Dimple influence on load carrying capacity of parallel surfaces

Abstract

In the case of parallel surfaces, such as the oil control ring, no load carrying capacity is generated without texture. A flow conserving multigrid code is used to solve the hydrodynamic lubrication equation described by the Reynolds equation. This code is used to investigate the influence of texture geometry (dimples) and its position along the contact. In particular the behavior of the load carrying capacity according to the texture position on the central line of the contact is studied. To generate positive load carrying capacity, only partial texturing must be used. A significant difference can be observed between inlet texturing and outlet texturing. A multigrid code has been developped that allows a comparison between Dirichlet and periodic results. A comparison with equivalent step bearings is made to analyse the load carrying capacity.