Numerical Simulation of a Transverse Ridge in a Circular EHL Contact Under Rolling/Sliding

This paper investigates the influence of a transverse ridge on the film thickness in a circular EHL contact under rolling/sliding conditions. It is a numerical simulation of the optical EHL work of Kaneta et al. (1992). One of the purposes of this investigation is to check the validity of the algorithm and the Newtonian, isothermal lubricant assumption for film thickness predictions under these conditions (p_h = 0.54 GPa). It will be shown that, both quantitatively, the film thickness on the central axis Y = 0, and qualitatively, the film thickness profile through “pseudo interference graphs”, the agreement between experiment and Newtonian isothermal theory is good. This supports the argument that the rheological and the thermal behavior of the fluid only slightly influence the film thickness and pressure distribution of the lightly loaded non-smooth contact case.