Mixed Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication in Finite Roller Contacts Involving Realistic Geometry and Surface Roughness

Abstract

Concentrated (or counterformal) contacts are found in many mechanical components that transmit significant power. Traditionally, concentrated contacts can be roughly categorized to point and line contacts. In point contacts, the contact area is small in both principal directions, while in line contacts, it is small in one direction but assumed to be infinitely long in the other direction. However, these two types of geometry are results of simplification that does not precisely cover all the contact conditions in engineering practice. Actually most line contact components are purposely designed to have a crown in the contact length direction in order to accommodate possible non-uniform load distribution and misalignment. Moreover, the contact length is always finite, and at two ends of the contact there usually exist round corners or chamfers to reduce stress concentration. In the present work, the deterministic mixed EHL model developed previously has been modified to take into account the realistic geometry. Sample cases have been analyzed to investigate the effects of contact length, crowning, and end corners (or chamfers) on the EHL film thickness and the stress concentration, and also to demonstrate the entire transition from full-film and mixed EHL down to a practically dry contact under severe operating conditions with real machined roughness. It appears that this modified model can be used as an engineering tool for roller design optimization through in-depth mixed EHL performance evaluation.