Thermal Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication of Rough Surfaces

Abstract

A numerical solution to the problem of thermal and compressible elastohydrodynamic (EHD) lubrication of rolling/sliding rough surfaces was obtained by neglecting the transient effects. The technique involves the simultaneous solution of thermal Reynolds and modified elasticity equations using the Newton-Raphson technique, and the energy equation using the control volume finite element method. The effects of various loads, amplitude of asperity, and radius of curvature of asperity have been investigated. Results have been presented for moderate dimensionless load of W = 9.03 × 10−5 to heavy load of W = 2.3 × 10−4 at the speed of U* = 9.2 × 10−11. The results indicate that surface roughness significantly affect the pressure, temperature, and traction in EHD lubrication.