Transient analysis of surface roughness features in thermal elastohydrodynamic contacts

摘要

Understanding the influence of surface roughness in elastohydrodynamically lubricated (EHL) contacts is essential to improve durability and friction performance of machine elements employing non-conformal contacting surfaces. In this work, the transient event of a surface feature passing through a thermal EHL line contact operating under different sliding conditions is investigated with the purpose of providing a deeper understanding of surface roughness influence. This is achieved by solving the EHL problem in space and time. It was seen that sliding influences the temperature rise in the contact significantly, especially in the vicinity of the asperity. However, due to the characteristic behaviour of EHL contacts, the local temperature rise mainly influence the film thickness during exiting of inlet perturbations and the asperity.