Mixed Lubrication and Surface Topography of Rolling Contacts

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Abstract
Measurements of friction torque in a tapered roller bearing are made over a range of axial loads at low rotational speeds. Under these conditions considerable metallic contact between surface asperities occurs. Experimental and theoretical values of no-contact time are compared. The usually adopted ratio of calculated film thickness to gross surface r.m.s. value is shown to be a less meaningful measure of the quality of lubrication than one based on the r.m.s. after filtering out contributions due to asperities of wavelength greater than twice the Hertzian width. An analysis of the statistical properties of worn and unworn surfaces is made. Digital filtering of the power spectrum reveals differences that are not apparent in the unfiltered data. Asperities of long and very short wavelengths, compared with the Hertzian width, are shown to be little affected during running-in whilst those of intermediate size are removed.

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