Calculation of Surface Deformation in Point Contact EHD

Abstract

The paper describes three different numerical techniques for the accurate evaluation of the elastic deformation in elastohydrodynamic point contacts. The first method relies on a first order representation of the pressure distribution over triangular elements whereas the second and third methods use a second order method with rectangular elements. Comparison of results obtained using the numerical techniques described with known, exact values indicates that accuracies better than one percent can be expected when using the methods in the ehd problem.