A computer model of mixed lubrication in point contacts

Abstract

A numerical model of mixed lubrication is presented in this paper. The idea introduced here is that asperity contact may be viewed as a result of a continuous decrease in film thickness, so that the transition between contact and non-contact is continuous and the same mathematical model should work for both regions. The pressure over the thin films is assumed to obey the Reynolds equation, and the solution of the equation, under the condition of h→0, is expected to be the same as that predicted by the theory of elasticity. To achieve convergent and stable solutions, the left-hand side terms of the Reynolds equation are switched off when the local film thickness approaches zero, leading to a reduced Reynolds equation. Pressure distributions over the entire computation domain are thus obtained through solving a unified equation system without identifying hydrodynamic or asperity contact regions. Computations were conducted for several example cases and results show that convergent solutions are achievable on different types of roughness, over a wide range of λ ratios (0.01 to infinity), and for different slide-to-roll ratios (0.0–2.0).