Simulation of Microstructured Rolling-Sliding Contacts

M. Weschta[1], S. Tremmel[1], S. Wartzack[1]
[1]Engineering Design, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Bavaria, Germany
Published in 2014

To reduce friction in lubricated tribological contacts, the surfaces of the contacting bodies can be microstructured to improve lubricating conditions. For lower loaded contacts this approach has already reached industrial applications, e.g. the piston-liner contact. For higher loaded contacts the effects are currently in basic research. Elastic deformation in the contact area plays an important role in those cases. This paper presents an approach to compute microstructured elastohydrodynamic contacts using COMSOL Multiphysics® software and compares results with those attained on a test bench.