Isothermal Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication of Point Contacts: Part II—Ellipticity Parameter Results

Abstract

A numerical solution of the isothermal elastohydrodynamic problem for point contacts has been presented which reproduces all the essential features of the previously reported experimental observations based upon optical interferometry. In particular, the two “side lobes” in which minimum film thickness regions occur are shown to emerge in the theoretical solutions. The influence of the ellipticity parameter upon solutions to the point contact problem has been explored in the present paper. The ellipticity parameter (k) was varied from one (a ball on a plate) to eight (a configuration approaching line contact), and it has been shown that the minimum film thicknesses can be related to the well known line contact solutions by remarkably simple expressions involving either (k) or the effective radius of curvature ratio (Ry/Rx).