Prediction of transient lubricating film thickness in knee prostheses with compliant layers

Author(s):  
Z M Jin ◽  
D Dowson ◽  
J Fisher ◽  
N Ohtsuki ◽  
T Murakami ◽  
...  

The transient lubricating film thickness in knee prostheses using compliant layers has been predicted under simulated walking conditions based upon the elastohydrodynamic lubrication theory. Qualitative agreement has been found between the present theoretical predictions and the experimental measurements using an electric resistance technique reported earlier. It has been shown that the contact geometry plays an important role in the generation of fluid film lubrication in knee prostheses using compliant layers. The maximum lubricating film thickness is predicted for the maximized contact area of a transverse conjunction where the semi-minor contact radius lies in the direction of entraining. The additional advantage of the transverse contact conjunction is that the possibility of lubricant starvation due to small stroke length can be minimized. All these factors, together with the kinematic requirements in the natural knee joint, should be taken into consideration when designing artificial knee joint replacements.

Author(s):  
Z M Jin ◽  
D Dowson ◽  
J Fisher ◽  
D Rimmer ◽  
R Wilkinson ◽  
...  

The lubricating film thickness in a model of compliant layered bearings for total joint replacements has been measured by means of optical interferometry under entraining motion. The essential features of the present interferometry technique were off-normal incidence light, a combination of polyurethane elastomer and a crown glass plate as bearing surfaces and the use of silicone fluid or water as lubricants. The film thickness in the lubricated contact was measured for both water and silicone fluid under a range of entraining velocities. Reasonable agreement was found between the experimental measurements of the lubricating film thickness and the theoretical predictions based upon elastohydrodynamic lubrication analysis.


2018 ◽  
Vol 140 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Nečas ◽  
Tomáš Jaroš ◽  
Kryštof Dočkal ◽  
Petr Šperka ◽  
Martin Vrbka ◽  
...  

The present paper deals with an investigation of film formation in compliant lubricated contact. Despite these contacts can be found in many applications of daily life including both biological and technical fields, so far little is known about the lubrication mechanisms inside the contacts. The main attention is paid to the effect of kinematic conditions on central film thickness. For this purpose, fluorescent microscopy method was employed. Experiments were realized in ball-on-disk configuration, while the ball was made from rubber and the disk was from optical glass. The contact was lubricated by glycerol and polyglycol to examine the effect of fluid viscosity. The measurements were conducted under pure rolling and rolling/sliding conditions. The entrainment speed varied from 10 to 400 mm/s and constant load of 0.2 N was applied. Experimental results were compared with two theoretical predictions derived for isoviscous-elastohydrodynamic lubrication (I-EHL) regime. It was found that the thickness of lubricating film gradually increases with increasing entrainment speed, which corresponds to theoretical assumptions. Against expectations, evident influence of slide-to-roll ratio (SRR) on film formation was observed. In the last part of the paper, some limitations of this study are discussed and several recommendations for further methodology improvement are suggested.


Author(s):  
G McClure ◽  
Z M Jin ◽  
J Fisher ◽  
B J Tighe

The lubricating film thickness in a model of compliant layered bearings, using both permeable hydrogels and non-permeable polyurethane elastomers for total hip joint replacements, has been measured using optical interferometry, under both entraining and squeeze-film motion. The film thickness in the lubricated contact was measured for both water and a 40 per cent glycerol solution in water as a function of entraining velocity and squeeze-film time. The measured lubricating film thickness for the permeable hydrogel was compared to that of the non-permeable polyurethane elastomer and little difference was found when the lubricating film thickness was sufficiently large (greater than 150 nm). Comparison of the experimental results and the theoretical predictions based upon elastohydrodynamic lubrication analysis showed good agreement in the entraining experiments where the film thickness was greater than 150 nm. In the squeeze-film experiments the experimental measurements were greater than the theoretical predictions for all squeeze times due to the formation of a central pocket of fluid which was not predicted by the simple theory used. This also occurred for the hydrogels for films greater than 150 nm. For longer squeeze times the film thickness for the hydrogel fell below the theoretical prediction. This was considered to be due to the permeability of the hydrogel reducing the film thickness when the film thickness was less than 150 nm. The permeability of the hydrogel was not modelled in the theoretical lubrication analysis used in this study.


Author(s):  
Ansheng Zhang ◽  
Jing Wang ◽  
Yiming Han ◽  
Jianjun Zhang ◽  
Yi Liu

For industrial roller or bush chains, the bush swings relative to the pin at working condition. If proper lubrication is maintained, an elastohydrodynamic lubrication contact is formed between the pin and the bush. In this study, a custom-made pin was used to replace the steel ball of a ball-disk test rig and optical interferometric experiments were carried out to study the effect of pin generatrix on the lubrication performance. The effects of generatrix shape, stroke length and oil supply condition on the lubrication state were explored. It is found that the change of the generatrix has an important influence on the oil film thickness, especially under rare oil supply condition.


1993 ◽  
Vol 115 (3) ◽  
pp. 501-506 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henrik A˚stro¨m ◽  
Jan Ove O¨stensen ◽  
Erik Ho¨glund

A ball and disk apparatus was used to investigate the lubricant replenishment of an elastohydrodynamically lubricated point contact. This replenishment of the contact is crucial for building up a lubricating film. Whereas lubricating oil manages to achieve replenishment, lubricating grease appears not to achieve this, with lubricant starvation and a dramatic decrease in film thickness as a result. The distribution of grease around the contact was studied using normal and high-speed video. The movements of grease in the vicinity of the contact could be seen by adding molybdenum disulfide particles to the grease. A recording was then made, using highspeed video recording. The overall cavitation regions were studied using an ordinary video camera and grease without particles. On the basis of the results, possible lubricating grease replenishment mechanisms are discussed. The resulting film thickness was also compared with theoretical predictions using the Hamrock and Dowson starvation criterion, assuming negligible replenishment. The measured film thickness was larger than the predicted, which indicated that some replenishment occurs. In the case of an ordinary thrust ball bearing, replenishment was found to rely on the spin motion of the balls.


2014 ◽  
Vol 53 (26) ◽  
pp. 6066 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Guo ◽  
P. L. Wong ◽  
F. Guo ◽  
H. C. Liu

2007 ◽  
Vol 129 (3) ◽  
pp. 509-516 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuchuan Liu ◽  
W. Wayne Chen ◽  
Dong Zhu ◽  
Shuangbiao Liu ◽  
Q. Jane Wang

An elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) model for coated surfaces in point contacts has been developed by combining the elastic deformation formulation for the coated surfaces with an EHL model. Inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) is employed first to obtain the influence coefficients (ICs) from the frequency response function (FRF). The subsequent calculation of elastic deformation is performed using the efficient algorithm of discrete convolution and fast Fourier transform (DC-FFT). The coating EHL model is verified by the comparison to available numerical results. The effects of coating on lubrication under various loads, speeds, rheological models, and pressure-viscosity behaviors are numerically investigated. Similar to the observations from dry contact, stiffer coatings in EHL tend to reduce the nominal contact radius but increase the maximum contact pressure, and vice versa for more compliant coatings. However, as coating thickness increases, the influence of coatings on film thickness, including the central and the minimum film thicknesses, does not follow a monotonic variation, and therefore, cannot be predicted by any simple film thickness equation. The reason for that is the pressure viscosity effect which tends to counterbalance the effect of coating. The average friction coefficient in lubricant film increases in stiff coating cases but decreases for compliant coating cases. Furthermore, two possible approaches to improving the minimum film thickness thus reducing friction and wear in mixed lubrication are indicated: a thin stiff coating for conventional EHL and a thick compliant coating for soft EHL.


Author(s):  
Z M Jin ◽  
G McClure ◽  
D Dowson ◽  
J Fisher ◽  
B Jobbins

An optical interferometry technique has been successfully used to study the lubricant film thickness in a compliant layered bearing model for total joint replacements under squeeze-film motion. Experiments have been carried out for both thin and thick layers of compliant bearing material. It has been demonstrated that the film thickness patterns depend significantly upon the layer thickness if other parameters are kept constant. For the thin layer, the film thickness in the contact region was found to be essentially uniform and quite good agreement was found with the theoretical predictions based upon a simplified analysis due to Dowson et al. (13) and Higginson (14). However, for the thick layer, a central dimple or pocket was formed and a relatively large difference was found between the experimentally determined central film thickness and the simple parallel circular disc theoretical predictions. The practical implications of the present results are discussed in relation to the lubrication mechanism in the natural synovial joint and its replacement.


Author(s):  
R J Chittenden ◽  
D Dowson ◽  
C M Taylor

The existence of a coherent film of lubricant between highly loaded machine elements has been recognized for many years. Over this period of time measurements of film thickness have gone hand in hand with theoretical analyses in the field now known as elastohydrodynamic lubrication. The experimental techniques of capacitance, electrical resistance and X-ray measurement have been supplemented by the use of optical interferometry while the analytical expressions obtained with the use of elegant simplifications have been superseded by those developed from extensive and comprehensive computational procedures. These developments in experimental techniques have yielded a substantial number of measurements of both minimum and central film thickness. Likewise, the advent of the digital computer has allowed the derivation of a large number of solutions to the problem of elastohydrodynamic lubrication of concentrated contacts. All these results, covering a wide range of geometrical conditions, are to be found in the literature, yet little attempt appears to have been made to assemble a representative set of experimental data to permit a detailed evaluation of the theoretical formulae for elliptical contacts. The second part of this paper therefore considers the correlation between a number of experimental studies covering a wide range of operating conditions and geometries, and the predictions of recent elastohydrodynamic theory. Some of the important aspects of each set of experimental results are then considered and examples are provided which illustrate the following points: 1. Good estimates of lubricant film thickness may be obtained from the theoretical expressions recently derived, even when the dimensionless parameters involved are outside the ranges considered in the derivation of the formulae. 2. The discrepancies which exist between theoretical predictions and some of the measured film thicknesses are nevertheless quite large, even when the dimensionless parameters are within their usual limits. On the whole there is good agreement between experiment and theory, while the general trend of the results indicates that theoretical predictions may underestimate the minimum film thickness by about 10 per cent and the central film thickness by about 25 per cent. This measure of agreement is quite remarkable when the extreme difficulty of interpreting the magnitudes of effective and very thin mean film thicknesses between machined components in various forms of experimental equipment is considered.


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