Starved elastohydrodynamic lubricated elliptical contacts

A theoretical study of the influence of lubricant starvation on film thickness and pressure in hard and soft elliptical elastohydrodynamic contacts is presented. From the results for both hard and soft EHL contacts a simple and important dimensionless inlet boundary distance is specified. This inlet boundary defines whether a fully flooded or a starved condition exists in the contact. Furthermore it is found that the film thickness for a starved condition could be written in dimensionless terms as a function of the inlet distance parameter and the film thickness for a fully flooded condition. Contour plots of pressure and film thickness in and around the contact are shown for fully flooded and starved conditions. The theoretical findings are compared directly with results obtained experimentally.