Starved lubrication of isoviscous rigid elliptical contacts

Abstract

A very large proportion of modern bearings is grease lubricated for life. Grease lubrication results for the majority of bearing operating conditions in a starved lubricant supply. This starved lubrication limits the film thickness generated and as a result provokes a reduction of the bearing life. Consequently, the topic of starved lubrication of elliptical EHL contacts is of considerable practical interest. The numerical solution of starved circular EHL contacts being already quite difficult, the solution of starved elliptical contacts is marked by an additional parameter (ellipticity) and additional convergence difficulties. Hence, the interest of a study of the starved elliptical problem under simpler lubricating conditions. The current study extends previous work by the authors on Isoviscous Rigid lubrication of circular contacts, as elliptical contacts are of greater practical interest. The results show that it is possible to scale the elliptical starved contact behaviour on the circular case.