Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication of Elliptical Contacts for Materials of Low Elastic Modulus I—Fully Flooded Conjunction

Our earlier studies of elastohydrodynamic lubrication of conjunctions of elliptical form are applied to the particular and interesting situation exhibited by materials of low elastic modulus. By modifying the procedures we outlined in an earlier publication, the influence of the ellipticity parameter k and the dimensionless speed U, load W, and material G parameters on minimum film thickness for these materials has been investigated. The ellipticity parameter was varied from 1 (a ball-on-plate configuration) to 12 (a configuration approaching a line contact). The dimensionless speed and load parameters were varied by 1 order of magnitude. Seventeen different cases were used to generate the following minimum- and central-film-thickness relations: H˜min=7.43(1−0.85e−0.31k)U0.65W−0.21H˜c=7.32(1−0.72e−0.28k)U0.64W−0.22 Contour plots are presented that illustrate in detail the pressure distribution and film thickness in the conjunction.