Ridge geometry effect on the behavior of elastohydrodynamic lubrication of point contact problem

A numerical solution is presented to investigate the influence of the geometry and the amplitude of the transverse ridge on the characteristics of elastohydrodynamic lubrication for point contact problem under steady state condition. Several shapes of ridges with different amplitudes are used in the stationary case, such as flat-top ridge, cosine wave ridge and sharp ridge of triangular shape. Results of film thickness and pressure distributions of the aforementioned ridge feature are presented at different locations through an elastohydrodynamically lubricated contact zone for different amplitude of the ridge. Simulations were performed using the Newton-Raphson iteration technique to solve the Reynolds equation. The numerical results reveal that, to predict optimum solution for lubricated contact problem with artificial surface roughness, the geometrical characteristics of the ridge should have profiles with smooth transitions such as those of a cosine wave shape with relatively low amplitude to reduce pressure spike and therefore cause the reduction in the film thickness. The position of the location of the ridge across the contact zone and the amplitude of the ridge play an important role in the formation of lubricant film thickness and therefore determine the pressure distribution through the contact zone.