Thermal and Non-Newtonian Numerical Analyses for Starved EHL Line Contacts

Abstract

This paper focuses on the mechanism of starvation and the thermal and non-Newtonian behavior of starved elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) in line contacts. It has been found that for a starved EHL line contact if the position of the oil-air meniscus is given as input parameter, the effective thickness of the available lubricant layers on the solid surfaces can be solved easily from the mass continuity condition, alternatively, if the later is given as input parameter, the former can also be determined easily. Numerical procedures were developed for both situations, and essentially the same solution can be obtained for the same parameters. In order to highlight the importance of the available oil layers, isothermal and Newtonian solutions were obtained first with multi-level techniques. The results show that as the inlet meniscus of the film moves far away from the contact the effective thickness of the oil layers upstream the meniscus gently reaches a certain value. This means very thin layers (around 1μm in thickness) of available lubricant films on the solid surfaces, provided the effective thickness is equal to or larger than this limitation, are enough to fill the gap downstream the meniscus and makes the contact work under a fully flooded condition. The relation between the inlet meniscus and the effective thickness of the available lubricant layers was further investigated by thermal and non-Newtonian solutions. For these solutions the lubricant was assumed to be a Ree-Eyring fluid. The pressures, film profiles and temperatures under fully flooded and starved conditions were obtained with the numerical technique developed previously. The traction coefficient of the starved contact is found to be larger than that of the fully flooded contact, the temperature in the starved EHL film, however, is found to be lower than the fully flooded contact. Some non-Newtonian results were compared with the corresponding Newtonian results.