The Navier–Stokes approach for thermal EHL line contact solutions

The complicated nature of the EHL-problem has so far forced researchers to develop their own computer codes. These codes are ultimately based on the Reynolds equation, and if thermal EHL-simulations are required, a simultaneous solution of the equation of energy also has to be performed. To date only a few attempts to solve the full equations of momentum and continuity as well as equations of energy have been performed. However, such an approach will give extended possibilities of simulating EHL-contacts; i.e. the computational domain can be expanded and it will be possible to simulate the flow, not only in the contact but also around the contact. Another possibility is to investigate how the altering length scales of the surface roughness influence the behaviour of the flow in the contact. However, the aim of the work presented in this paper is to investigate the possibilities of using a commercial CFD-code (computational fluid dynamics code) based on the above-mentioned equations for simulating thermal EHL. The rheology is assumed to be Newtonian and the equations of momentum and continuity are then commonly referred to as the Navier–Stokes equations (N–S equations). The geometry chosen for the simulations is a smooth line contact geometry, for which the results from the simulations show that it is possible to use the N–S equations for thermal EHL for contact pressures up to approximately 0.7 GPa. The code used in this work is the commercial CFD software (CFX 4.3 user guide). There is a limitation in the N–S approach due to a singularity that can occur in the equation of momentum when the principal shear stresses in the film become too high. However, a thermal approach makes it possible to simulate EHL-contacts at higher loads compared with an isothermal approach, due to the reduction of the viscosity in the former approach. The singularity is not present in the Reynolds approach.