Lubricant base oils are often blends of different molecular weight cuts to arrive at a specified ambient pressure viscosity and, to improve the temperature-viscosity behavior or to simply increase the viscosity, viscosity-modifying polymer additives are often added to the base oil. This paper investigates the effect of mixture rheology on elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) film thickness using EHL contact measurements and a full numerical analysis for three synthetic lubricants including two single-component lubricants PAO650 and PAO100 and a mixture of these. The pressure and shear dependences of the viscosity of these lubricants were measured with high-pressure viscometers; viscosities were not adjusted to fit experiment. The point contact film thicknesses for these lubricants in pure rolling were measured using a thin-film colorimetric interferometry apparatus. Numerical simulations based on the measured rheology show very good agreement with the measurements of film thickness while the Newtonian prediction is up to twice the measurement. These results validate the use of realistic shear-thinning and pressure-viscosity models, which originate from viscosity measurements. It is conceivable that simulation may provide a means to “engineer” lubricants with the optimum balance of film thickness and friction through intelligent mixing of components.
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April 2008
Research Papers
The Shear-Thinning Elastohydrodynamic Film Thickness of a Two-Component Mixture
Yuchuan Liu,
Yuchuan Liu
Center for Surface Engineering and Tribology,
Northwestern University
, 2145 Sheridan Road, B224, Evanston, IL 60208
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Q. Jane Wang,
Q. Jane Wang
Center for Surface Engineering and Tribology,
Northwestern University
, 2145 Sheridan Road, B224, Evanston, IL 60208
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Ivan Krupka,
Ivan Krupka
Institute of Machine and Industrial Design, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering,
Brno University of Technology
, 61669 Brno, Czech Republic
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Martin Hartl,
Martin Hartl
Institute of Machine and Industrial Design, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering,
Brno University of Technology
, 61669 Brno, Czech Republic
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Scott Bair
Scott Bair
Center for High-Pressure Rheology, George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering,
Georgia Institute of Technology
, Atlanta, GA 30332-0405
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Yuchuan Liu
Center for Surface Engineering and Tribology,
Northwestern University
, 2145 Sheridan Road, B224, Evanston, IL 60208
Q. Jane Wang
Center for Surface Engineering and Tribology,
Northwestern University
, 2145 Sheridan Road, B224, Evanston, IL 60208
Ivan Krupka
Institute of Machine and Industrial Design, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering,
Brno University of Technology
, 61669 Brno, Czech Republic
Martin Hartl
Institute of Machine and Industrial Design, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering,
Brno University of Technology
, 61669 Brno, Czech Republic
Scott Bair
Center for High-Pressure Rheology, George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering,
Georgia Institute of Technology
, Atlanta, GA 30332-0405J. Tribol. Apr 2008, 130(2): 021502 (7 pages)
Published Online: March 20, 2008
Article history
Received:
September 7, 2007
Revised:
October 31, 2007
Published:
March 20, 2008
Citation
Liu, Y., Wang, Q. J., Krupka, I., Hartl, M., and Bair, S. (March 20, 2008). "The Shear-Thinning Elastohydrodynamic Film Thickness of a Two-Component Mixture." ASME. J. Tribol. April 2008; 130(2): 021502. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.2842298
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