Analytical and experimental investigation on friction of non-conformal point contacts under starved lubrication

作者：Ali Fadi^*; Krupka Ivan; Hartl Martin

来源：Meccanica, 2013, 48(3): 545-553.

DOI：10.1007/s11012-012-9614-6

• Friction
• Non-conformal
• Starved lubrication
• Micro-dents

This paper presents an analytical and experimental study on the friction of non-conformal point contacts (ball-on-disk) under starved lubrication. Theoretical models were developed to simulate the behavior of friction and separation versus the degree of starvation while experimental measurements were conducted by using a Tribometer equipped with a torque sensor and a digital camera, which provided the possibility to use the optical interferometry technique simultaneously with measuring the friction. The effect of air-oil meniscus distance from the center of Hertzian contact on the friction between non-conformal surfaces was observed under starved conditions in sliding motion by capturing interferometric images. In addition, the reduction of friction by artificially-produced shallow micro-dents was investigated under severely starved and fully flooded conditions. Results show that the coefficient of friction increases dramatically when the air-oil meniscus starts to touch the circle of Hertzian contact and there is not such a significant difference in the friction between starved and fully flooded contacts since the air-oil meniscus is far away from the borders of Hertzian contact. In other words, the starvation of lubrication causes a high level of fatigue and wear of machine components when there is interference between the air-oil meniscus and the Hertzian contact. However, it was found that shallow micro-dents are helpful in reducing the friction under severe starvation conditions while the benefits of micro-dents are negligible for fully flooded conditions.

• 出版日期2013-4