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Abstract

The coupled effects of surface roughness and flow rheology on the Elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) circular contact problems are analyzed and discussed. The average flow model is adapted for the interaction of the flow rheology of lubricant and surface roughness. The averaged Reynolds type equation, the rheology equations, the elastic deformation equation, and the force balance equation are solved simultaneously. The multilevel multi-integration (MLMI) algorithm and Gauss-Seidel iteration method are utilized to calculate the film thickness and pressure distributions. The effects of flow index, Peklenik number, and standard deviation of composite surface roughness on the film thickness and pressure distributions are discussed. The results show that the transverse type roughness and standard deviation of composite roughness enhance the pressure and film thickness in the central contact region. Moreover, the greater the flow index is, the greater the pressure distribution is in the central contact region, and the greater the film thickness is in all regions.

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