Thermal elastohydrodynamic analysis of circular contacts - Part 2: non-Newtonian model

The numerical developments described in Part I are extended to incorporate the consideration of non-Newtonian effects, and fully coupled solutions of the thermal non-Newtonian elastohydrodynamic lubrication point contact prob lem are presented. The numerical findings are compared with a series of exp erimental results performed by Cann and Spikes with a steel-sapphire point contact in pure sliding conditions. Fair agreement with the experimental re sults is obtained in terms of surface temperature. Comparison of the result s under identical conditions but with a steel-steel contact is also underta ken and shows that a steel-sapphire contact represents a good simulator of a steel-steel contact in terms of temperature and film thickness. The influ ence of the viscosity relationship is also considered and reveals that the Yasutomi et al. equation leads to only a marginal difference compared with the Roelands equation for the cases considered.