This paper investigates the utilization of commercial masterbatches of graphene nanoplatelets to improve the properties of neat polymer and wood fiber composites manufactured by conventional processing methods. The effect of aspect ratio of the graphene platelets (represented by the different number of layers in the nanoplatelet) on the properties of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) is discussed. The composites were characterized for their mechanical properties (tensile, flexural, impact) and physical characteristics (morphology, crystallization, and thermal stability). The effect of the addition of nanoplatelets on the thermal conductivity and diffusivity of the reinforced polymer with different contents of reinforcement was also investigated. In general, the mechanical performance of the polymer was enhanced at the presence of either of the reinforcements (graphene or wood fiber). The improvement in mechanical properties of the nanocomposite was notable considering that no compatibilizer was used in the manufacturing. The use of a masterbatch can promote utilization of nano-modified polymer composites on an industrial scale without modification of the currently employed processing methods and facilities.

Particles of titanium dioxide were prepared in the presence of europium ions (TiO2:Eu) by a solvothermal method and thermal annealed in air at 500 °C. The spectroscopic properties of TiO2:Eu particles were analyzed indicating that the Eu3+ ions are likely distributed at the surface or near the surface of the titanium dioxide particles. The photoluminescence analysis showed that the intraionic emission was strongly sensitive to reduced pressure conditions, as seen by its absence under vacuum conditions. The ion emission was re-established as soon as the atmosphere was restored. Additionally, the ion integrated emission intensity follows a linearly dependence with pressure in the range of 150 to 800 mbar revealing a high sensitivity to small variations in pressure, which is an unprecedented result. This innovation will allow the study of new technologies in the area of low vacuum sensors where TiO2:Eu may act as the active element of an optical sensor for a pressure device.

In this paper, a method facilitating the analysis of the effects of surface roughness on the lubrication of a rotating device is presented. The analysis utilizes homogenization—a suitable technique for averaging the effects of roughness as modeled by the Reynolds equation. The originality of this work lies in a novel way of deriving the so called local problems, also known as microbearing problems. It is clearly shown how this increases the computational efficiency by eliminating the dependence of the global coordinates on the formulation of these local problems. This does not only speed up the computation, it also means that the derived flow factors or flow tensors require less storage space. To provide for good usability, alongside the flow factors for the averaged Reynolds equation, the correction factors for the averaged friction torque (and force) and the expression for averaged load carrying capacity are presented here.

6th European Conference on Computational Mechanics (ECCM 6)7th European Conference on Computational Fluid Dynamics (ECFD 7)11 – 15 June 2018, Glasgow, UK 

MULTISCALE MODELLING OF ELASTOHYDRODYNAMIC TILTED-PAD BEARINGS: A METAMODEL APPROACH 

G. N. de Boer1, A. Almqvist2, L. Gao3, R. W. Hewson4 and H. M. Thompson5 

1 School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK, g.n.deboer@leeds.ac.uk, https://engineering.leeds.ac.uk/staff/1036/Dr_Greg_de_Boer 

2 Division of Machine Elements, Luleå University of Technology, E837a Luleå, Sweden, a.almqvist@ltu.se, https://www.ltu.se/staff/a/almqvist 

3 Department of Aeronautics, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK, leiming.gao@imperial.ac.uk, http://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/leiming.gao 

4 Department of Aeronautics, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK, r.hewson@imperial.ac.uk, https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/r.hewson 

5 School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK, h.m.thompson@leeds.ac.uk, https://engineering.leeds.ac.uk/staff/140/Professor_Harvey_Thompson 

Key Words: Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication; Surface Topography; Metamodelling; Moving Least Squares; Evolving Design of Experiments. 

Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication (EHL) refers to the contact of two surfaces in relative motion under fully flooded conditions, pressure generated in the lubricant generates deformation of the bodies and this is coupled to determine a total load carrying capacity. In such contacts the size of surface topography and film thickness are of a similar order of magnitude and this therefore has a role in describing the phenomena. However the length scales associated with surface topography and the contact region are disparate and in order to model such effects authors have developed homogenisation based methods. 

Recently the Heterogeneous Multiscale Methods (HMM) have been employed to study the problem. This has allowed the effects of micro-EHL to be explored and coupled into the macro-scale EHL problem. Fundamental to this is the separation of scales and periodicity applied at to simulations describing surface topography. de Boer [1] outlines a method for coupling the scales of the problem using Moving Least Squares metamodels to calculate flow factors. This was further used to optimise surface topographical features to produce the minimum possible coefficient of friction in an EHL contact [2]. This research focuses on the metamodelling approach of [1, 2] to explore more complex 3D titled-pad bearing geometries than have previously been investigated. The means by which the scales of the problem are coupled is complicated by an increase in the number of design variables. Additionally the choice of Design of Experiments and how this evolves with the solution procedure is vital to the accuracy of the approach. 

REFERENCES 

[1] de Boer G, Gao L, Hewson R, Thompson H. Heterogeneous Multiscale Methods for modelling surface topography in EHL line contacts. Tribol Int 2017, 113:262-278. 

[2] de Boer G, Gao L, Hewson R, Thompson H, Raske N, Toropov V. A multiscale method for optimising surface topography in elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) using metamodels. Struct Mulidisc Optim 2016, 54(3):483-497. 

Tribology is a multidisciplinary field defined as the science and technology of interacting surfaces in relative motion, and embraces the study of friction, wear and lubrication. A typical tribological application is the rolling element bearing. Tribological contacts may also be found in other types of bearings, cam-mechanisms, gearboxes and hydraulic systems. Examples of bearings inside the human body are the operation of the human hip joint and the contact between teeth during chewing. To fully understand the operation of this type of application one has to understand the couplings between the lubricant fluid dynamics, the structural dynamics of the bearing material, the thermodynamical aspects and the resulting chemical reactions. This makes modeling tribological applications an extremely delicate task. Because of the multidisciplinary nature, such theoretical models lead to mathematical descriptions generally in the form of non-linear integro-differential systems of equations. Some of these systems of equations are sufficiently well posed to allow numerical solutions to be carried out, resulting in accurate predictions on performance. In this work, the influence on performance of a surface microscopical nature, the surface roughness, in contact interfaces between different types of machine element components is the subject of study. An example is the non-conformal lubricated contact between one of the rollers and the inner ring in a rolling element bearing. The tribological contact controlling the operation of the human hip joint is also very similar to this. Another example of a non-conformal contact occurs when driving on rainy roads, where the hydrodynamic action of the water separates the tire. To enable investigations of these types of problems, different theoretical models were studied; for the selected model, a numerical solution technique was developed within this project. This model is based on the Reynolds equation coupled with the film thickness equation. The numerical solution technique involves a multilevel technique to facilitate the solution process. Results presented in this thesis, utilizing this approach, study elementary surface features such as ridges and indentations passing each other inside the lubricated conjunction. The Reynolds equation is derived under the assumptions of thin fluid film and creeping flow, and considers in its most general form shear thinning of the lubricant. This type of equation describes the hydrodynamic action of the lubricant flow and may be used when the interfaces consist of either conformal or non-conformal conjunctions. Examples of applications having conformal interfaces are thrust- and journal- bearings or the contact between the eye and a (optical) contact lens. In such types of applications the load carried by the interface is distributed over a fairly large area that under certain circumstances helps to prevent mechanical deformation of the contacting surfaces. Such applications are said to operate in the hydrodynamic lubrication (HL) regime. Lubricant compressibility and cavitation are important aspects and have received some attention. However, the main objective when modeling HL has been to investigate and develop methods that enable the influence of surface roughness to be to be studied efficiently. Homogenization is a rigorous mathematical concept that when applied to a certain problem may be regarded as an averaging technique as well as it provides information about the induced effects of local surface roughness. Homogenization inflicts no restrictions on the surface roughness representation other than the representative part of the chosen surface roughness being assumed periodically distributed and of course the assumptions of thin film flow made through the Reynolds equation. The homogenization process leads to a two sets of equations one for the local scale describing surface roughness, scale and one for the global scale describing application geometry. The unequivocally determined coefficients of the global problem, which may be regarded as flow factors, are obtained through the solution of local problems. This makes homogenization an eminent approach to be used investigating the influence of surface roughness on hydrodynamic performance. In the present work, homogenization has been used to derive computationally feasible forms of problems originating from incompressible and compressible Reynolds type equations that describe stationary and unstationary flows in both cartezian and cylindrical co-ordinates. This technique enables simulations of surface roughness induced effects when considering surface roughness descriptions originating from measurements. Moreover, the application of homogenization facilitates the interpretation of results. Numerical investigations following the homogenization process have been carried out to verify the applicability of homogenization in hydrodynamic lubrication. Homogenization has also been shown here to enable efficient analysis of rough hydrodynamically lubricated problems. Also of note, in connection to the scientific contribution within tribology, collaboration with a group in applied mathematics has lead to the development of novel techniques in that area. These ideas have also been successfully applied, with some results presented in this thesis. At start-ups, the contact in a rolling element bearing could be both starved and drained from lubricant. In this case the hydrodynamic action becomes negligible in terms of load carrying capacity. The load is carried exclusively by surface asperities, the tribo film, or both. This is hereby modeled as the unlubricated frictionless contact between rough surfaces, i.e. a contact mechanical approach. A variational principle was used in which the real area of contact and the contact pressure distribution minimize the total complementary potential energy. The material model is linear elastic-perfectly plastic and the energy dissipation due to plastic deformation is accounted for. The numerics of this contact mechanical approach involve the fast Fourier transformation (FFT) technique in order to facilitate the solution process. Investigation results of the contact mechanics of realistic surfaces are presented in this thesis. In this investigation the variation in the real area of contact, the plasticity index and some surface roughness parameters due to applied load were studied.

In the field of tribology, there are numerous theoretical models that may be described mathematically in the form of integro-differential systems of equations. Some of these systems of equations are sufficiently well posed to allow for numerical solutions to be carried out resulting in accurate predictions. This work has focused on the contact between rough surfaces with or without a separating lubricant film. The objective was to investigate how surface topography influences contact conditions. For this purpose two different numerical methods were developed and used. For the lubricated contact between rough surfaces the Reynolds equation were used as a basis. This equation is derived under the assumptions of thin fluid film and creeping flow. In highly loaded, lubricated, non- conformal contacts of surfaces after running-in, the load concentration no longer results in plastic deformations, however large elastic deformations will be apparent. It is the interaction between the hydrodynamic action of the lubricant and the elastic deformations of the surfaces that, in certain applications, enable the lubricant film to fully separate the surfaces. This is commonly referred to as full film elastohydrodynamic (EHD) lubrication. Typical machine elements that operates in the full film EHD lubrication (FL) regime include rolling element bearings, cams and gears. Unfortunately, a cost effective way of machining engineering surfaces seldom results in a surface topography that influence contact conditions in the same way as a surface after running-in. Such topographies may prevent the lubricant from fully separating the surfaces because of deteriorated hydrodynamic action. In this case the applied load is carried in part by the lubricant and in part by surface asperities and/or surface active lubricant additives. This could also be the case in lubricant starved contacts, which is a common situation in not only grease lubricated contacts but also in many liquid lubricated contacts, such as high speed operating rolling element bearings. The load sharing between the highly compressed lubricant and the surface and/or surface active lubricant additives is the reason why this lubrication regime is most commonly referred to as mixed EHD lubrication (ML). Machine elements that while running operate in the FL regime may experience a transition into the ML regime at stops or due to altered operating conditions. It is not possible to simulate direct contact between the surfaces using a numerical method based on Reynolds equation. A parameter study, of elementary surface features passing each other inside the EHD lubricated conjunction, was performed. The results obtained, even though no direct contact could be simulated, does indicate that a transition from the FL to the ML regime would occur for certain combinations of the varied parameters. At start-ups, the contact in a rolling element bearing could be both starved and drained from lubricant. In this case the hydrodynamic action becomes negligible in terms of load carrying capacity. The load is carried exclusively by surface asperities and/or surface active lubricant additives. This regime is referred to as boundary lubrication (BL). Operation conditions could also make both FL and ML impossible to achieve, for example, in the case in a low rpm operating rolling element bearing. The BL regime is in this work modeled as the unlubricated frictionless contact between rough surfaces, i.e., a dry contact approach. A variational principle was used in which the real area of contact and contact pressure distribution are those which minimize the total complementary energy. A linear elastic-perfectly plastic deformation model in which energy dissipation due to plastic deformation is accounted for was used. The dry contact method was applied to the contact between four different profiles and a plane. The variation in the real area of contact, the plasticity index and some surface roughness parameters due to applied load were investigated. The surface roughness parameters of the profiles differed significantly.

The fact that the film is thin is in lubrication theory utilised to simplify the full Navier–Stokes system of equations. For incompressible and iso-viscous fluids, it turns out that the inertial terms are small enough to be neglected. However, for a compressible fluid, we show that the influence of inertia depends on the (constitutive) density-pressure relationship and may not always be neglected. We consider a class of iso-viscous fluids obeying a power-law type of compressibility, which in particular includes both incompressible fluids and ideal gases. We show by scaling and asymptotic analysis, that the degree of compressibility determines whether the terms governing inertia may or may not be neglected. For instance, for an ideal gas, the inertial terms remain regardless of the film height-to-length ratio. However, by means of a specific modified Reynolds number that we define we show that the magnitudes of the inertial terms rarely are large enough to be influential. In addition, we consider fluids obeying the well-known Dowson and Higginson density-pressure relationship and show that the inertial terms can be neglected, which allows for obtaining a Reynolds type of equation. Finally, some numerical examples are presented in order to illustrate our theoretical results.

We study the distribution of interfacial separations at the contact region between two elastic solids with randomly rough surfaces. An analytical expression is derived for the distribution of interfacial separations using Persson's theory of contact mechanics, and is compared to numerical solutions obtained using (a) a half-space method based on the Boussinesq equation, (b) a Green's function molecular dynamics technique and (c) smart-block classical molecular dynamics. Overall, we find good agreement between all the different approaches.

This paper summarizes the homogenization process of rough, hydrodynamic lubrication problems governed by the Reynolds equation used to describe compressible liquid flow. Here, the homogenized equation describes the limiting result when the wavelength of a modeled surface roughness goes to zero. The lubricant film thickness is modeled by one part describing the geometry/shape of the bearing and a periodic part describing the surface topography/roughness. By varying the periodic part as well as its wavelength, we can try to systematically investigate the applicability of homogenization on this type of problem. The load carrying capacity is the target parameter; deterministic solutions are compared to homogenized by this measure. We show that the load carrying capacity rapidly converges to the homogenized results as the wavelength decreases, proving that the homogenized solution gives a very accurate representation of the problem when real surface topographies are considered

We prove a homogenization result for monotone operators by using the method of multiscale convergence. More precisely, we study the asymptotic behavior as epsilon -> 0 of the solutions u(epsilon) of the nonlinear equation div a(epsilon)(x, del u(epsilon)) = div b(epsilon), where both a(epsilon) and b(epsilon) oscillate rapidly on several microscopic scales and a(epsilon) satisfies certain continuity, monotonicity and boundedness conditions. This kind of problem has applications in hydrodynamic thin film lubrication where the bounding surfaces have roughness on several length scales. The homogenization result is obtained by extending the multiscale convergence method to the setting of Sobolev spaces W-0(1,p)(Omega), where 1 < p < infinity. In particular we give new proofs of some fundamental theorems concerning this convergence that were first obtained by Allaire and Briane for the case p = 2.

This work is devoted to studying the combined effect that arises due to surface texture and surface roughness in hydrodynamic lubrication. An effective approach in tackling this problem is by using the theory of reiterated homogenization with three scales. In the numerical analysis of such problems, a very fine mesh is needed, suggesting some type of averaging. To this end, a general class of problems is studied that, e.g. includes the incompressible Reynolds problem in both artesian and cylindrical coordinate forms. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the method several numerical results are presented that clearly show the convergence of the deterministic solutions towards the homogenized solution.Moreover, the convergence of the friction force and the load carrying capacity of the lubricant film is also addressed in this paper. In conclusion, reiterated homogenization is a feasible mathematical tool that facilitates the analysis of this type of problem.

This paper is devoted to the effects of surface roughness in hydrodynamic lubrication. The numerical analysis of such problems requires a very fine mesh to resolve the surface roughness, hence it is often necessary to do some type of averaging. Previously, homogenization (a rigorous form of averaging) has been successfully applied to Reynolds type differential equations. More recently, the idea of finding upper and lower bounds on the effective behavior, obtained by homogenization, was applied for the first time in tribology. In these pioneering works, it has been assumed that only one surface is rough. In this paper we develop these results to include the unstationary case where both surfaces may be rough. More precisely, we first use multiple-scale expansion to obtain a homogenization result for a class of variational problems including the variational formulation associated with the unstationary Reynolds equation. Thereafter, we derive lower and upper bounds corresponding to the homogenized (averaged) variational problem. The bounds reduce the numerical analysis, in that one only needs to solve two smooth problems, i.e. no local scale has to be considered. Finally, we present several examples, where it is shown that the bounds can be used to estimate the effects of surface roughness with very high accuracy.

This paper is devoted to the effects of surface roughness during hydrodynamic lubrication. In the numerical analysis a very fine mesh is needed to resolve the surface roughness, suggesting some type of averaging. A rigorous way to do this is to use the general theory of homogenization. In most works about the influence of surface roughness, it is assumed that only the stationary surface is rough. This means that the governing Reynolds type equation does not involve time. However, recently, homogenization was successfully applied to analyze a situation where both surfaces are rough and the lubricant is assumed to have constant bulk modulus. In this paper we will consider a case where both surfaces are assumed to be rough, but the lubricant is incompressible. It is also clearly demonstrated, in this case that homogenization is an efficient approach. Moreover, several numerical results are presented and compared with those corresponding to where a constant bulk modulus is assumed to govern the lubricant compressibility. In particular, the result shows a significant difference in the asymptotic behavior between the incompressible case and that with constant bulk modulus.

The underlying theory, in this paper, is based on clear physical arguments related to conservation of mass flow and considers both incompressible and compressible fluids. The result of the mathematical modeling is a system of equations with two unknowns, which are related to the hydrodynamic pressure and the degree of saturation of the fluid. Discretization of the system leads to a linear complementarity problem (LCP), which easily can be solved numerically with readily available standard methods and an implementation of a model problem in matlab code is made available for the reader of the paper. The model and the associated numerical solution method have significant advantages over today's most frequently used cavitation algorithms, which are based on Elrod-Adams pioneering work

This paper is devoted to homogenization of different models of flow in thin domains with a microstructure. The focus is on applications connected to the effect of surface roughness in full film lubrication, but a parallel to flow in thin porous media is also discussed. Mathematical models of such flows naturally include two small parameters. One is connected to the fluid film thickness and the other to the microstructure. The corresponding asymptotic analysis is a delicate problem, since the result depends on how fast the two small parameters tend to zero relative to each other. We give a review of the current status in this area and point out some future challenges.

Different averaging techniques have proved to be useful for analyzing the effects of surface roughness in hydrodynamic lubrication. This paper compares two of these averaging techniques, namely the flow factor method by Patir and Cheng (P&C) and homogenization. It has been rigorously proved by many authors that the homogenization method provides a correct solution for arbitrary roughness. In this work it is shown that the two methods coincide if and only if the roughness exhibits certain symmetries. Hence, homogenization is always the preferred method.

We homogenize a Reynolds equation with rapidly oscillating film thickness function hε, assuming a constant compressiblity factor in the pressure-density relation. The oscillations are due to roughness on the bounding surfaces of the fluid film. As shown by previous studies, homogenization is an effective approach for analyzing the effects of surface roughness in hydrodynamic lubrication. By two-scale convergence theory we obtain the limit problem (homogenized equation) and strong convergence in L2 for the unknown density ρε. By adding a small corrector term we also obtain strong convergence in the Sobolev norm.

In most theoretical studies carried out to date on the effect of surface roughness in elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) one surface is considered smooth and one as being rough. In real tribological contacts however, both surfaces normally have similar roughness heights. When modelling a rolling contact it is possible to simply sum the roughness of the two contact surfaces but in a sliding EHL contact, a continuously changing effective surface roughness occurs. The aim of this work was to investigate the influence of elementary surface features such as dents and ridges on the film thickness and pressure. This was done numerically using transient non-Newtonian simulations of an EHL line contact using a coupled smoother combined with a multilevel technique. Four different "overtaking" phenomena were investigated; ridge-ridge, dent-ridge, ridge-dent, and dent-dent. It was shown that the minimum film-thickness produced by a ridge is further reduced in a dent-ridge overtaking event. The squeeze effect seen in the ridge-ridge case resulted in large deformations and film-thickness heights comparable to the corresponding smooth case just before the overtaking event occurred. These local effects arising from simulating two-sided roughness were compared to simulations using a traditional "one-sided rough surface contacting a perfectly smooth surface.".

To increase the hydrodynamic performance in different machine elements during lubrication, e.g. journal bearings and thrust bearings, it is important to understand the influence of surface roughness. In this connection one encounters different approaches commonly based on some form of the Reynolds equation. They may generally be divided into deterministic- and averaging- techniques. The former regards all surface roughness information and provides a detailed understanding of the local effects that arise. The latter method is suitable when investigating how the surface roughness affects performance of the machine element as a whole. Homogenization is a rigorous mathematical concept that when applied to a certain problem may be thought of as an averaging technique also providing information about local effects. In this work the compressible time dependent Reynolds equation is homogenized. Related problems have recently been analyzed by homogenization techniques under various assumptions. In the present paper the compressibility is modeled assuming a constant lubricant bulk modulus. The formal method of multiple scale expansion is used to derive a so-called homogenized equation and a numerical solution method to solve both the deterministic problem and the homogenized problem is implemented. The numerical results clearly show that the solution of the homogenized equation is a suitable approximation to the solution of the deterministic problem. It is also demonstrated that for small values of the roughness wavelength, the homogenization technique is superior, since the solution of the deterministic problem requires an extremely fine discretization mesh. More over, the solution of the time dependent homogenized problem may in some cases be reduced to solve a stationary problem that facilitates the solution process and interpretation of results.

This work introduces a new concept of homogenization that enables efficient analysis of the effects of surface roughness representations obtained by measurements in applications modeled by the Reynolds equation. Examples of such applications are trust- and journal-bearings. The numerical analysis of these types of applications requires an extremely dense computational mesh in order to resolve the surface roughness, suggesting some type of averaging. One such method is homogenization, which has been applied to Reynolds type equations with success recently. This approach is similar to the technique proposed by Patir and Cheng, who introduced flow factors determining the hydrodynamic action due to surface roughness. The difference is, however, that the present technique has a rigorous mathematical support. Moreover, the recipe to compute the averaged coefficients is simple without any ambiguities. Using either the technique proposed by Patir and Cheng or homogenization, the coefficients determining the averaged Reynolds equation are obtained by solving differential equations on a local scale. Unfortunately, this is detrimental when investigating the effects induced by real, measured, surface roughness, even though these local problems may be solved in parallel. The present work presents a solution by applying the technique based on bounds. This technique transforms the stationary Reynolds equation into two computationally feasible forms, one for the upper bound and one for the lower bound, where the flow factors are obtained by straightforward integration. Together with the preciseness of these bounds, the bounds approach becomes an eminent tool suitable for investigating the effect of real, measured, surface roughness on hydrodynamic performance.

This compendium comprises models and numerical solution procedure for tribological interfaces. It describes the tribological contact and the classical lubrication regimes. A thorough derivation of the Reynolds equation, governing the fluid pressure, from the Navier-Stokes momentum equations and the continuity equation for conservation of mass, is presented along with its analytical solution for the infinitely wide linear slider bearing.

The compilation of the compendium was conducted by the first author during his tenure as Professor at the Division of Machine Elements, Department of Engineering Sciences and Mathematics, Luleå University of Technology and by the second author during his tenure as a postdoctoral researcher at the same division.

Although the compilation of this text is the work solely of the authors, the models and solution procedure presented herein is joint development of many good colleagues and co-authors. Our sincere gratitude is extended towards them all.

In this way all the height information of the surface profile is preserved and not only a few parameters, like Ra, Rq, Rz, Rsk, etc. The aim of this work is to investigate how classes of surfaces based on a single Abbott curve perform in terms of contact mechanical parameters like the real area of contact. The result shows that surfaces taken from a class of random surfaces generated from a specific Abbott curve behaves similar in a contact mechanics simulation. That is, the distribution of for example the real area of contact within such a class is compact, having a small deviation from its mean.This implies that it is possible to simulate classes of surfaces based on Abbott curves and to use the results to predict contact mechanical properties of real surface topographies.

A model to be used for numerical simulation of the contact of linear elastic perfectly plastic rough surfaces was developed. Energy dissipation due to plastic deformation is taken into account. Spectral theory and an FFT-techique are used to facilitate the numerical solution process. Results of simulations using four two-dimensional profiles with different topographies in contact with a rigid plane for a number loads are reported. From the results it is clear that the real area of contact (Ar) changes almost linearly with load and is only slightly affected by the difference in topography. A plasticity index is defined as the ratio of plastically deformed area (Ap) and Ar. Plastic deformation occurs even at low loads and there is a significant difference in plasticity index between the surface profiles considered. An investigation on how the spectral content of the surface profile influences the results presented is also performed. This is to ensure that the metrological limitations of the optical profiler used to measure the surfaces do not have a significant influence. It is concluded that the highest frequencies of the measured profile have a negligible influence on the real area of contact.

During the operation of hydrodynamically lubricated devices a fully formulated lubricant has the ability to form layers at the surfaces. A friction modifier's task is to adjust the interaction between lubricant and the surface so that friction is lowered. An antiwear additive creates a protective layer on the surface and this definitely influence the performance of the lubricated device. To gain fundamental understanding, models that address the modified liquid - solid interaction due to the formation of layers, but also models that may be used to study the effects of layers already formed on the contacting surfaces are required. In this paper, two non-Newtonian lubricant rheology models that may be used to simulate reacted layers resembling those created by lubricant additives are adopted for the simulation of the piston ring - cylinder liner lubrication problem. The possibility of layer to layer interaction, which is likely to occur in the convex conjunction between the ring and the liner, is considered and this extends the models found in the literature. The effects induced by this type of layering are studied by using a modified Reynolds' equation where the coefficients have been corrected with factors that accounts for the layer properties. This enables, effectively, studies of layers resembling those created by lubricant additives during the operation of the lubricated conjunction between a piston ring and a cylinder liner.

During the operation of hydrodynamically lubricated devices a fully formulated lubricant has the ability to form layers at the surfaces. Such layers alter the interaction between the lubricant and the surface that definitely will influence the performance of the lubricated device.To gain fundamental understanding, models that address the formation of layers and the altered liquid – solid interaction, but also models that may be used to study the effects of existing layers are required. In this paper, non-Newtonian lubricant rheology models that may be used to resemble layers of variable shear strength – wall-slip specifically – are considered for the simulation of the piston ring - cylinder liner lubrication problem.The effects induced by this type of layering are studied by using a modified Reynold’s equation where the coefficients have been corrected with factors that accounts for layer properties. This enables, effectively, studies of immobile layers as well as wall-slip in the lubricated conjunction between a piston ring and a cylinder liner.

In this chapter we will present a derivation of a mathematical model describing how cavitation influences the pressure distribution in a thin lubricant film between two moving surfaces. The main idea in the derivation is to first describe the influence of cavitation on the mass flow and thereafter using a conservation law for the mass. This leads to a nonlinear system with two complementary variables: one is the pressure distribution and the other is related to the density, i.e. a nonlinear complementarity problem (NLCP). The proposed approach is used to derive a mass conserving cavitation model considering that density, viscosity and film thickness of the lubricant depend on the pressure. To demonstrate the applicability and evaluate the proposed model and the suggested numerical implementation, a few model problems are analysed and presented.

When simulating elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL), the Reynolds equation is the predominating partial differential equation for prediction of the fluid flow. Also very few attempts have been carried out using the full momentum and continuity equations separately. The aim of this investigation is to compare two different approaches for simulation of EHL line contacts where a single ridge travels through an EHL conjunction. One of the approaches is based on the Reynolds equation, addressing the coupling between the pressure and the film thickness. The solver uses the advantages of multilevel techniques to speed up the convergence rate. The other approach is based on commercial CFD software. The software uses the momentum and continuity equations in their basic form, enabling numerical simulations outside the contact regions, as well as in the thin film region to be carried out. The numerical experiments show that, under the running conditions chosen, only small deviations between the two approaches can be observed. The results are encouraging from several viewpoints: validation of the codes, the possibilities of further developments of the CFD approach and the justification of using a Reynolds approach under the running conditions chosen

The objective of the present research is to verify a THD model of hydrodynamic thrust bearings. The developed model of a pivoted pad bearing, which can tilt both radially and circumferentially, allows for three-dimensional temperature distribution in the oil film and in the pad, as well as two-dimensional temperature variation in the runner. Viscosity and density are treated as functions of both temperature and pressure. Experiments have been performed on a test rig, containing two identical equalizing pivoted pad thrust bearings. Power loss, runner temperature, and pressure profiles as a function of load and rotational speed are compared for both theoretical and experimental investigations. Fairly good agreement has been found when the oil inlet temperature and heat transfer coefficients have been estimated in order to get the same runner temperature in both theory and experiment.

The objective of this paper is to investigate the flow in a lubricant film on the surface roughness scale and to compare the numerical solutions obtained by two different solution approaches. This is accomplished firstly by the CFD-approach (computational fluid dynamic approach) where the momentum and continuity equations are solved separately, and secondly the Reynolds equation approach, which is a combination and a simplification of the above equations. The rheology is assumed to be both Newtonian and non-Newtonian. An Eyring model is used in the non-Newtonian case. The result shows that discrepancies between the two approaches may occur, primarily due to a singularity which appears in the momentum equations when the stresses in the lubricant attain magnitudes that are common in EHL. This singularity is not represented by the Reynolds equation. If, however, the rheology is shifted to a non-Newtonian Eyring model the deviations between the two solution approaches is removed or reduced. The second source of discrepancies between the two approaches is the film thickness to wavelength scale ω. It will be shown that the Reynolds equation is valid until this ratio is approximately O(10-2).

The complicated nature of the EHL-problem has so far forced researchers to develop their own computer codes. These codes are ultimately based on the Reynolds equation, and if thermal EHL-simulations are required, a simultaneous solution of the equation of energy also has to be performed. To date only a few attempts to solve the full equations of momentum and continuity as well as equations of energy have been performed. However, such an approach will give extended possibilities of simulating EHL-contacts; i.e. the computational domain can be expanded and it will be possible to simulate the flow, not only in the contact but also around the contact. Another possibility is to investigate how the altering length scales of the surface roughness influence the behaviour of the flow in the contact. However, the aim of the work presented in this paper is to investigate the possibilities of using a commercial CFD-code (computational fluid dynamics code) based on the above-mentioned equations for simulating thermal EHL. The rheology is assumed to be Newtonian and the equations of momentum and continuity are then commonly referred to as the Navier-Stokes equations (N-S equations). The geometry chosen for the simulations is a smooth line contact geometry, for which the results from the simulations show that it is possible to use the N-S equations for thermal EHL for contact pressures up to approximately 0.7 GPa. The code used in this work is the commercial CFD software (CFX 4.3 user guide). There is a limitation in the N-S approach due to a singularity that can occur in the equation of momentum when the principal shear stresses in the film become too high. However, a thermal approach makes it possible to simulate EHL-contacts at higher loads compared with an isothermal approach, due to the reduction of the viscosity in the former approach. The singularity is not present in the Reynolds approach.

Reynolds equation is the pre-dominantly used PDE for modelling the fluid flow or more accurately the fluid pressure in an elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) contact. The equation is derived by combining the two conservation equations of momentum and continuity into a single equation for the fluid pressure. The numerical approach for theoretical investigations performed on EHL contacts in this work is somewhat different. The modelling of the fluid flow is based on a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) technique. The fluid flow is simulated by aid of the equations of momentum and continuity in a more complete form and when the thermodynamics is incorporated, the equation of energy. The aim of the investigation was to examine whether the CFD technique could be used to handle thermal transient rough EHL line contacts. It is shown that commercial CFD software can be modified to meet such requirements. The influence of thermal effects on the flow under sliding motion was investigated. The non-Newtonian model used in this work is the Ree-Eyring model. It is shown that the choice of the Eyring stress in the model influences flow in the contacts. If the thermal properties of the surrounding solids differ, it has been shown experimentally and theoretically that a dimple or increased central film thickness may appear in the EHL contacts. This work shows that the governing mechanisms that result in the dimple are also present in thermal transient rough EHL line contacts.

Wear is a consequence of nature which becomes costly if uncontrolled. Basic wear protection is provided by lubrication which will decrease the severity of the contact between asperities. If the conditions of a contact are such that there can be no hydrodynamic lift off by the oil and most of the contact occurs in between such asperities, the protection is provided by chemically reacted layers, sometimes as thin as just a few nanometers.In such cases where wear is governed by the most basic wear mechanisms, analytical models and numerical simulation tools have been developed and used to predict the extent of wear. Few of these models concider the interplay between contact mechanics and wear mechanisms. Wear modelling must keep improving.The goal for this work is to examine the predictive efficiency of current models and initiate construction of reliable models for the chemical growth of wear reducing layers. To achieve this, numerical simulations of contact mechanics are used in Paper A to calculate the wear of contact surfaces and in Paper B as a basis for conditions of chemical growth.The contact mechanics model is based on a solution to Boussinesq’s problem applied to equations for the potential energy by Kalker. The method takes the contact’s surface topographies and substrate material properties as input and outputs elastic and plastic deformation, contact pressure and contact area. The numerical implementation is efficiently evaluated by means of FFT-accelerated techinques. The wear is usually treated as a linear function of contact pressure and in this case the Archard wear equation constitute a feasible approximation. This equation is implemented in the present contact mechanics model to approximately predict the extent of wear, in boundary lubricated contacts, by means of numerical simulations.The chemistry of lubricant additives is discussed. Using chemical theory for adsorption as by Arrhenius, the molecular perspective of antiwear additives is explored. Mechanical properties of tribochemical antiwear layers are taken into account in the developed method. The results in Paper A from wear simulations and comparison with an experiment shows the usefulness of wear equations of geometrical contact mechanics. The chemical model in Paper B for tribofilm growth is applied to rough surfaces allowing comparison of the synergy between contact mechanics and chemistry fordifferent surface contacts. The results show how tribofilms grow on rough or smooth surfaces. The model can be used to compare chemical acitivity for different surface designs.

A wear model including a deterministic FFT-accelerated contact mechanical tool to calculate pressure and elastic-plastic deformation, is employed to simulate the time dependent wear in a sphere on flat contact. The results of the wear simulations compared to experimental results from a reciprocating test in a ball on disk tribometer. The conditions of the simulations and the experiments are independently adjusted to match up. Similarities and differences shows upon the usefulness and limitation of wearmodelling of this type.

By using a deterministic FFT-accelerated contact mechanical tool to calculate pressure and elastic-plastic deformation, a wear model is utilized to simulate the time dependent wear from a sphere on at contact. The results of the simulated wear are compared to experimental results form a SRV ball on disk tribometer, from which worn surfaces are optically measured. The conditions of the simulation and the experiments are independently adjusted to match. Agreement and diversity shows upon the usefulness and limitation of wear modeling of this type.

A model for tribofilm growth is developed. The model is used in combination with numerical contact mechanics tools to enable evaluation of the combined effects of chemistry and contact mechanics. The model is tuned with experimental data and is thereafter applied to rough surfaces. The growth of the tribofilm is evaluated for 3 different contact cases and short-term tribofilm growth behaviour is analyzed. The results show how tribofilms grow in patches. The model is expected to be used as a tool for analysis of the interaction between rough surfaces.