THE EFFECT OF SURFACE IRREGULARITIES ON THE ELASTOHYDRODYNAMIC LUBRICATION OF SLIDING LINE CONTACTS.

摘要

A method for studying the effects of surface irregularities on the elastohydrodynamic (EHD) lubrication of sliding line contacts is presented. A series of case studies illustrates the effect of furrow, asperity, and wavy surface irregularities on the pressure distribution, film thickness, and subsurface octahedral shear stresses in such contacts. The method is based on the solution of the combined Reynolds and elastic surface displacement integro-differential equation in finite difference form by the Newton-Raphson technique for systems of nonlinear equations. The results of the case studies show that the presence of surface irregularities has a significant effect on the fluid film pressure distribution, film thickness, and state of stress in the solid surface. The practical significance of the analytical results is the implied accelerated fatigue and scuffing failure in machine elements under sliding line contact EHD lubrication conditions.