Measurement of load-carrying capacity of thin lubricating films

This paper presents an experimental procedure to evaluate the load-carrying capacity of a fixed-incline slider bearing (dimensionless load W versus convergence ratio K) using a slider-on-disk lubricating film test rig. In general, the applied load is the dependent variable and is directly measured for different convergence ratios such that the relation of the load-carrying capacity W and the convergence ratio K can be obtained. The load and slider inclination are fixed in the present approach, and the film thickness is measured at different speeds. As the dimensionless load can be a function of speed and film thickness, the variation of load-carrying capacity with respect to speed can be obtained even under a constant load and a fixed incline. It is shown that the measured load-carrying capacity is lower than that predicted by the classical hydrodynamic theory. Nevertheless, the experimental results acquire the same trend in the variation of dimensionless loads with convergence ratios. The theory holds that the load-carrying capacity is a single function of the convergence ratio. However, the experimental results show that the dimensionless load-carrying capacity is affected by the inclination angle of the slider, load, and the properties of lubricating oils. © 2012 American Society of Mechanical Engineers.