A numerical solution to the problem of hydrodynamic lubrication of rigid point contacts with an isoviscous, incompressible lubricant has been obtained. The hydrodynamic load-carrying capacity under unsteady (or dynamic) conditions arising from the combined effects of squeeze motion superposed upon the entraining motion has been determined for both normal approach and separation. Superposed normal motion considerably increases net load-carrying capacity during normal approach and substantially reduces net load-carrying capacity during separation. Geometry has also been found to have a significant influence on the dynamic load-carrying capacity. The ratio of dynamic to steady state load-carrying capacity increases with increasing geometry parameter for normal approach and decreases during separation. The cavitation (film rupture) boundary is also influenced significantly by the normal motion, moving downstream during approach and upstream during separation. For sufficiently high normal separation velocity the rupture boundary may even move upstream of the minimum-film-thickness position. Sixty-three cases were used to derive a functional relationship for the ratio of the dynamic to steady state load-carrying capacity β in terms of the dimensionless normal velocity parameter q (incorporating normal velocity, entraining velocity, and film thickness) and the geometry parameter α. The result is expressed in the form
$β={α−0.028sech(1.68q)}1/q$
The ratio of the dynamic to steady state peak pressures in the contact ξ increases considerably with increasing normal velocity parameter during normal approach, with a similar decrease during separation. The ratio is expressed as a function of q and α by
$ξ={α−0.032sech(2q)}1/q$
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