An Experimental Evaluation of the Hamrock and Dowson Minimum Film Thickness Equation for Fully Flooded EHD Point Contacts

Abstract

Fifty-seven measurements of the minimum lubricant film thickness separating the elastohydrodynamically lubricated point contact of a steel crowned roller and a flat sapphire disk were made by an optical interferometry technique. The data collected were used to evaluate the Hamrock and Dowson minimum EHD film thickness model over a practical range of contact ellipticity ratio where the major axis of the contact ellipse is aligned both parallel and perpendicular to the direction of motion. A statistical analysis of the measured film thickness data showed that the experimental data averaged 30 percent greater film thickness than the Hamrock and Dowson model predicts.