Performance Characteristics of Lubricating Oil Film Between Rotating Disks

Abstract

A testing machine has been designed to investigate the performance of the lubricating oil film between two independently driven circular disks in line contact under conditions of combined rolling and sliding, in an endeavor to study the behavior of meshing gear teeth with adequate supply of lubricant. Test results show that the ratio of sliding to rolling velocity is a prime factor in the behavior of rotating disks. Values of this ratio equal to zero and unity (conditions of pure rolling and pure sliding, respectively) give rise to critical changes in the performance of the disks, being most favorable, from a lubrication viewpoint, at pure rolling (i.e., at the gear pitch line) and least favorable at pure sliding where scuffing of surfaces may well be expected Recent theoretical investigations do not seem to be able yet to account for salient results obtained in the present study. Further work on the subject is proceeding.