Thermal-EHL analysis of slip/no-slip contact at high slide-to-roll ratio

Shear heating can be considerable at elastohydrodynamic lubricated (EHL) contacts under high slide-to-roll ratios. Generally, the lubrication is weakened because of the reduced viscosity due to temperature increase. Although it can be alleviated by boundary slip at the bearing, thermal effect would contribute to bearing load-carrying-capacity under certain circumstances. The paper thus presents a complete thermal-EHL analysis of a non-wetting/wetting contact under a high slide-to-roll ratio to understand the interplay of boundary slip and heat. Boundary slip is modeled with the circular critical shear stress criterion. The coupled mechanism of boundary slip and thermal effects on film formation is unveiled.