This paper presents a numerical study of the effects of inlet supply s
tarvation on film thickness in EHL point contacts. Generally this prob
lem is treated using the position of the inlet meniscus as the governi
ng parameter; however, it is difficult to measure this in real applica
tions, Thus, in this paper an alternative approach is adopted whereby
the amount of oil present on the surfaces is used to define the degree
of starvation. It is this property which determines both meniscus pos
ition and film thickness reduction. The effect of subsequent overrolli
ngs on film thickness decay can also be evaluated. In the simplest cas
e a constant lubrication inlet film thickness in the Y direction is as
sumed and the film thickness distribution is computed as a function of
the oil available. This yields an equation predicting tile film thick
ness reduction, with respect to the flooded value, from the amount of
lubricant initially available on the surface, as a function of the num
ber of overrollings n. However, the constant inlet film thickness does
not give a realistic description of starvation for all conditions. So
me experimental studies show that the combination of side flow and rep
lenishment action can generate large differences in local oil supply a
nd that the side reservoirs play an important role in this replenishme
nt mechanism, Thus the contact centre can be fully starved whilst the
contact sides remain remain lubricated, in these cases, a complete ana
lysis with a realistic inlet distribution has been carried out and the
numerical results agree well with experimental findings.