A Transient Contact Stress Analysis for Mixed-EHL of Rough Surfaces, Stress Field Animation, and a Virtual Texturing Technology

Understanding subsurface stresses that occur during the mixed-EHL (elastohydrodynamic lubrication) contact of rough surfaces is fundamental to mechanical design and failure analysis. This is driven by the fact that most of the critical tribological components of heavy-duty machinery are subjected to asperity contact. Moreover, the trend towards increasingly compact design further necessitates incorporating surface roughness. The deviation of the subsurface stress field for rough surfaces from that of smooth surfaces can be used to identify the effect of roughness on stress distribution and variation. This study presents a transient contact stress analysis for rough surfaces in mixed-EHL problems. The solutions are illustrated using animation of the results, and the method of model-based simulation is summarized for a surface virtualization technology.