Behavior of elastohydrodynamic lubricating film point contact problems in the unsteady state of reciprocating motion

Purpose In this study a numerical analysis of the elastohydrodynamic lubrication point contact problem in the unsteady state of reciprocating motion is presented. The effects of frequency, stroke length and load on film thickness and pressure variation during one operating cycle are discussed. The general tribological behavior of elastohydrodynamic lubrication during reciprocating motion is explained. Design/methodology/approach The system of equations of Reynolds, film thickness considering surface deformation and load balance equations are solved using the Newton-Raphson technique with the Gauss-Seidel iteration method. Numerical solutions were performed with a sinusoidal contact surface velocity to simulate reciprocating elastohydrodynamics. The methodology is validated using historical experimental measurements/observations and numerical predictions from other researchers. Findings The numerical results showed that the change in oil film during a stroke is controlled by both wedge and squeeze effects. When the surface velocity is zero at the stroke end, the squeeze effect is most noticeable. As the frequency increases, the general trend of central and minimum film thickness increases. With the same entraining speed but different stroke lengths, the properties of the oil film differ from one another, with an increase in stroke length leading to a reduction in film thickness. Finally, the numerical results showed that the overall film thickness decreases with increasing load. Originality/value General tribological behaviors of elastohydrodynamic lubricating point contact, represented by pressure and film thickness variations over time and profiles, are analyzed under reciprocating motion during one working cycle to show the effects of frequency, stroke length and applied load.