FRICTION STUDIES OF EHL LUBRICATED CO NTACTS

Abstract

Duc to the tendency of down-size, machine components are quite often required to work on more and more harsh conditions. For lubrication systems this implies that there would be reduction of lubricating film up-to such level that interaction of asperity to asperity starts playing a significant character. That's why; much attention is paid to the full fluid film lubrication of concentrated contacts. This area of research is typically represented as Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication. Full fluid film lubrication asperity contacts results into a reduced coefficient of friction compared to boundary film lubrication which also results in reduction of the adhesive and corrosive wear. It would affect the life of the contacting surfaces positively. The solution of EHL problems consists of two parts, the first is solving the Reynolds equation to find fluid film pressure distribution along the contacting region and the second is to find the elastic deformation of the contacting surfaces based on theory of elasticity. In this dissertation work FINITE ELEMENT METHOD (FEM) is used to solve the Reynolds equation and calculate pressure in the contacting region. FEM is reliable and powerful method for solving a very wide range of engineering problems. It has many advantages, such as its flexibility to solve problems, with complex geometries, and boundary conditions.