation and the thermal and non-Newtonian behavior of starved elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) in line contacts. It has been found that for a starved EHL line contact if the position of the oil-air meniscus is given as input parameter, the effective thickness of the available lubricant layers on the solid surfaces can be solved easily from the mass continuity condition, alternatively, if the later is given as input parameter, the former can also be determined easily. Numerical procedures were developed for both situations, and essentially the same solution can be obtained for the same parameters. In order to highlight the importance of the available oil layers, isothermal and Newtonian solutions were obtained first with multi-level techniques. The results show that as the inlet meniscus of the film moves far away from the contact the effective thickness of the oil layers upstream the meniscus gently reaches a certain value. This means very thin layers (around 1μm in thickness) of available lubricant films on the solid surfaces, provided the effective thickness is equal to or larger than this limitation, are enough to fill the gap downstream the meniscus and makes the contact work under a fully flooded condition. The relation between the inlet meniscus and the effective thickness of the available lubricant layers was further investigated by thermal and non-Newtonian solutions. For these solutions the lubricant was assumed to be a Ree-Eyring fluid. The pressures, film profiles and temperatures under fully flooded and starved conditions were obtained with the numerical technique developed previously. The traction coefficient of the starved contact is found to be larger than that of the fully flooded contact, the temperature in the starved EHL film, however, is found to be lower than the fully flooded contact. Some non-Newtonian results were compared with the corresponding Newtonian results.


2015 ◽  
Vol 137 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilya I. Kudish

Heavily loaded point elastohydrodynamically lubricated (EHL) contacts involved in steady purely transitional, skewed transitional, and transitional with spinning motions are considered. It is shown that in the central parts of the inlet and exit zones of such heavily loaded point EHL contacts the asymptotic equations governing the EHL problem along the lubricant flow streamlines for the above types of contact motions can be reduced to two sets of asymptotic equations: one in the inlet and one in the exit zones. The latter sets of equations are identical to the asymptotic equations describing lubrication process in the inlet and exit zones of the corresponding heavily loaded line EHL contact (Kudish, I. I., 2013, Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication for Line and Point Contacts: Asymptotic and Numerical Approaches, Chapman and Hall/CRC). For each specific motion of a point contact, a separate set of formulas for the lubrication film thickness is obtained. For different types of contact motions, these film thickness formulas differ significantly (Kudish, I. I., 2013, Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication for Line and Point Contacts: Asymptotic and Numerical Approaches, Chapman and Hall/CRC). For heavily loaded contacts, the discovered relationship between point and line EHL problems allows to apply to point contacts most of the results obtained for line contacts (Kudish, I. I., 2013, Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication for Line and Point Contacts: Asymptotic and Numerical Approaches, Chapman and Hall/CRC; Kudish, I. I., and Covitch, M. J., 2010, Modeling and Analytical Methods in Tribology, Chapman and Hall/CRC).


2018 ◽  
Vol 140 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qie-Da Chen ◽  
Wang-Long Li

Soft elastohydrodynamic lubrication (soft-EHL) is an important mechanism in biotribological systems. The soft-EHL has some distinct differences from the traditional hard-EHL, and a systematic analysis factoring in key features of the “softness” appears to be lacking. In this paper, a complete soft-EHL line-contact model is developed. In the model, the half-space approximation is replaced by the finite thickness analysis; the geometrical and material nonlinearity due to finite deformation is factored in; the surface velocities altered by the curvature effect are considered, and the load balance equation is formulated based on the deformed configuration. Solutions are obtained using a finite element method (FEM). The film thickness, pressure distributions, and material deformation are analyzed and discussed under various entraining velocities, elastic modulus, and material thickness of the soft layer. Comparisons are made between soft-EHL and hard-EHL modeling assumptions. The analyses show that the classical EHL modeling is not suitable for soft materials with high loads. The results show that the finite deformation (Green strain) should be considered in soft-EHL analysis. In the contact region, the hard EHL solver overestimates the pressure distribution and underestimates the film thickness and deformation.


2018 ◽  
Vol 141 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Hultqvist ◽  
Aleks Vrcek ◽  
Braham Prakash ◽  
Pär Marklund ◽  
Roland Larsson

In order to adapt to increasingly stringent CO2 regulations, the automotive industry must develop and evaluate low cost, low emission solutions in the powertrain technology. This often implies increased power density and the use of low viscosity oils, leading to additional challenges related to the durability of various machine elements. Therefore, an increased understanding of lubricated contacts becomes important where oil viscosity–pressure and compressibility–pressure behavior have been shown to influence the film thickness and pressure distribution in elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) contacts, further influencing the durability. In this work, a finite line EHL contact is analyzed with focus on the oil compressibility–pressure and viscosity–pressure response, comparing two oils with relatively different behavior and its influence on subsurface stress concentrations in the contacting bodies. Results indicate that increased pressure gradients and pressure spikes, and therefore increased localized stress concentrations, can be expected for stiffer, less compressible oils, which under transient loading conditions not only affect the outlet but also the edges of the roller.


2015 ◽  
Vol 138 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilya I. Kudish ◽  
Sergey S. Volkov ◽  
Andrey S. Vasiliev ◽  
Sergey M. Aizikovich

Contacts of indentors with functionally graded elastic solids may produce pressures significantly different from the results obtained for homogeneous elastic materials (Hertzian results). It is even more so for heavily loaded line elastohydrodynamically lubricated (EHL) contacts. The goal of the paper is to indicate two distinct ways the functionally graded elastic materials may alter the classic results for the heavily loaded line EHL contacts. Namely, besides pressure the other two main characteristics which are influenced by the nonuniformity of the elastic properties of the contact materials are lubrication film thickness and frictional stress/friction force produced by lubricant flow. The approach used for analyzing the influence of functionally graded elastic materials on parameters of heavily loaded line EHL contacts is based on the asymptotic methods earlier developed by authors (Kudish, 2013, Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication for Line and Point Contacts: Asymptotic and Numerical Approaches, Chapman & Hall/CRC Press, New York; Kudish and Covitch, 2010, Modeling and Analytical Methods in Tribology, Chapman & Hall/CRC Press, New York; and Aizikovich et al., 2006, Contact Problems of Elasticity for Functionally Graded Materials, Fizmatlit, Moscow, Russia). More specifically, it is based on the analysis of contact problems for dry contacts of functionally graded elastic solids and the lubrication mechanisms in the inlet and exit zones as well as in the central region of heavily lubricated contacts.


Author(s):  
B K Karthikeyan ◽  
M Teodorescu ◽  
H Rahnejat ◽  
S J Rothberg

Isothermal and thermoelastohydrodynamic lubrication (TEHL) analyses of grease lubricated bearings are presented. A grease plug flow is formed in the conjunction that, with no shear at the boundaries with the solid surfaces, adheres to them in the region of high pressures under isothermal conditions. The elastohydrodynamic lubrication grease pressure distribution conforms fairly closely to that of its base oil alone, with the exception of inlet trail and pressure spike regions. The dependency of film thickness on speed (rolling viscosity) and load parameters for the base oil agrees with previously reported findings of the research community. For grease there are subtle differences with the base oil film thickness load and speed dependencies. However, it is clear that extrapolated oil film thickness formulae for oils can be used reasonably for the prediction of grease films, at least as a first approximation. The results presented agree well with optical interferometric measurements reported in the literature for grease-lubricated contacts at low temperatures and low surface velocities. TEHL analysis shows breakdown of the plug flow and significant reduction in film thickness, which can lead to changes in the regime of lubrication to mixed or boundary conditions.


1989 ◽  
Vol 111 (2) ◽  
pp. 246-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ping Pan ◽  
B. J. Hamrock

The film thickness and pressure in elastohydrodynamically lubricated conjunctions have been evaluated numerically for a rather complete range of operating parameters (dimensionless load, speed, and materials parameters) normally experienced in practical applications. From the film thickness and pressure throughout the conjunction a number of performance parameters were evaluated. By curve fitting the data, formulas were obtained that allow easy evaluation of the amplitude and location of the pressure spike, the minimum and central film thicknesses, the value of ρeHe, and the center of pressure.


2015 ◽  
Vol 137 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tao He ◽  
Jiaxu Wang ◽  
Zhanjiang Wang ◽  
Dong Zhu

Line contact is common in many machine components, such as various gears, roller and needle bearings, and cams and followers. Traditionally, line contact is modeled as a two-dimensional (2D) problem when the surfaces are assumed to be smooth or treated stochastically. In reality, however, surface roughness is usually three-dimensional (3D) in nature, so that a 3D model is needed when analyzing contact and lubrication deterministically. Moreover, contact length is often finite, and realistic geometry may possibly include a crowning in the axial direction and round corners or chamfers at two ends. In the present study, plasto-elastohydrodynamic lubrication (PEHL) simulations for line contacts of both infinite and finite length have been conducted, taking into account the effects of surface roughness and possible plastic deformation, with a 3D model that is needed when taking into account the realistic contact geometry and the 3D surface topography. With this newly developed PEHL model, numerical cases are analyzed in order to reveal the PEHL characteristics in different types of line contact.


1983 ◽  
Vol 105 (4) ◽  
pp. 598-604 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Mostofi ◽  
R. Gohar

In this paper, a numerical solution to the elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) problem is presented for a cylindrical roller with axially profiled ends, rolling over a flat plane. Convergence was obtained for moderate load and material parameters (glass, steel, and a mineral oil). Isobars, contours, and section graphs, show pressure variation and film shape. Predictions of film thickness compare favorably with experiments which use the optical interference method, as well as with other theoretical results for an infinite line contact, or an ellipse having a long slender aspect ratio. The maximum EHL pressure occurs near the start of the profiling and can exceed pressure concentrations there predicted by elastostatic theory.


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.


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