The Minimum Film Thickness in Lubricated Line Contacts during a Reversal of Entrainment—General Solution and the Development of a Design Chart

1994 ◽  
Vol 208 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
C J Hooke
Keyword(s):  
Film Thickness ◽  
Rate Of Change ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Radius Of Curvature ◽  
Velocity Change ◽  
Surface Separation ◽  
Residual Film ◽  
Minimum Film Thickness ◽  
Line Contacts ◽  
Interpolation Procedure

In most line contacts the load, effective radius of curvature and entraining velocity change with time. Generally this is ignored when calculating the film thickness and a quasi-steady solution is obtained. Under most conditions the errors introduced by this are either small or are not critical. However, when the entraining velocity reverses, as, for example, in some designs of cams, the quasi-steady approach predicts that the film thickness will be zero. In practice a residual film persists and can provide adequate surface separation. Previous papers by the author have shown that the minimum film thickness at entrainment reversal depends on the rate of change of the entraining velocity. Expressions for the film thickness in the four regimes of lubrication—rigid isoviscous, rigid piezoviscous, elastic isoviscous and elastic piezoviscous—were obtained and the variations of the film thickness in the transitions between adjacent regimes examined. The present paper examines the region where more than two regimes overlap. The values of film thickness obtained are then used to develop an interpolation procedure for the accurate calculation of the minimumfilm thickness under all operating conditions.

The Minimum Film Thickness in Lubricated Line Contacts during a Reversal of Entrainment—Piezoviscous Behaviour

1992 ◽  
Vol 206 (6) ◽  
pp. 417-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
C J Hooke
Keyword(s):  
Film Thickness ◽  
Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication ◽  
Lubrication Theory ◽  
Rate Of Change ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Entrainment Velocity ◽  
Residual Film ◽  
Minimum Film Thickness ◽  
Line Contacts ◽  
Important Exception

In many line contacts the operating conditions, such as load, entrainment velocity and contact radii, vary with time. Generally, the results from standard elastohydrodynamic lubrication theory, derived for constant conditions, can be used to obtain a quasi-steady prediction of film thickness that is sufficiently accurate for design purposes. An important exception to this is where the entrainment direction changes because, under those conditions, the quasi-steady approach predicts that there will be no clearance between the surfaces while in practice a residual film will persist. A previous paper showed that the minimum film thickness during entrainment reversal depends primarily on the rate of change of entrainment velocity. Limit expressions for the minimum clearance in the four regimes of lubrication were obtained. The present paper is part of a programme to develop a minimum film thickness chart for entrainment reversal and deals with the transition between the rigid-piezoviscous and the elastic-piezoviscous regimes.

The Minimum Film Thickness in Line Contacts During Reversal of Entrainment

1993 ◽  
Vol 115 (1) ◽  
pp. 191-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. Hooke
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Film Thickness ◽  
Rate Of Change ◽  
Radius Of Curvature ◽  
Operating Cycle ◽  
Minimum Film Thickness ◽  
Line Contacts ◽  
Involute Gears ◽  
Shaft Seals ◽  
Steady State Predictions

In contacts, such as cams, non-involute gears and shaft seals, where the direction of entrainment reverses during the operating cycle, the minimum film thickness is typically found just after the reversal. This paper shows that this minimum film thickness is determined by the rate of change of the entraining velocity and by the fluid and surface properties. For line contacts, four regimes of lubrication are found—as for the steady-state situation—and expressions for the film thickness in each regime are developed. This enables an outline design chart for the minimum film thickness to be constructed. It is shown that this information, together with the steady-state predictions is sufficient to determine the variation of film thickness with time in most situations where load, radius of curvature, and entraining velocity vary.

An Interpolation Procedure for the Minimum Film Thickness in Point Contacts

1990 ◽  
Vol 204 (3) ◽  
pp. 199-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
C J Hooke
Keyword(s):  
Film Thickness ◽  
Contact Geometry ◽  
High Accuracy ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Experimental Results ◽  
Point Contacts ◽  
Design Charts ◽  
Minimum Film Thickness ◽  
Interpolation Procedure

Most engineering point contacts operate in, or close to, the elastic piezoviscous regime. A general interpolation procedure is presented by which the minimum film thickness in any such contact may be estimated. This procedure matches all existing numerical and experimental results with high accuracy. Design charts are provided and these enable the minimum film thickness to be read directly and also allow the effect of changes in contact geometry and operating conditions to be assessed.

The Minimum Film Thickness in Lubricated Line Contacts during a Reversal of Entrainment—Isoviscous Behaviour

1992 ◽  
Vol 206 (5) ◽  
pp. 337-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
C J Hooke
Keyword(s):  
Film Thickness ◽  
Transition Zone ◽  
Static Analysis ◽  
Rate Of Change ◽  
Entrainment Velocity ◽  
Minimum Film Thickness ◽  
Line Contacts ◽  
Static Approach ◽  
The One

In most line contacts, the film thickness can be adequately determined using a quasi-static analysis. The one exception appears to occur when the direction of entrainment changes. Here, the quasi-static approach predicts that the film will fall to zero while, in practice, there will always be a finite clearance between the surfaces. It was shown in a previous paper that this minimum clearance depends upon the rate of change of entrainment velocity, and limit expressions for the film thicknesses in the four regimes of lubrication were developed. The present paper examines the transition between the rigid-isoviscous and the elastic-isoviscous regimes and determines how the minimum film thickness behaves in this transition zone.

An Accurate Solution of the Gas Lubricated, Flat Sector Thrust Bearing

1977 ◽  
Vol 99 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Etsion ◽  
D. P. Fleming
Keyword(s):  
Film Thickness ◽  
Thrust Bearing ◽  
Load Capacity ◽  
Thickness Distribution ◽  
Maximum Load ◽  
Accurate Solution ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Thrust Bearings ◽  
Practical Design ◽  
Minimum Film Thickness

A flat sector shaped pad geometry for gas lubricated thrust bearings is analyzed considering both pitch and roll angles of the pad and the true film thickness distribution. Maximum load capacity is achieved when the pad is tilted so as to create a uniform minimum film thickness along the pad trailing edge. Performance characteristics for various geometries and operating conditions of gas thrust bearings are presented in the form of design curves. A comparison is made with the rectangular slider approximation. It is found that this approximation is unsafe for practical design, since it always overestimates load capacity.

scholarly journals A Quantitative Determination of Minimum Film Thickness in Elastohydrodynamic Circular Contacts

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wassim Habchi ◽  
Philippe Vergne
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Data ◽  
Finite Element ◽  
Numerical Model ◽  
Film Thickness ◽  
Quantitative Determination ◽  
Excellent Agreement ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Pure Rolling ◽  
Minimum Film Thickness

Abstract The current work presents a quantitative approach for the prediction of minimum film thickness in elastohydrodynamic lubricated (EHL) circular contacts. In contrast to central film thickness, minimum film thickness can be hard to accurately measure, and it is usually poorly estimated by classical analytical film thickness formulae. For this, an advanced finite-element-based numerical model is used to quantify variations of the central-to-minimum film thickness ratio with operating conditions, under isothermal Newtonian pure-rolling conditions. An ensuing analytical expression is then derived and compared to classical film thickness formulae and to more recent similar expressions. The comparisons confirmed the inability of the former to predict the minimum film thickness, and the limitations of the latter, which tend to overestimate the ratio of central-to-minimum film thickness. The proposed approach is validated against numerical results as well as experimental data from the literature, revealing an excellent agreement with both. This framework can be used to predict minimum film thickness in circular elastohydrodynamic contacts from knowledge of central film thickness, which can be either accurately measured or rather well estimated using classical film thickness formulae.

An Experimental Analysis of Misalignment Effects on Hydrodynamic Plain Journal Bearing Performances

2001 ◽  
Vol 124 (2) ◽  
pp. 313-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Bouyer ◽  
M. Fillon
Keyword(s):  
Film Thickness ◽  
Journal Bearing ◽  
Hydrodynamic Pressure ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Temperature Fields ◽  
Maximum Pressure ◽  
Minimum Film Thickness ◽  
Oil Flow ◽  
Hydrodynamic Effects

The present study deals with the experimental determination of the performance of a 100 mm diameter plain journal bearing submitted to a misalignment torque. Hydrodynamic pressure and temperature fields in the mid-plane of the bearing, temperatures in two axial directions, oil flow rate, and minimum film thickness, were all measured for various operating conditions and misalignment torques. Tests were carried out for rotational speeds ranging from 1500 to 4000 rpm with a maximum static load of 9000 N and a misalignment torque varying from 0 to 70 N.m. The bearing performances were greatly affected by the misalignment. The maximum pressure in the mid-plane decreased by 20 percent for the largest misalignment torque while the minimum film thickness was reduced by 80 percent. The misalignment caused more significant changes in bearing performance when the rotational speed or load was low. The hydrodynamic effects were then relatively small and the bearing offered less resistance to the misalignment.

Roughness Amplitude Reduction Under Non-Newtonian EHL Conditions

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. D. Chapkov ◽  
C. H. Venner ◽  
A. A. Lubrecht
Keyword(s):  
Film Thickness ◽  
Pressure Fluctuations ◽  
Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Quantitative Prediction ◽  
Point Contacts ◽  
Minimum Film Thickness ◽  
Roughness Amplitude ◽  
Average Film Thickness ◽  
Ehl Contact

The influence of surface roughness on the performance of bearings and gears operating under ElastoHydrodynamic Lubrication (EHL) conditions has become increasingly important over the last decade, as the average film thickness decreased due to various influences. Surface features can reduce the minimum film thickness and thus increase the wear. They can also increase the temperature and the pressure fluctuations, which directly affects the component life. In order to describe the roughness geometry inside an EHL contact, the amplitude reduction of harmonic waviness has been studied over the last ten years. This theory currently allows a quantitative prediction of the waviness amplitude and includes the influence of wavelength and contact operating conditions. However, the model assumes a Newtonian behaviour of the lubricant. The current paper makes a first contribution to the extension of the roughness amplitude reduction for EHL point contacts including non-Newtonian effects.

The Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication of Elliptical Point Contacts Operating in the Isoviscous Region

1995 ◽  
Vol 209 (4) ◽  
pp. 225-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
C J Hooke
Keyword(s):  
Film Thickness ◽  
Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Radius Ratio ◽  
Point Contacts ◽  
Reasonable Estimate ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Minimum Film Thickness

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.

Experimental study of starvation in grease-lubricated finite line contacts

2017 ◽  
Vol 69 (6) ◽  
pp. 963-969 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhijian Wang ◽  
Xuejin Shen ◽  
Xiaoyang Chen ◽  
Qiang Han ◽  
Lei Shi
Keyword(s):  
Film Thickness ◽  
High Viscosity ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Test Rig ◽  
Oil Viscosity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Base Oil ◽  
Optical Test ◽  
Line Contacts ◽  
Finite Line

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study starvation in grease-lubricated finite line contacts and to understand film-forming mechanisms of grease-lubricated finite line contacts. Design/methodology/approach A multiple-contact optical elastohydrodynamic (EHL) test rig is constructed to investigate the influences of lubricant properties on film thickness and lubrication conditions at different working conditions. The film thickness is calculated according to the relative light intensity principle. The degree of starvation is evaluated by the air–oil meniscus distance and the corresponding film thickness. Findings The experimental results show that for greases with high-viscosity base oil, the high-frequency fluctuation of film thickness is observed in low-speed operating conditions. Reducing the viscosity of the base oil and improving running speed can weaken the fluctuation of film thickness. The degree of starvation increases with increasing base oil viscosity, rolling speed and the crown drop. In addition, reducing the replenishment time by reducing the gap between the rollers also can increase the degree of starvation. Originality/value Starvation is often to occur in finite line contacts, such as roller bearings and gears; there are still limited finite line contact EHL test rigs, much less multiple-contact optical test rigs. Therefore, the present work is undertaken to construct the multiple-contact test rig and to evaluate the mechanism of starvation in finite line contacts.

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