The Validity of Linear Elasticity in Analyzing Surface Texturing Effect for Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication

Abstract

This paper presents a nonlinear theoretical model to study the effect of laser surface texturing on the tribological performance in soft elastohydrodynamic lubrication. Both geometrical and physical nonlinearities of the elastomer are considered by using a logarithmic strain and the Mooney–Rivlin constitutive law, respectively. The results of the present nonlinear model are compared with a previous linear one over a wide range of operating conditions. It is found that the simpler linear elasticity model predicts results that are only slightly different from these predicted by the more accurate nonlinear one. Hence, the linear elasticity model can be practically considered valid over the entire range of operating conditions.