Amplitude reduction in EHL line contacts under rolling sliding conditions

Surface roughness plays an important role in the performance of highly loaded elastohydrodynamically lubricated contacts. As the pressures are very high, each of the surface roughness components deforms differently, and as a result the roughness inside the highly loaded contact is different from the measured roughness. Under pure rolling conditions the amplitude reduction theory describes the waviness deformation as a function of wavelength and operating conditions. The current work suggests that similar predictions are possible under rolling sliding conditions, provided that the wavy surface velocity u2 exceeds the smooth surface velocity u1. For u2<u1 the maximum value of Ad/Ai depends on the slide to roll ratio and may be significantly less than 1.0.