Transient Numerical Modeling and Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Surface Texture on Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication

The phenomenon of abrasion and friction in mechanical mechanism and the ways to reduce them have been highly regarded. One of these methods is surface texturing, which can be accomplished using a laser with high speed and accuracy. In this study, a precise numerical model is developed to investigate the frictional behavior of the dimple transient film formation effect. Then the effect of laser made textures on a ST37 steel disc is studied experimentally in linear contact situation in the mixed lubrication regime. In this study, the friction coefficient is measured after 100m distance for different input important parameters of velocity and vertical load. Results have shown that friction coefficient decreases with increasing speed and decreasing applied force. Comparison of the results between the textured and smooth discs showed that the friction coefficient decreased by 12 to 23% in the experimental study, while numerical estimates of the possibility of a decrease of between 25 and 40% were also predicted. At high velocities, the numerical model estimates and the results of the experiment are very close.