Flow Continuity of Isothermal Elastohydrodynamic Point-Contact Lubrication under Different Numerical Iteration Configurations

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Liangwei Qiu ◽  
Shuangbiao Liu ◽  
Zhijian Wang ◽  
Xiaoyang Chen

Abstract Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication (EHL) in point contacts can be numerically solved with various iteration methods, but so far the flow continuity of such solutions has not been explicitly verified. A series of closed regions with the same inlet side boundary is defined and two treatments to total all flows related to the other boundaries of the closed regions are defined to enable flow continuity verifications. The multigrid method and the traditional single mesh method with different relaxation configurations are utilized to solve different cases to evaluate computation efficiencies. For the multigrid method, the combination of a pointwise solver together with hybrid relaxation factors is identified to perform better than other combinations. The single mesh method has inferior degrees of flow continuity than the multigrid method and needs much smaller error control values of pressure to achieve a decent level of flow continuity. Because flow continuity has a physical meaning, its verifications should be routinely included in any self-validation process for any EHL results. Effects of control errors of pressure, mesh sizes, differential schemes and operating conditions on flow continuities are studied. Then, trends of film thickness with respect to speed are briefly discussed with meshes up to 4097 by 4097.

Author(s):  
P Ehret ◽  
D Dowson ◽  
C M Taylor ◽  
D Wang

A multigrid multi-integration method has been used to solve the elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) point contact problem over a large range of loads. Solutions obtained with the multigrid method are compared with those computed with an effective influence Newton method. Good agreement has been obtained, which validates the results obtained by both of these independent methods. Smooth surface problems have been used to test the multigrid method, but an example that takes into account a wavy surface has demonstrated the robustness and the large potential of the multigrid method to analyse EHL problems with three-dimensional surface roughness.


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.


A technique using Newton’s rings for mapping the oil film of lubricated point contacts is described. A theoretical value for the film thickness of such contacts in elastohydrodynamic lubrication is derived. The experimental results give the exit constriction predicted by previous theory but never shown in detail. The comparison of theoretical and experimental oil film thicknesses, which is satisfactorily accurate, gives strong evidence for a viscous surface layer some 1000Å thick. This film agrees with the known ‘lubricating power’ of the various oils tested.


Author(s):  
A. D. Chapkov ◽  
C. H. Venner ◽  
A. A. Lubrecht

The influence of surface roughness on the performance of bearings and gears operating under ElastoHydrodynamic Lubrication (EHL) conditions has become increasingly important over the last decade, as the average film thickness decreased due to various influences. Surface features can reduce the minimum film thickness and thus increase the wear. They can also increase the temperature and the pressure fluctuations, which directly affects the component life. In order to describe the roughness geometry inside an EHL contact, the amplitude reduction of harmonic waviness has been studied over the last ten years. This theory currently allows a quantitative prediction of the waviness amplitude and includes the influence of wavelength and contact operating conditions. However, the model assumes a Newtonian behaviour of the lubricant. The current paper makes a first contribution to the extension of the roughness amplitude reduction for EHL point contacts including non-Newtonian effects.


2018 ◽  
Vol 70 (4) ◽  
pp. 599-611 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vishwanath B. Awati ◽  
Shankar Naik ◽  
Mahesh Kumar N.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the elastohydrodynamic lubrication point contact problem with bio-based oil as lubricants for an isothermal case. The simulation of the problem is analyzed on smooth and rough asperity. Design/methodology/approach The modified Reynolds equation is discretized using finite difference and multigrid method with full approximation scheme (FAS), applied for its solution with varying load and speed. Findings This paper traces out the comparison of minimum and central film thickness with the standard formulation of Hamrock and Dowson. The effect of longitudinal roughness on surfaces is investigated by means of numerical simulations. Originality/value The results obtained are comparable with the standard results, and are shown by graphs and tables. Bio-based products bring out an alternative source of lubricant to reduce energy crises.


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.


1981 ◽  
Vol 103 (4) ◽  
pp. 547-557 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. P. Evans ◽  
R. W. Snidle

The paper describes a numerical procedure for solving the point-contact elastohydrodynamic lubrication problem under isothermal conditions at moderate loads. Results are presented showing the shape of the film and variation of hydrodynamic pressure. Analysis of results for a range of operating conditions gives the following approximate formulas for minimum and central film thickness, repsectively: Hm = 1.9 M−0.17 L0.34 and Ho = 1.7 M−0.026 L0.40 where H, M, and L are the Moes and Bosma nondimensional groups. In common with earlier solutions based upon the forward-iterative method the solution breaks down under moderately heavily loaded conditions. Ways of extending the solution to heavier loads using the authors’ inverse solution of Reynolds’ equation under point-contact elastohydrodynamic conditions are discussed.


1976 ◽  
Vol 98 (4) ◽  
pp. 524-529 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Biswas ◽  
R. W. Snidle

The paper presents a numerical solution for the elastohydrodynamic lubrication of low modulus point contacts which is broadly equivalent to the theory of Grubin for materials of high elastic modulus. The theoretical results obtained for the variation of minimum film thickness using this approach are therefore expected to apply to conditions of high load and low speed. For less severe conditions in which elastic deformation is less significant an alternative approach has been developed. Results of this analysis show the transition from undeformed to heavily loaded conditions. The effect of lubricant starvation has been examined for heavily loaded conditions and the theoretical results are compared with those obtained previously for high elastic modulus point contact.


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).


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.


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