Thermoelastic Instability With Consideration of Surface Roughness and Hydrodynamic Lubrication

Abstract

An idealized model consisting of a surface with high thermal conductivity separated by a film of liquid lubricant from a rough surface with low thermal conductivity is developed to study thermoelastic instability. The governing equations are derived and solved for the critical speed beyond which thermoelastic instability leading to the formation of hot spots is likely to occur. A series of dimensionless parameters is introduced which characterizes the thermoelastic behavior of the system. It is shown the surface roughness and the lubricant film thickness both play an important role on the threshold of instability. [S0742-4787(00)00104-1]