Meshless Fragile Points Method (FPM) for modelling thin lubricant films by solving Reynolds’ equation
2025 (English)In: Tribology International, ISSN 0301-679X, E-ISSN 1879-2464, Vol. 212, article id 110874Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
This study evaluates the possibility of applying a novel meshless Fragile Points Method (FPM) for solving Reynolds’ equation in lubrication theory, comparing its performance with available analytical solutions and established numerical methods, namely the Finite Difference Method (FDM) and the Finite Element Method (FEM). Reynolds’ equation is solved in one and two dimensions, considering different hydrodynamically lubricated conformal and non-conformal contacts, and including smooth and rough surfaces with artificial and realistic surface roughness profiles or topographies. The results demonstrate that FPM can be successfully applied for solving Reynolds’ equation, with accuracy comparable to FDM and FEM over the considered contacts, surface roughnesses and mesh resolutions. The ability of FPM to efficiently handle sharp transitions in applications with irregular surface features or micro-textured contacts—particularly at low mesh resolutions—without significant loss of accuracy underscores its potential for solving complex multiphysics tribological problems. These problems may involve structural mechanics, heat transfer, and crack propagation, areas in which FPM has already been successfully applied.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier, 2025. Vol. 212, article id 110874
Keywords [en]
Meshless Fragile Points Method, Reynolds’ equation, FPM, Lubrication
National Category
Other Mechanical Engineering Other Materials Engineering Metallurgy and Metallic Materials Computational Mathematics
Research subject
Machine Elements
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-114187DOI: 10.1016/j.triboint.2025.110874ISI: 001540295100001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105010702482OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ltu-114187DiVA, id: diva2:1987643
Note
Validerad;2025;Nivå 2;2025-08-07 (u4);
Fulltext license: CC BY
2025-08-072025-08-072025-11-28Bibliographically approved