Starved Lubrication of Elliptical EHD Contacts

This paper focuses on the lubrication behavior of starved elliptical Elasto-HydroDynamic (EHD) contacts. Starvation is governed by the amount of lubricant available in the inlet region and can result in much thinner films than occurring under fully flooded conditions. Therefore, it would be desirable to be able to predict the onset and severity of starvation and to be able to relate film reduction directly to the operating conditions and lubricant properties. The aim of this work is to explore the influence of these parameters on starvation. A combined modeling and experimental approach has been employed. The numerical model has been developed from an earlier circular contact study [1]. In this model, the amount and distribution of the lubricant in the inlet region determines the onset of starvation and predicts the film decay in the contact. Numerical simulations for a uniform layer on the surface show that a single parameter, characteristic of the inlet length of the contact in the fully flooded regime, determines the starved behavior. Film thickness measurements under starved conditions were performed to validate this theory. For a circular contact excellent agreement was found. In theory the same mechanism applies to elliptic contacts, however, the behavior is more complicated.