Abstract
The squeeze effect of lubricating oil filling in a surface crack was calculated by using the finite element method. An incremental procedure was presented to solve the two-dimensional Reynolds equation combined with the relation of the oil pressure to the crack opening displacement. As the crack is closing, the squeeze action increases the pressure of the lubricating oil, which tends to open the crack. For the constant crack depth, a=10 mm, the pressure produced by the squeeze action increases with a decrease in half-length of the the crack, c. The contour lines of the pressure are roughly parallel to the surface of the plate, and so this pressure distribution is similar to those of a through crack in a thick plate. The distribution of the stress intensity factor due to the squeeze pressure is not significantly affected by the half-length of the crack, c.
