Comparison Between Experiments and Numerical Solutions for Isothermal Elastohydrodynamic Point Contacts

Abstract

This paper presents multi-level, multi-grid solutions for isothermal elastohydrodynamic circular contacts under pure entraining motion. The solutions are valid for quasi-static conditions and Newtonian lubricants. Multi-grid solutions allow rapid evaluation of contact pressure distributions and corresponding elastic film shapes. This allows the deployment of a large number of elements, thus improving the accuracy of the numerical solution compared with that of conventional finite difference schemes. The numerical results are compared with experimental measurements and reasonable agreement has been obtained under a wide range of operating conditions.