A solution to the hydrodynamic lubrication of a circular point contact sliding over a flat surface with cavitation

摘要

This letter presents an analytical solution to the hydrodynamic lubrication of a circular point contact sliding over a flat surface with cavitation.The solution is found by solving the Reynolds equation with Reynolds boundary condition for cavitation.The cavitation boundary is shown to be straight lines directed 108.4°against the sliding direction.The result is experimentally verified in the limit of large values of viscosity,sliding velocity and radius of a spherical ball.The solution raises questions about the coupling between cavitation and film rupture and can be used as an independent check on the validity of numerical solutions.