Abstract
A new central film thickness formula pertaining to thin film elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) line contacts has been developed for Carreau-type shear-thinning lubricants using an extensive set of full EHL simulations. The shear-thinning correction factors available in the literature are based on EHL simulations carried out for a particular value of load and piezo-viscous coefficient using the simplest exponential pressure–viscosity relationship. In the present work, therefore, the load and piezo-viscous coefficient are varied over a wide range so as to arrive at a more generic and accurate film thickness equation. Also, the pressure–viscosity relation employed herein is the Doolittle's free volume-based viscosity model, which is capable of replicating the experimental pressure–viscosity data with a high degree of accuracy. It has been demonstrated that the present film thickness equation accurately captures the recently discovered scale and load sensitivity effects.
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