A novel numerical scheme for the analysis of effects of surface roughness on EHL line contact with couple stress fluid as lubricant

Abstract

In this article, a Jacobian-free Newton Multigrid (JFNMG) method is used for obtaining the solution of isothermal, steady and compressible elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) line contact problem with surface roughness. The lubricant is a couple stress fluid. A finite difference scheme is used for the solution of EHL equations. The proposed JFNMG method, for the solution of resulting nonlinear system of algebraic equations, comprises nonlinear Newton iterations on the outer loop and linear multigrid iterations on the inner loop. It overcomes the limitations of conventional schemes for the investigation of the problems covering wide range of physical parameters of interest. For increasing values of couple stress parameter, there is an increase in minimum film thickness and considerable decrease (in height as well as spread) of pressure spike. Also, the sensitivity of height and spread of pressure spike as a function of load, couple stress parameter and other parameters are investigated.