Effects of Surface Roughness on Sliding Friction in Lubricated-Point Contacts: Experimental and Numerical Studies

2007 ◽  
Vol 129 (4) ◽  
pp. 809-817 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shun Wang ◽  
Yuan-zhong Hu ◽  
Wen-zhong Wang ◽  
Hui Wang

The objective of the present work is to investigate experimentally and numerically the influences of surface roughness, produced by typical machining processes, on friction performances in lubricated-point contacts. Prior to the full experimental investigation, a series of tests had been conducted to examine the experimental errors, resulting from repeated tests on the same specimen but at different tracks, with different amounts of lubricant supply, or after the sample reinstallation. Then, the effects of amplitude and texture of surface roughness on friction behavior are investigated in rotational and reciprocal-mode tests, respectively. The measured friction, averaged over the repeated tests and plotted as a function of sliding speed, shows Stribeck-type curves, which manifest the transition from full-film, mixed, to boundary lubrication. Results show that the roughness amplitude imposes a strong influence on the magnificence of friction and the route of lubrication transition. It is also observed that transverse roughness would give rise to a smaller friction coefficient than the longitudinal one under the same operating conditions. Moreover, the deterministic numerical solution of mixed lubrication has been extended to evaluate friction between rough surfaces over a wide range of lubrication regimes. The numerical simulation results are compared and agree very well with experiments.

Author(s):  
C. J. Hooke

In heavily loaded, piezoviscous contacts the surface roughness tends to be flattened inside the conjunction by any relative sliding of the surfaces. However, before it is flattened, the roughness affects the inlet to the contact, producing clearance variations there. These variations are then convected through the contact, at the entrainment velocity, producing a clearance distribution that differs from the original surface. The present paper explores this behaviour and establishes how the amplitude of the convected clearance varies with wavelength and operating conditions. It is shown that the primary influence is the ratio of the wavelength to the inlet length of the conjunction. Where this ratio is large, the roughness is smoothed and there is little variation in clearance under the conjunction. Where the ratio is small, significant variations in clearance may occur but the precise amplitude and phasing depend on the ratio of slide to roll velocities and on the value of a piezoviscous parameter, c. The numerical results agree closely with existing solutions but extend these to cover the full range of operating conditions.


2017 ◽  
Vol 140 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Pu ◽  
Dong Zhu ◽  
Jiaxu Wang

In this study, a modified mixed lubrication model is developed with consideration of machined surface roughness, arbitrary entraining velocity angle, starvation, and cavitation. Model validation is executed by means of comparison between the obtained numerical results and the available starved elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) data found from some previous studies. A comprehensive analysis for the effect of inlet oil supply condition on starvation and cavitation, mixed EHL characteristics, friction and flash temperature in elliptical contacts is conducted in a wide range of operating conditions. In addition, the influence of roughness orientation on film thickness and friction is discussed under different starved lubrication conditions. Obtained results reveal that inlet starvation leads to an obvious reduction of average film thickness and an increase in interasperity cavitation area due to surface roughness, which results in significant increment of asperity contacts, friction, and flash temperature. Besides, the effect of entrainment angle on film thickness will be weakened if the two surfaces operate under starved lubrication condition. Furthermore, the results show that the transverse roughness may yield thicker EHL films and lower friction than the isotropic and longitudinal if starvation is taken into account. Therefore, the starved mixed EHL model can be considered as a useful engineering tool for industrial applications.


Coatings ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 843 ◽  
Author(s):  
Max Marian ◽  
Tim Weikert ◽  
Stephan Tremmel

The overall energy efficiency of machine elements and engine components could be improved by using new technologies such as surface modifications. In the literature, surface engineering approaches like micro-texturing and the application of diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings were frequently studied separately, with focus on a specific model contact and lubrication conditions. The contribution of the current study is to elucidate and compare the underlying friction reduction mechanisms of the aforementioned surface modifications in an application-orientated manner. The study applied the operating conditions of the thermo-elastohydrodynamically lubricated (TEHL) cam/tappet-contact of the valve train. Therefore, tribological cam/bucket tappet component Stribeck tests were used to determine the friction behavior of ultrashort pulse laser fabricated microtextures and PVD/PECVD deposited silicon-doped amorphous carbon coatings. Moreover, advanced surface characterization methods, as well as numerical TEHL tribo-simulations, were utilized to explore the mechanisms responsible for the observed tribological effects. The results showed that the DLC-coating could reduce the solid and fluid friction force in a wide range of lubrication regimes. Conversely, micro-texturing may reduce solid friction while increasing the fraction of fluid friction.


Author(s):  
Yun-Hsiang Sun ◽  
Tao Chen ◽  
Cyrus Shafai

This work proposes a simple but general experimental approach including the rig design and measurement procedure to carry out a wide range of experiments required for identifying parameters for LuGre dynamic friction model. The design choice is based on accuracy of the estimated friction and flexibility in terms of changing contact conditions. The experimental results allow a complete LuGre model, which facilitates, but not limited to, other advanced friction modeling and high performance controller design if needed. In addition, several well-known dynamic friction features (varying break-away force, friction lag and presliding) are successfully demonstrated by our rig, which indicates the adequacy of our approach for capturing highly sophisticated and dynamic friction behavior over a wide range of operating conditions. The proposed set-up and the produced experimental data are believed to greatly facilitate the development of advanced friction compensation and modeling in friction affected mechanisms.


Author(s):  
C J Hooke

The elastohydrodynamic lubrication of point contacts is examined and results for the minimum film thickness are presented for a wide range of radius ratios and operating conditions. The results are compared with the predictions of the appropriate regime formulae. Although these formulae give a reasonable estimate of the contact's behaviour, the actual clearances are often substantially different, particularly close to the regime boundaries. Interpolation equations for seven values of radius ratio are given and these should be sufficient to allow the minimum clearance to be estimated for most isoviscous point contacts.


2015 ◽  
Vol 138 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Pu ◽  
Jiaxu Wang ◽  
Dong Zhu

Numerical solution of mixed elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) is of great importance for the study of lubrication formation and breakdown, as well as surface failures of mechanical components. However, converged and accurate numerical solutions become more difficult, and solution process with a fixed single discretization mesh for the solution domain appears to be quite slow, especially when the lubricant films and surface contacts coexist with real-machined roughness involved. Also, the effect of computational mesh density is found to be more significant if the average film thickness is small. In the present study, a set of sample cases with and without machined surface roughness are analyzed through the progressive mesh densification (PMD) method, and the obtained results are compared with those from the direct iteration method with a single fixed mesh. Besides, more numerical analyses with and without surface roughness in a wide range of operating conditions are conducted to investigate the influence of different compound modes in order to optimize the PMD procedure. In addition, different initial conditions are used to study the effect of initial value on the behaviors of this transient solution. It is observed that, no matter with or without surface roughness considered, the PMD method is stable for transient mixed EHL problems and capable of significantly accelerating the EHL solution process while ensuring numerical accuracy.


2013 ◽  
Vol 135 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen-zhong Wang ◽  
Zhixiang Huang ◽  
Dian Shen ◽  
Lingjia Kong ◽  
Shanshan Li

It has been recognized that purposefully designed surface texturing can contribute to the improvement of tribological performance of elements and friction reduction. However, its optimal parameters may depend on the operating conditions. This paper investigated the effect of a triangle-shaped dimples array on the tribological performance of the lubricated point-contacts under different lubrication regimes, based on the rotational sliding experiment of a patterned steel disk against smooth steel balls. The dimples arrays were produced by laser process and characterized by the 3D profilometer. A series of tests were conducted with different dimple parameters including depth, coverage ratio, size, and direction. Stribecklike curves were obtained to depict the transition of lubrication regimes, and the electrical contact resistance was utilized to qualitatively characterize the lubrication status. The test results showed that the dimples arrays with different sizes, depths and coverage ratios had a distinct effect on the friction behaviors. Compared with the nontextured surfaces, when the dimple depth decreased from 30μm to zero with fixed coverage ratio and size, the friction coefficient firstly decreased, and then increased. The friction coefficient finally approached that of the nontextured surface, during which the lowest value appeared at the dimple depth of approximately 10∼15μm. The coverage ratio of texture showed the similar effect on the friction coefficient. Usually, the coverage ratio of approximately 10% resulted in the lowest friction coefficient. The dimple size and direction also had obvious effects on the friction coefficient. Thus, it can be concluded that there exists a set of optimal values for the dimple depth, coverage ratio, size, and direction to realize the friction reduction.


2001 ◽  
Vol 124 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Y. Li ◽  
C. J. Hooke

The inverse approach, described in detail in a companion paper, is applied to two contacts. The first is a line contact with transverse roughness; the second a point contact with an ellipticity ratio of four containing an isolated transverse surface feature. In each case the surface profile was monitored as the operating conditions became more severe. These profiles were used to define the surface in a multi-level EHL solver and the pressures and subsurface stresses calculated. After allowing for the build up of residual stress, the maximum subsurface stress was compared with the yield strength of the rough surface. Good agreement was obtained indicating, first, that EHL theory is accurate for the rolling case examined and, second, that the Hooke-Venner hypothesis of equivalence between roughness effects in line and point contacts is valid.


Author(s):  
Divya Thiagarajan ◽  
Andrea Bratto ◽  
Andrea Vacca

In pressure compensated external gear machines (EGMs), lateral lubricating interfaces exist between floating lateral bushings and gears. These interfaces are primarily responsible for supporting the high pressure bearing loads in these gaps and promoting good operating efficiencies of these units. A fully coupled fluid-structure-thermal interaction lateral gap model has been developed previously in the authors’ research team which considers this highly coupled physical phenomena to predict the lubrication performance of the interface under full film as well as mixed film conditions. In the current work, capabilities of the lateral gap model are utilized in studying the impact of the variations in surface finishes on the performance of a commercially available EGM chosen for this study. Lateral plate designs of varying surface roughness are chosen for the same EGM unit, to analyze their influence on the lubricating performance of the unit. Detailed surface profile measurements were carried out on these lateral plates under study to determine precise inputs to the lateral gap model. Resulting numerical simulations from the gap model over different operating conditions are used to examine the significant performance features associated with the lateral interface which are affected by such surface variations. Furthermore, the paper compares the simulated leakages obtained directly from the lateral gap model for each of the lateral plate designs, with corresponding experimental data over a wide range of operating conditions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaogang Zhang ◽  
Yali Zhang

Purpose This study aims to investigate the sliding friction behaviour and mechanism of engineering surfaces. Design/methodology/approach A new numerical approach is proposed. This approach derives the macroscale friction coefficient from microscale asperity interactions. By applying this approach, the sliding friction behaviour under different operating conditions were investigated in terms of molecular and mechanical components. Findings Numerical results demonstrate an independent relationship between normal load and friction coefficient, which is governed by the saturated plastic ratio. Numerical results also demonstrate that under very small load, an increase in load increases the friction coefficient. In addition, numerical results confirm the existence of optimal surface roughness where the friction coefficient is the lowest. For the surface profiles used in the current calculation, an optimal surface roughness value is obtained as Rq = 0.125 μm. Originality/value This new approach characterizes the deterministic relationship between macroscale friction coefficient and microscale asperity molecular/mechanical interactions. Numerical results facilitate the understanding of sliding friction mechanism.


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