An Efficient Algorithm for Thermal Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication Under Rolling/Sliding Line Contacts

One of the most time-consuming routines in thermal EHL problem is the calculation of the surface temperature integral. Combining the multigrid technique and the Newton-Raphson method, a modified multilevel, multi-integration algorithm for this integral is developed that can reduce the computational complexity from O (n²) to O (n ln n) for the thermal EHL problem of rolling/sliding line contacts. The employed standard central difference approximation to the coupled Reynolds and energy equations can yield the maximum difference of mass flow flux within one percent. Effects of dimensionless load, dimensionless materials parameter, slip ratio, and thermal loading parameter on the minimum film thickness are investigated. Correlation formula of thermal reduction factor for the minimum film thickness is derived for a wide range of slip ratios, loads, thermal loading parameters, and materials parameters.