About the Load-Carrying Capacity of Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication Film

Abstract

This paper analytically investigates elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) film load-carrying capacity in pure rolling for different surface speeds and different lubricant temperatures considering the lubricant viscoplasticity. The viscoplasticity assumption, based on experimental results from the literature, provides a much lower lubricant limiting shear stress than that extrapolated from high pressure. The analysis is carried out for speeds up to 10.0 m/s and maximum Hertzian stresses to 4.5 GPa. The results show that, for high speed and/or high viscosity of lubricant, the lubricant viscoplasticity essentially results in inlet zone slip and a much thinner film than the conventional theory prediction. The deviation from conventional theory lessens with speed and/or viscosity reductions.