Coupled solution of the elastohydrodynamic line contact problem using a differential deflection method

This paper describes how a differential deflection technique for determining the deflection due to pressure acting on a semi-infinite body can be incorporated into solution schemes for the elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) line contact problem. The method allows a fully coupled approach to be used without the full matrix penalty usually associated with that technique. This is achieved by the differential deflection method which specifies the deflection in a distributed implicit way rather than a specific explicit way. The differential deflection method is shown to give unchanged results with a radical reduction in the computing time required. It thus makes the inherent benefits of full coupling of the elastic and hydrodynamic equations available to EHL solution schemes without the computational penalty that has hitherto been associated with that approach.