Abstract
Under severe conditions, solid contacts take place even when parts are lubricated. Precise mathematical conditions are needed to describe the interior interface between fluid lubrication and solid-contact zones. In order to distinguish the conditions for this interface from conventional lubrication boundary conditions, they are named lubrication–contact interface conditions (LCICs). In this work, mathematical LCICs are derived with local flow continuity from the continuum mechanics point of view and pressure inequality across the interface. Numerical implementations are developed and tested with problems having simple geometries and configurations, and they are integrated into a new mixed/boundary elastohydrodynamic lubrication solver that uses a new method to determine solid-contact pressures. This solver is capable of capturing film thickness and pressure behaviors involving solid contacts.
Highlights
Modeling full-film lubrication problems between two solid bodies requires boundary conditions at the inlet, exit, and sides of the lubrication region, or at the interior cavitation boundaries if applicable, for the Reynolds equation to be properly solved
Some of the boundary conditions for fluid exit are summarized by Liu in [1]
In real engineering products, mixed/boundary lubrication can occur at low speeds and/or heavy loads, where fluid lubrication exists in some zones while solid contacts appear in other, co-existing in the nominal lubrication region
Summary
Modeling full-film lubrication problems between two solid bodies requires boundary conditions at the inlet, exit, and sides of the lubrication region, or at the interior cavitation boundaries if applicable, for the Reynolds equation to be properly solved. Zapletal et al [2] measured gaps, or the film thickness, using interferograms, between two lubricated surfaces with different levels of roughness under varying speeds, and quantitatively evaluated the extent of solid contacts. When modeling such lubrication problems using the Reynolds equation, it is necessary to define the conditions that reflect the local physical reality at the interfaces between solid contact on one side of the interface and fluid lubrication on the other. These boundary conditions between the liquid-lubricated and solid-contact zones in the space between the two solid bodies are called the lubrication–contact interface conditions (LCICs), where “contact” refers to solid contact
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