Tribological Effects of Varied Operating Conditions on Pressure and Film Thickness
Tanner David Ragan, and Ashlie Martini, PhD
Information of the tribological behavior of a mechanical system can be extracted by capturing its pressure and film thickness distribution. Effects such as friction and wear can be obtained for design considerations on components such as gears and bearings. However, pressure and film thickness are variables that primarily depend on operating conditions such as flow speed and load. A numerical simulation will be applied using the Python coding program for efficient calculations that will provide an overview of how independent factors will affect tribological properties. The numerical model generally simulates a specified lubricant flowing between a ball and a flat surface. Ultimately, maximum pressure and minimum film thickness are plotted against conditions including the modulus of elasticity, flow speed, and/or load. This simulation will provide more insight on the effects of the operating conditions in the tribological system which will then be used for future investigation.
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