Reflections on Some Aspects of Lubrication of Concentrated Line Contacts

Abstract

New formulas are presented for two important lubrication parameters of a flooded, concentrated line contact, namely the tangential pressure force component under elasto-hydrodynamic (EHD) conditions and the film thickness in the “intermediate” region defined by Dowson and Whitaker [1]. The latter region, which separates the rigid-isoviscous region from the elastic-piezoviscous (or EHD) region, has not, so far, been represented by an equation. The first formula was obtained simply by curve-fitting, using the method of least squares, from data largely available in the published literature; while the second is basically a third degree Hermite osculating polynomial with four end conditions.