Abstract
A numerical analysis of the elastohydorodynamic lubrication under high speed and high load has been made for a line contact using a modified Houpert-Hamrock method in order to examine the characteristics of the lubrication region which is called "rigid-variable viscosity" in Hooke's chart. Further, the influence of inlet pressure on the lubrication characteristics has been investigated. The results show that the effect of elastic deformation on the film is significant, and thus the film thickness in the region is more insensitive to the load than the film thickness formulated by Hamrock and Jacobson from numerical solutions in the usual elastic-variable viscosity (E-V) region where it is insensitive to the load. It is also shown that the inlet pressure in the examined region exerts a marked influence on the lubrication characteristics in comparison to that in the typical E-V region, and that the pressure spike point moves to the inlet direction, unlike in the case of the typical E-V region, as the load increases. Therefore, the E-V region in Johnson's chart can be divided further into the two regions.
