Isothermal elastohydrodynamic lubrication of point contacts. 2: Ellipticity parameter results

A numerical solution of the isothermal elastohydrodynamic problem for point contacts is presented which reproduces all the essential features of experimental observations based upon optical interferometry. In particular, the two side lobes, in which minimum film thickness regions occur, emerge in the theoretical solutions. The influence of the ellipticity parameter on solutions to the point contact problem is explored. The ellipticity parameter k was varied from 1 (a ball on a plate) to 8 (a configuration approaching line contact). It is shown that the minimum film thickness can be related to the well known line contact solutions by a remarkably simple expression involving either k or the effective radius of curvature ratio R sub y/R sub x.