| EPSRC Reference: |
GR/T05042/01 |
| Title: |
Thermal Approach to Studying & Modelling Mixed Lubrication |
| Principal Investigator: |
Spikes, Professor HA |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Department: |
Mechanical Engineering |
| Organisation: |
Imperial College London |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
01 July 2004 |
Ends: |
30 June 2008 |
Value (£): |
327,538
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Eng. Dynamics & Tribology |
Mech. & Fluid Power Transmiss. |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication (EHL) is the regime of lubrication at work in highly loaded concentrated contacts that occur in e.g. gears, cams and tappets, torroidal continually variable transmissions, rolling element bearings. When failure occurs in these systems it does so in the Mixed Lubrication regime where the load is carried partly by the EHL mechanism but significant interaction and contact of surface asperities is taking place.Theoretical modelling of both these situations requires detailed knowledge of the lubricant's rheological response under high pressures (up to 3 GPa) subject to extremely high shear rates over a wide range of temperatures. Such measurements are not currently available. The proposal seeks to develop a completely new technique to determine the Theological behaviour. This is based on detailed, accurate temperature mapping of the contact surfaces and the oil film using a high speed infrared camera and using this in an approach where a fully featured numerical analysis is employed to determine the rheological properties of the oil from these temperature maps by minimising the discrepancy between measurement and calculation.The methods proposed are entirely novel and have the potential to: dispel the considerable uncertainty concerning the rheology of EHL lubricants; investigate the fundamental processes at work when surface roughness asperity features collide within a heavily loaded contact; and allow the development of a validated numerical model of mixed lubrication for the first time, and so allow analysis of failure situations.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.imperial.ac.uk |