Influence of the size, geometry, and material of the rollers on EHD traction

The influence of the parameters relating to the rolling elements on traction in EHD contacts is experimentally studied on a two-roller machine, in which experiments with point contacts are conducted for two paraffinic mineral oils, a synthetic naphthene, and a synthetic ester. Firstly, it is shown that the same traction curves are obtained in both internal and external contacts when the effective radius in rolling direction of the rollers is equal. The effect of an increase in the size of the rollers is to increase the film thickness and this results in a gentle decline in the maximum traction coefficient. As the effective radius in transverse direction is increased, so the traction decreases for a paraffinic mineral oil, while that for a synthetic naphthene remains constant independent of the geometry of the rollers. Finally, the effect of the material of the rollers is studied, employing rollers made of steel, ceramics, phosphorus bronze, brass, and aluminium alloy. The traction obtained under an identical normal load can be arranged according to the effective elastic modulus of the rollers for each oil. However, under identical contact pressure the same maximum traction curve is obtained independent of the material, but the decline in traction in the thermal region is slightly steeper with the ceramic than with the steel rollers because of the difference in the temperature rise of the fluid film.