An Experimental Validation of the Recently Discovered Scale Effect in Generalized Newtonian EHL

New quantitative numerical simulations of the elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) film forming ability of generalized Newtonian liquids have elucidated a previously unrecognized property of EHL films. The dependency of the film thickness on the scale of the contact is greater when the viscosity is shear dependent within the inlet. Measurements of film thickness were performed in a ball on disc experiment using balls ranging from 5.5 to 35 mm in diameter. Three liquids were investigated with varying shear dependence in the range of stress important to film forming. The experimental results confirm the previous analytical findings. Numerical simulations using the measured viscosities show that the increased scale sensitivity is substantially the result of shear-thinning. However, the smallest scales produced films thinner than even the shear-dependent prediction, possibly indicating molecular degradation. It is quite likely that some machine components, which were designed using the effective viscous properties derived from a larger scale film thickness measurement, are operating with substantially lower film thickness than the designer had intended.     

Experimental study of starved EHL contacts based on thickness of oil layer in the contact inlet

Starved lubrication conditions bring the risk of the damage of machine components. The experimental simulation of starved conditions is connected with the need to define the input conditions to joint the amount of the oil entering the contact with the resulting film thickness. This paper describes the experimental approach based on the thickness of the oil layer entering the starved contact. The use of multiple contacts optical test rig based on thin film colorimetric interferometry for film thickness measurement has enabled to simulate starved conditions and to compare the obtained results with theoretical prediction. The first elliptical contact between spherical roller and the glass disc is used to supply the defined oil layer to the second contact formed between the steel ball and the glass disc. Through the comparison with the theoretical prediction it was found that acceptable input conditions for the study of starved contacts can be achieved with such test rig configuration.     

Oil film behavior under minute vibrating conditions in EHL point contacts

The oil film thickness was measured under conditions of minute vibrations using an elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) ball-on-disk test rig. Poly-alpha-olefin (PAO) oil was used as the lubricant under conditions of pure sliding where only the ball specimen was minutely vibrated. It was found that an oil film formed when the amplitude ratio was greater than 1.6. Moreover, when conditions were changed to the maximum vibrating speed, oil viscosity, and maximum contact pressure, the critical amplitude ratio at which the oil film began to form remained at 1.6. Consequently, calculated results showed that the oil film was formed when the amplitude ratio was π/2 (nearly equal to 1.6), which closely agreed with our test results.     

Simplified multigrid technique for the numerical solution to the steady-state and transient EHL line contacts and the arbitrary entrainment EHL point contacts

A simplified multigrid (MG) method is developed based on that presented by Venner et al. The full approximate scheme (FAS) right-hand side of the film thickness equation is ignored and only the Gauss–Seidel iteration is employed throughout the calculating procedure. The algorithm can be used in both steady state and transient isothermal line contact elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) analyses and can also be extended to solve the elliptical contact problem with arbitrarily directed entrainment, with high computational efficiency and good numerical stability. A unique method is proposed to tackle the entrainment direction of the elliptical contacts.     

表面粗糙度对点接触弹流润滑性能的影响

本文应用多重网格法对椭圆接触的部分膜弹流问题进行了完全数值求解，计算中采用了Ｐａｔｉｒ－ｃｈｅｎｇ的平均流量模型及Ｇｅｅｎｗｏｏｄ和Ｔｒｉｐｐ的表面微峰弹性接触模型。在大量数值计算结果的基础上分析了表面粗糙度大小及纹理方向对点弹流的油膜厚度及微峰接触载荷的影响。     

EHL line contact central and minimum film thickness equations for lubricants with linear piezoviscous behavior

Full EHL line contact simulations for smooth surfaces are carried out under fully flooded condition to obtain central and minimum film thickness equations pertaining to lubricants with linear piezoviscous response. The present analysis is based upon the assumptions of isothermal condition and Newtonian fluid model. A major drop in the sensitivity of pressure viscosity coefficient (and hence, the material parameter G) is observed. The exponent of the speed parameter U is marginally smaller while that of load parameter is slightly increased. There is close agreement between the simulated and fitted film thickness values.     

Film thickness in point contacts under generalized Newtonian EHL conditions: Numerical and experimental analysis

The current paper contributes to the understanding of the behaviour of a smooth point EHL contact with a generalized Newtonian lubricant under pure rolling. The film thickness distribution was computed using a numerical simulation with measured rheological lubricant properties. The numerical predictions, obtained solving the generalized Reynolds equation were compared with film thicknesses measured in an optical ball-on-disc device. The numerical results correctly predict the absolute film thickness and the film thickness increase with rolling speed.     

Oil Film Stiffness of Double Involute Gears Based on Thermal EHL Theory

Lubrication failure is one of the main failure forms of gear failure.Time varying meshing stiffness is an important factor affecting the dynamic behavior of gears.However,the influence of oil film stiffness is usually ignored in the research process.In this paper,according to the meshing characteristics of double involute gears,based on the non-New-tonian thermal EHL theory,a new calculation method of normal and tangential oil film stiffness for double involute gears is established by the idea of subsection method.The oil film stiffness difference between double involute gears and common involute gears is analyzed,and the influence of tooth waist order parameters,working conditions,and thermal effect on the oil film stiffness are studied.The results reveal that there are some differences between normal and tangential oil film stiffness between double involute gears and common involute gears,but there is little dif-ference.Compared with the torque,rotation speed and initial viscosity of the lubricating oil,the tooth waist order parameters have less influence on the oil film stiffness.Thermal effect has a certain influence on normal and tan-gential oil film stiffness,which indicates that the influence of thermal effect on the oil film can not be ignored.This research proposes a calculation method of normal and tangential oil film stiffness suitable for double involute gears,which provides a theoretical basis for improving the stability of the transmission.     

On the Numerical Accuracy of Rough Surface EHL Solution

Numerical solution of rough surface elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) is of great importance. In recent years, research efforts have been focused on deterministic modeling, because it is proven to be capable of predicting detailed contact and lubrication characteristics based on measured three-dimensional machined surface topography in a wide range of operating conditions. The accurate calculation of roughness derivatives, ?S/?X and ?S/?T, is found to be crucial for numerically solving EHL problems, especially if machined roughness with high-frequency components is involved. When discretized rough surfaces are employed, one may have to handle three different discretization grids, one for the stationary solution domain of the Reynolds equation and the other two for the moving rough surfaces in contact. Two numerical ways can be employed to fulfill the computation of ?S/?X and ?S/?T. One is to interpolate the topographic heights into the solution domain grid and then conduct the derivation calculations there. The other is to do derivations first in the surface grids and then interpolate the obtained derivatives into the solution mesh. In order to compare these two ways based on an accuracy analysis, a transverse sinusoidal rough surface is exploited and the effects of mesh spacing, differential scheme, interpolation method, and roughness wavelength on numerical errors of ?S/?X and ?S/?T are investigated. It is found that the appropriate way to minimize the errors is to ensure that the surface grids are considerably denser than that of the solution domain and to conduct derivation calculation first on the surface grids. A densified surface mesh may lead to a great reduction in numerical errors without causing any significant increase in the computing time. Densification of the solution domain mesh, on the other hand, is more difficult because it would result in a large increase in computational burden. It is also found that high-order differential schemes and interpolation methods are helpful to improve accuracy. Large roughness wavelengths lead to smaller numerical errors, but roughness amplitude has no influence on numerical accuracy.     

Transient elastohydrodynamic lubrication film thickness in sliding and rolling line contacts

The contact behavior between cam and follower is greatly influenced by the kinematics and dynamics of the whole valve train system. This is the reason that both shape and thickness of the fluid film in the contact gap are mainly determined by applied loads and relative contact speeds as well as the curvatures of contacting elements. Most of the studies about lubricant film behavior between cam and follower have been performed without a consideration of transient effects in the contact gap. For the computational difficulties of transient effects, most contact conditions such as relative contacting speeds have been regarded as quasi-steady state during the whole operating cycle. In this work, in order to obtain stable convergence, a multigrid multi-level method is used for the computation of load capacity in the lubricant film. Nonlinear valve spring dynamics are also considered in the same way as Hanachi’s. From the computational results, transient EHL film thicknesses under the conditions of different contact geometries are computed for a pushrod type valve train system during an engine cycle. Several results show the squeeze film effect, which is generally not found with conventional EHL computations of the cam and follower contact. The results are also compared with those by the Dowson-Hamrock (D-H) formula, which does not consider the dynamic film effect. Without the dynamic film effect as in D-H’s formula, the minimum film thickness is highly dependent on the entraining lubricant velocity, whereas the minimum film thickness including the squeeze film effect is dependent on the applied load.     

Thermal point contact EHL analysis of rolling/sliding contacts with experimental comparison showing anomalous film shapes

The paper presents an experimental and numerical investigation of non-conformal lubricated contacts in which anomalous film shapes occur. The experiments were concerned with the contact between a steel ball and the plane surface of a glass disc at various slide-roll ratios. A paraffin base mineral oil was used as a lubricant and friction coefficients and film thicknesses were measured. It was found that for slide-roll ratios with the disk moving faster anomalous elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) films were obtained characterized by a “dimple” in the central region of the contact. Numerical thermal-elastohydrodynamic analyses were carried out to simulate both film thickness and friction corresponding to the experimental conditions using Newtonian and Ree-Eyring rheological models. Initial results from this study suggest that neither of these lubricant models predict the correct detailed film shape and the experimental friction at the same time. An alternative lubricant model including both thermal and limiting shear stress effects (wall slippage) is currently under development.     

Theoretical Study on the Interferometry of Thin EHL Film Measurement

Interferometry has been widely utilized in elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) film measurement since the 1960s. In-depth optical analyses are required to get more fundamentals of optical EHL film tests. In this paper, a stratified-layer model of optical EHL contact is numerically analyzed by the multi-beam interference approach. It is revealed that the high reflectance of the beam-splitter and the steel interface generate a deviation of the intensity profile from the two-beam interference. Previous experimental results about fringe contrast are reproduced, and the determination of the beam-splitter layer is theoretically clarified. Furthermore, some characteristics of spectrometry for ultra-thin film measurement are studied, and the dependence of the interference spectrum on the spacer layer thickness is displayed. The measurement simulation has theoretically confirmed the constant initial phase change assumed in practical measurement. It is theoretically demonstrated that in the spectrometry approach, TiO₂ layer can generate spectrum with high finesse and may be used in the future application. The theoretical results in this paper are correlated with previous experimental practices, and the optical EHL technique can therefore be much better theoretically understood.     

A numerical investigation of local effects on the global behavior of TEHD highly loaded circular contacts

This paper presents a numerical investigation of the local behavior of highly loaded thermal elastohydrodynamic contacts. The study is a continuation to a previous work of the authors where it was found that neglecting the dependence of lubricants' thermal properties on pressure and temperature leads to an underestimation of friction coefficients under high sliding regime. In this work, the local phenomena behind these observations are investigated. The results suggest that a redistribution of heat from the center of the contact towards the environment is taking place, leading to globally lower temperatures inside the contact, which leads to higher friction coefficients.     

Experimental study on lubrication regime variation in point contacts

The change between elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) and hydrodynamic lubrication (HL) under a wide range of entrainment speeds and applied loads was studied using an optical EHL apparatus. A log-log scale linear relationship was demonstrated in the two lubrication regions between the film thickness and the entrainment speed (or load). A transition region can be clearly discerned between these two regions in which the film thickness no longer bears a linear relationship with the entrainment speed (or load). It is shown that a piezoviscous effect can be distinguished in the HL region by the speed exponent or the load exponent, and that relative sliding has a significant influence on the transition region.     

弹流膜厚的测试方法述评

论述了弹性流体动力润滑油膜工测试方法的进展，分析了各种膜厚测试方法的特点及应用范围。     

The role of micro-cavitation on EHL: A study using a multiscale mass conserving approach

The role of micro-cavitation in Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication is numerically investigated using a multiscale approach whereby both the small scale topographical features and the micro-cavitation of the lubricant due to the features are resolved. Micro-cavitation and the fluid׳s shear-thinning property are modelled at the small scale of topological feature. The effects of topographical features on the film thickness of the line contact bearings and friction coefficient are presented with a focus on the role of micro-cavitation. This highlights how a mass conserving small scale model can be used to model both micro-cavitation and cavitation occurring at the bearing scale, and how topological features can be designed to reduce friction while maintaining bearing load.     

Experimental results and analytical film thickness predictions in EHD rolling point contacts

In this work, we consider several types of lubricants—including non-Newtonian fluids—that were studied in EHD pure rolling point contacts under various operating conditions, leading us to explore a wide range of dimensionless parameters. The experimental results are compared with predictions given by the usual analytical EHL relationships and by more recently developed models. This broad comparison conducted with particular emphasis on minimum film thickness (h_m) showed a fair agreement between experimental data and a few predictions including some obtained from extended models. Commonly used elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) models did not systematically give accurate h_m estimation, whereas minimum film thickness not only is a yield value but also serves as a key parameter in estimating lubrication regimes.     

Investigating the Effect of Surface Finish on Mixed EHL in Rolling and Rolling-Sliding Contacts

Surface finish may significantly affect the lubrication performance of a tribological interface through the influence of topography on micro/nanoscale fluid flows around localized contacts at surface asperities. This paper aims to study the mixed lubrication performance of a group of engineered surfaces, including turned, isotropically finished, ground, and dimpled surfaces, under different operation conditions by means of a deterministic mixed elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) model. The honed surface was used to mate with other surfaces. The results indicate that a longitudinal contact ellipse favors longitudinally oriented mating surface roughness and that a transverse contact ellipse, as well as a line contact, prefers a transversely orientated mating surface roughness for lubrication enhancement.     

Experimental investigation of temperature rise in elliptical EHL contacts

A toroidal traction drive continuously variable transmission (CVT) transmits power by the shearing action of lubricant film under heavy loads at contact points on the CVT rollers. In other words, rolling and sliding motions produce traction force. Furthermore, due to the geometry of the toroidal CVT, spin motion is produced at the contact points. These contact points, which are elliptical in shape, are where shear stress of the lubricant generates frictional heat. Temperature rise at the contact point has never been measured under the conditions of high rolling speed (velocity) and minute amounts of sliding (slippage), nor has the influence of spin motion on temperature rise been examined thus far. The authors et al. measured temperature distribution at contact points under conditions of high rolling speed and minute amounts of sliding, such as what is found in a toroidal CVT, using an FZG twin-disk test machine and thin-film sensors. The influence of spin motion on temperature rise was also experimentally investigated.     

Experimental investigation of friction in entrapped elastohydrodynamic contacts

Start-up friction is a performance-limiting aspect of hydraulic motor operation. This study was conducted to gain a better understanding of the roles played by contact pressure, speed, and oil type to start-up friction behavior for contacts containing trapped pockets of highly pressurized oil, also known as elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) entrapments. An apparatus was built to measure the start up friction response for ball-on-plane sliding contact with simultaneous observation of the contact region by optical interferometry. Baseline trials for all cases were conducted in the absence of any entrapment and then repeated after forming an entrapment. An impact, activated by solenoids, was used to create a small separation whereby oil would fill the gap and then become trapped as the load rapidly brought the surfaces back into contact.In all cases, entrapment substantially decreased the start-up friction. Additionally, the short-lived entrapments provide the greatest reduction in start-up friction. Therefore, the method of entrapment that may be implemented with least delay before the initiation of sliding has the greatest potential.