Lubrication Of Contacts Research Articles

Enhanced tribological properties of sliding contacts through the synergistic effect of PTFE film and PSAIL 2280

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of a composite lubrication system combining polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) film and oil lubrication in steel–steel friction pairs.Design/methodology/approachA PTFE layer was sintered on the surface of a steel disk, and a lubricant with additives was applied to the surface of the steel disk. A friction and wear tester was used to evaluate the tribological properties and insulation capacity. Fourier transform infrared spectrometer was used to analyze the changes in the composition of the lubricant, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to analyze the chemical composition of the worn surface.FindingsIt was found that incorporating the PTFE film with PSAIL 2280 significantly enhanced both the friction reduction and insulation capabilities at the electrical contact interface during sliding. The system consistently achieved ultra-low friction coefficients (COF < 0.01) under loads of 2–4 N and elucidated the underlying lubrication mechanisms.Originality/valueThis work not only confirm the potential of PTFE films in insulating electrical contact lubrication but also offer a viable approach for maintaining efficient and stable low-friction wear conditions.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-06-2024-0222/

Enhancing wind turbine energy efficiency: Tribo-dynamics modeling and shape modification

The performance of wind turbine gearbox planetary bearing systems directly influences the turbine's reliability, energy production efficiency, and economy. However, the lack of a comprehensive model to accurately predict the dynamic meshing load of helical gears and temperature effects hinders a deeper understanding of the transient performance of gearbox planetary sliding bearings. Additionally, research on shape modification for gearbox planetary sliding bearings remains inadequate. This study develops a comprehensive tribo-dynamics model that considers the dynamic meshing forces of helical gears and temperature effects. The model's effectiveness is validated by the concordance between experimental data from a full-size test bench and simulation results on oil film thickness and temperature. Transient simulation analysis indicates insufficient lubrication, high-temperature rise, and severe contact that reduce electricity production efficiency and reliability, all of which occur at bearing axial edges. Therefore, three modified bearing designs (super-elliptical, trapezoidal, and quadratic shapes) are introduced, and their improved performance is thoroughly compared. The super-elliptical design increases the minimum oil film thickness by 2.60 μm. The trapezoidal design reduces cumulative friction energy losses by 4.34 %. Each modified design successfully reduces the edge wear and oil temperature. The underlying enhancing mechanisms are revealed to be oil film uniform redistribution and lubrication states' alteration. This work can contribute to the reliability, electricity production efficiency, and economy of global wind turbines and support the achievement of net-zero emission goals.

Truncation effects on circular EHL contact film thickness

Predictions of film thickness in elastohydrodynamic lubricated (EHL) contacts generally rely on the assumption of a semi-infinite equivalent solid to calculate elastic deformations. However, this assumption often fails when the contact is near an edge of one of the solids. This paper explores the impact of a solid edge being close to or within a theoretical EHL contact area on film thickness. We specifically highlight the advantages of a sharp edge over a chamfer, and the non-monotonous effect of the fillet radius on the minimum film thickness. Semi-analytical equations are developed to determine the maximum and minimum lubricant film thickness in a truncated contact and compare numerical results with experimental data in cases involving a chamfer.

Computational domain optimization for circular EHL contacts

This paper introduces an optimized computational domain for fully flooded circular elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) contacts, enhancing the accuracy of numerical calculations of pressure and oil film thickness. First, the computational domain was configured based on Kapitza's analytical solution. Then, a resolution sensitivity study for the mesh of the 2D computational domain for the Reynolds equation was conducted to investigate the effect of mesh resolution on the accuracy of the numerical solution. Subsequently, the impact of the size of the full 3D computational domain on the simulation's accuracy and computational efficiency was analyzed. The main result is the 3D computational domain, which automatically adapts to operating conditions within the piezoviscous rigid, the isoviscous rigid, the piezoviscous elastic, and the isoviscous elastic regions, as well as in the transition regions between them. This results in a model which provides accurate predictions across a wide range of operational conditions. Another outcome is a new approximate expression for the central oil film thickness, showing a maximum relative difference of less than 4.6% compared to the numerical model.

Numerical Calculation of the Oil Flow in a Truck Rear Axle Transmission and the Influence of Gear-Induced Air Flow

Abstract For the reliable operation of a gearbox, consistently sufficient lubrication of machine elements is necessary. Thus, the gearbox fluid flow plays an important role. The state of the art indicates that computational fluid dynamics (CFD) enables targeted support of the gearbox development process at an early stage. Computational time plays a prominent role in practical applications. The particle-based smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) shows great potential for time-efficient calculations, especially with a simplified single-phase modeling approach. This study first examines the influence of gear-induced air flow on gearbox oil flow, focusing on a test gearbox to identify a suitable modeling approach for a truck rear axle transmission. The results indicate that the gear-induced air flow mainly impacts gearbox oil flow at higher circumferential speeds. For lower circumferential speeds, a single-phase model yields good results with significantly reduced computation times compared to a two-phase model. Applying the single-phase model to the truck rear axle transmission and comparing numerical results with experimental findings demonstrates a reliable representation of the oil flow characteristics.

Multi-physics field coupling interface lubrication contact analysis for gear transmission under various finishing processes

Surface integrity is crucial for the load-bearing capacity, transmission performance, and service life of gears. Finishing processes can effectively improve surface quality and are widely used in gear manufacturing processes to enhance surface integrity and improve the service performance of gears. Five precision machining tests of form grinding, vibratory finishing, barrel finishing, honing, and abrasive flow machining were conducted on spur gears. High-precision surface integrity characterization methods were used to analyze the surface integrity parameters of the finished gear surfaces, including surface roughness, surface microtopography, residual stress, texture aspect ratio, roughness peak curvature radius. The finishing processes uniformity and effectiveness of the tooth profile surface were also evaluated. By using the finished rough surfaces as inputs and considering the impact of thermal elasto hydrodynamic lubrication on the gear surface, a multi-field coupling contact analysis model encompassing solid, liquid, and thermal fields at the gear meshing interface was established. Lubrication performance parameters such as oil film pressure, oil film thickness, oil film temperature rise, and friction coefficient under various finishing surfaces were compared and analyzed. Experimental results indicate that barrel finishing can simultaneously improve various parameters, such as surface roughness, texture aspect ratio, and compressive residual stress. Finishing processes can effectively reduce surface roughness, improve lubrication performance and reduce the risk of scuffing failure. This approach provided an effective method for the comprehensive evaluation of the effects of various finishing processes. The developed program offers theoretical guidance and data support for the selection and optimization design of gear surface finishing processes.

Lubrication performance of graphene in the sliding electrical contact interface

Electrical contact materials are increasingly widely used, but the existing electric contact lubricants still have lots of room for improvement, such as anti-wear performance and lubrication life. Due to the excellent electrical and lubrication properties, graphene shows great potential in lubricating the sliding electrical contact interface, but there is a lack of relevant research. Some researchers have studied the lubrication performance of graphene between the gold-coated/TiN-coated friction pair at an ultra-low current. However, the lubrication performance of graphene on more widely used electrical contact materials such as copper and its alloys under larger and more commonly used current or voltage conditions has not been reported. In this paper, we study the lubrication performance of graphene in the copper and its alloys sliding electrical contact interface under usual parameters, which is explored through four aspects: different substrates—copper and brass, different test methods—constant voltage and constant current, different normal loads and durability test. The experiments demonstrate that graphene can significantly reduce the friction and wear on brass and copper under the above test methods and parameters, with low contact resistance at the same time. Our work is expected to provide a new lubricant for electrical contact materials and contribute to enriching the tribological theory of graphene.

Gear contact fatigue prediction under mixed elastohydrodynamic lubrication with ellipsoidal asperity rough surface: Experimental and numerical investigation

A three-dimensional(3D) line-contact mixed lubrication model and contact fatigue life prediction model for gears are established, considering the elastoplastic contact of ellipsoidal asperities and their interactions. The localized lubrication states across the actual 3D rough surfaces are visually depicted. The direct asperity contact pressures calculation exhibits greater accuracy and universality. The proposed mixed lubrication model can be applied accurately and efficiently to heavy-load conditions. The synergistic mechanisms of multi-scale surface integrity parameters, such as surface morphology-lubrication coupling, hardness gradient, and residual stress, on gear contact fatigue has been revealed. The results reveal that surface roughness significantly affects the competitive failure mechanism between surface-initiated micropitting and subsurface-initiated macropitting. The increase in surface compressive residual stress is more sensitive to the enhancement of near-surface and subsurface fatigue lives, compared to the increase of peak residual stress and the depth of peak residual stress. The proposed physics-based gear contact fatigue life prediction model has been validated through gear contact fatigue experiments under various operating conditions. The maximum deviation between the predicted and experimental fatigue lives is within 10%. This paper presents theoretical methodologies and data-driven support for optimizing the design and manufacturing processes of gears, specifically focusing on enhancing anti-fatigue properties.

Analysis of Thermoelastic Contact of Gas-Lubricated Rough Sealing Faces.

Friction and wear are the main failure sources of face seals. When the surfaces of sealing rings exhibit greater roughness, the level of friction might increase and lead to sealing failure. Therefore, in this paper, based on the elastic contact hypothesis of rough and wavy surfaces and the influence of temperature on the elastic modulus of materials, a thermoelastic contact lubrication model of a gas-lubricated end seal is established. The novelty and advantage of this study is that it takes the effect of surface roughness into consideration during thermoelastic analysis of gas-lubricated seals. The film pressure, temperature, contact force and deformation of a gas spiral groove-faced seal are numerically determined. The influence of surface roughness on the contact distribution, deformation and temperature of the end-face seal at different speeds and pressures is analyzed. The film thickness increases as the rotational speed increases from 1 rpm to 2000 rpm, while the contact pressure sharply decreases from 0.25 kPa to 0. The analysis shows that the roughness contact mainly happens on the inner side of the rings due to convergent distortion of the seal faces, which easily causes partial wear of the seal faces. Moreover, it can also be found that the spiral grooves on the sealing surface can produce obvious hydrodynamic pressure effect due to the function of shear speed when the speed increases to 2000 rpm, while the film temperature increases from 293.3 K to about 306 K. The greater surface roughness results in a larger temperature rise under low-rotational-speed and lower-seal-pressure conditions, which further increases the risk of severe wear or even failure of the seal faces.

On the Adhesive Interaction Between Metals in Atomistic Simulations of Friction and Wear

Atomistic simulations are performed to assess how the main characteristics of a pairwise interatomic potential function can affect the occurrence of wear. A Morse-like potential is tailored in its attractive part such as to vary independently the cut-off radius and the maximum value of the attractive (adhesive) force. An ideal numerical experiment is then performed where the interaction between a metal crystal and a probe changes, while their material properties are not affected, to isolate the behavior of the interface. Force functions with larger adhesive force can loosely be interpreted as describing dry contacts while those with smaller adhesive force can be interpreted as describing lubricated contacts. Results demonstrate that the occurrence of wear is strongly dependent on the shape of the interatomic force field, and more specifically on the combination of maximum adhesive force and effective length of the interatomic attraction. Wear can initiate also at small adhesive energy, provided that the maximum adhesive force between atoms is large. When the surface of the crystal is taken to be rough instead of flat, the effect of the interatomic potential function on friction and wear becomes smaller, as the atoms belonging to the roughness are weakly bound to the rest of the crystal and are easily dislodged with any of the force functions we used.

Effect of Indentation at Rolling Body Surfaces on the Film Formation in Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication Contact under Dynamic Loads

Vibration is one of the phenomena that can occur during the operation of roller bearing which can lead to dynamic loads being subjected to the contact and thus, affect the film formation in elastohydrodynamic (EHD) contacts. On the other hand, surface textures such as artificial indentations and grooves greatly affect the film formation as well as the corresponding pressure distribution in the contact area, since the depths of the textures are usually much greater than the film thickness in the contact. This paper investigates the influence of an artificial indentation located on the rolling element, which passes through a point contact under dynamic loads by means of numerical simulations. Solutions to the Reynolds equation are performed and calculations of the elastic deformation equation, force balance equation and lubricant properties equations to show the effects of both indentation passing through the contact and a sinusoidal dynamic load on the film thickness as well as pressure profile of EHD point contact. Moreover, the effect of frequency and amplitude excitation of the dynamic load on the film formation was investigated. The results revealed that the artificial indentation under sinusoidal dynamic load of EHD point contact induced a significant effect on the thickness of the film formation and pressure distribution.

The effect of electrical current on lubricant film thickness in boundary and mixed lubrication contacts measured with ultrasound

This work explores experimentally the effects of DC electrical currents on lubricant film thickness alteration in lubricated sliding steel contacts in the boundary and mixed regime as measured by ultrasound. The experiments were performed in a two-electrode cell-based pin-on-disk tester instrumented with ultrasonic transducers. Unelectrified and electrified tribological tests were conducted on steel flat-on-flat contacts under various speeds and loads using both a mineral base oil and a gear oil. Film thickness, coefficient of friction (CoF), and electrical contact resistance (ECR) were measured during short experiments (30 s) in unelectrified and electrified (1.5 and 3 A) conditions. The results suggest that film thickness, CoF, and all ECR are altered by passing DC currents through the contact. In particular, film thickness increased and decreased, respectively, by applying electricity at the different speeds and loads tested. These alterations were majorly ascribed to oil viscosity decrease by local heat and surface oxidation caused by electrical discharge and break down at the interface.

A lubrication contact stiffness model considering asperity interactions

In practical engineering applications, most connection interfaces require lubrication. The contact stiffness of the lubrication interface can affect the static and dynamic characteristics of the interface, thus affecting the performance of the mechanical system, such as vibration, fatigue, and wear characteristics. Therefore, the measurement of lubrication contact stiffness is very important for the analysis and optimization of mechanical system performance. However, measuring the stiffness of the lubrication interface is a significant challenge. In this paper, a mixed lubrication contact stiffness model considering asperity interactions is proposed, which assumes the lubrication rough interface as an equivalent thin layer. The proposed model was compared with the lubrication contact model that does not consider the asperity interactions. Based on the microscopic contact behavior of the contact interface, the relationship between the mechanical parameters of the virtual thin layer and the contact pressure was analyzed. Finally, the predicted results of interface stiffness are verified by published theoretical and experimental results. The results show that the proposed model can more reasonably describe the actual contact behavior of the rough lubrication interface and give the variation law of the mechanical parameters of the virtual thin layer.

A Novel Non-Contact Method for Monitoring the Acoustic Emission From Mixed Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication Contacts

Abstract Lubricated non-conformal contacts, such as between gear teeth, operate with high levels of mixed lubrication, where the amount of direct asperity contact depends on operating parameters that influence the film thickness. Understanding of the levels of surface interaction is key to optimizing component life, and there is considerable interest in sensitive monitoring methods such as Acoustic Emission (AE). Researchers have shown that AE can detect subtle changes in lubrication conditions, using sensors mounted directly on the rotating gears. However, the use of such sensors is complex and unsuitable for implementation in real gearboxes. The alternative, of using sensors placed on housings, is hampered by signal attenuation and noise. This paper presents a novel, non-contact stationary sensor, coupled by an oil film to the rotating gear, which is shown to be capable of detecting important changes in lubrication conditions with significantly higher consistency and precision than housing-mounted sensors, whilst avoiding the complexities of gear-mounted sensors.

Investigation of lubricant viscosity and third-particle contribution to contact behavior in dry and lubricated three-body contact conditions

The generation of third particles and change in viscosity lead to the gradual degradation of the performance of the machine interface. The generation of third particles may come from wear debris or environmental particles, which form a three-body contact system at the contact interface. The viscosity of the lubricant will also change with the long-term operation of the components. This paper uses a three-body lubrication model to study the influence and interaction of lubricant viscosity change and the presence of third particles on the contact characteristics, including the real contact area, the particle contact area ratio, the solid load percentage, the film thickness, and the evolution of the lubrication regime. The results show that when the interface is in a three-body mixed lubrication regime, the dimensionless total real contact area increases with the increase in particle size and density at the same lubricant viscosity, while the trend is the opposite in dry contact and boundary lubrication interfaces. When viscosity decreases, a three-body contact interface is more prone to entering boundary lubrication than a two-body contact interface, resulting in surface damage. Regardless of surface roughness, particle size, and dry or lubricated contact conditions, the turning point of the contact area (TPCA) phenomenon is usually when the ratio of particle size to surface roughness is 0.8–1.3. Under the same ratio of particle size to surface roughness, the critical load of the TPCA phenomenon increases with the increase in third-particle size and surface roughness, but decreases with the increase in lubricant viscosity and particle density.

A stiffness model for EHL contact on smooth/rough surfaces and its application in mesh stiffness calculation of the planetary gear set

A method for calculating time-varying mesh stiffness (TVMS) is proposed by developing a stiffness model for elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) contact and integrating it into three-dimensional loaded tooth contact analysis (3D-LTCA). To enhance the accuracy and efficiency of the calculation, three projects have been implemented: Firstly, the contact deformation is modified, and the average slope is employed for calculating contact stiffness. Secondly, the lubricant film and EHL contact deformation are introduced into the deformation compatibility equations. Finally, the polynomial chaos expansion (PCE) surrogate model is employed to enhance computational efficiency. The proposed method is used to calculate TVMS of the planetary gear set, and the influence of speed, torque, and rough surface are analyzed. The results show that the previous method underestimating the TVMS of planet-ring gear pair in double-teeth meshing area under fluid lubrication, while the proposed method effectively addresses the issue. The different effects of the torque and speed on TVMS under mixed and fluid lubrication also have been revealed, emphasizing the significance of surface topography in gear meshing characteristics.

Transient mixed thermal elastohydrodynamic lubrication under startup and shut down conditions

The transient mixed lubrication behaviors in thermal elastohydrodynamic lubrication (TEHL) contacts during startup and stop are investigated. A transient mixed TEHL model for point contacts under time-varying speed conditions is proposed with comprehensive consideration of surface roughness, thermal effect, and transient behavior. The model is validated by the comparison to available published data. Based on the developed model, significant differences have been found compared with transient EHL and steady TEHL models. In addition, the transient mixed TEHL performance during start–stop with different acceleration rates and surface roughness is investigated. It shows that the lubrication behaviors during start–stop have an irreversible process. The roughness can significantly enhance the transient behavior. The roughness effect has a remarkable impact on lubrication performance in mixed lubrication. The evolution of lubrication behaviors during start–stop is highly related to the acceleration rate and surface topography.

A fully coupled finite element solution for the mixed elastohydrodynamic lubrication of finite line contacts

A fully coupled FE model for mixed EHL of finite line contacts is proposed, integrating all of the governing equations into a monolithic system. The solution reveals the fully coupled model achieves 5% higher accuracy and 50% greater efficiency compared to the weakly coupled one. Additionally, there is evidence to support the assertion that profiling contributes to the mitigation of surface roughness contact. Logarithmic profiling can increase the minimum film thickness by a factor of 30, resulting in a reduction of up to 64.6% in the maximum asperity contact pressure, and thus, the boundary friction force is decreased by more than 19%, under heavy-load low-velocity condition. This contributes to the reduction of abrasive wear.

Influence of Glyceryl Monostearate Adsorption on the Lubrication Behavior of a Slider Bearing

Glyceryl monostearate (GMS) was used as an organic friction modifier (OFM) and added to the base oil (PAO10, polyα-olefin) in this study. The film thickness and friction coefficient of the base oil added with GMS (PAO10G) under different slider inclinations and loads were investigated experimentally by using a slider-on-disc contact lubricant film measurement system, and the effect of the adsorption of GMS on the friction behavior of lubricant was studied. Contact angle hysteresis (CAH) was used to evaluate the wettability of the solid–liquid interface, and its correlation with the coefficient of friction was analyzed. The results show that CAH is in good agreement with the wettability of the solid–liquid interface. Compared with the base oil, the wettability of POA10G is weak, which can effectively reduce the coefficient of friction. However, different from the classical lubrication theory, the film thickness of PAO10G is higher than that of PAO10; this unusual phenomenon is preliminarily explained by the interface slippage in this paper.

Dynamic characteristics investigation of a dual rotor-casing system considering the comprehensive stiffness of the intermediate bearing

This paper focuses on the vibrational properties of a dual rotor-casing coupled system with nonlinear clearance in the intermediate bearing, considering both the oil film stiffness and Hertzian contact stiffness between rolling elements and raceways. A comprehensive stiffness model for the intermediate bearing has been developed based on elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) and Hertz contact theory. Subsequently, a dynamical model of the dual rotor-bearing-casing system is established using the finite element method, thereby verifying the feasibility of simulating the casing with beam elements. The dimensionality of the system equation is reduced using the fixed-interface component mode synthesis (CMS) method, and the resulting reduced-dimensionality equation is solved using the improved Newmark-β method. The effects of casing support, rotational speed, and radial clearance on the vibration characteristics of the system are investigated. Then, the comprehensive stiffness and coupled vibration characteristics of the system are analyzed to elucidate its intrinsic mechanism. Finally, the contact characteristics within the intermediate bearing under dynamic load are also studied. The results indicate that the support stiffness of the casing has a more significant impact on the second resonance caused by both the inner and outer rotors. The system is prone to experiencing varying compliance (VC) resonance at low rotational speeds. The excessive bearing clearance leads to complex vibrational characteristics of the system, making it challenging to predict its motion. The impact of minor changes in stiffness on system vibration is small when the comprehensive stiffness is large. At this time, the limited effect of oil film stiffness allows it to be disregarded in terms of comprehensive stiffness. Furthermore, the speed significantly influences the contact characteristics within the intermediate bearing under the unbalanced force of the rotor and gravity.