Elastohydrodynamic lubrication of a finite line contact

Abstract

A numerical solution of the elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) of the finite line contact problem is presented for an axially profiled cylindrical roller which is rolling over a flat plane. The problem is systematically analyzed using a finite difference method and the Newton–Raphson method. Converged solutions are obtained for moderate load and material parameters. Pressure profiles and film shapes are showed and variations of the minimum film thickness with dimensionless parameters are also presented. At the middle of the roller, pressure profile and film shape are nearly the same as those of infinitely long line contacts. Near the position where the profiling start, however, the EHL results are considerably different from those of the infinite solution and both the maximum pressure and the minimum film thickness occur at this region. These analytical results bear a close resemblance to the experimental data in the literature obtained by optical interferometry. Therefore, the present numerical scheme can be used generally in the analysis of the EHL of finite line contact problems.