On the Behavior of Friction in Lubricated Point Contact With Provision for Surface Roughness

This paper presents a simple approach to predict the behavior of friction coefficient in the sliding lubricated point contact. Based on the load-sharing concept, the total applied load is supported by the combination of hydrodynamic film and asperity contact. The asperity contact load is determined in terms of maximum Hertzian pressure in the point contact while the fluid hydrodynamic pressure is calculated through adapting the available numerical solutions of elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) film thickness formula for smooth surfaces. The simulations presented cover the entire lubrication regime including full-film EHL, mixed-lubrication, and boundary-lubrication. The results of friction, when plotted as a function of the sum velocity, result in the familiar Stribeck-type curve. The simulations are verified by comparing the results with published experimental data. A parametric study is conducted to investigate the influence of operating condition on the behavior of friction coefficient. A series of simulations is performed under various operating conditions to explore the behavior of lift-off speed. An equation is proposed to predict the lift-off speed in sliding lubricated point contact, which takes into account the surface roughness.