Design guidelines of surface texturing to improve lubrication characteristics under reciprocating motion

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to clarify the effect of surface texturing on lubrication characteristics of a sliding surface under reciprocating motion and to develop design guidelines for surface texturing in order to obtain lower friction. To achieve this purpose, the lubrication characteristics of a sliding surface with dimple-shaped texturing during reciprocating motion are numerically analyzed by solving the Reynolds equation. The effects of texturing are compared with those of no texturing under various operating conditions as determined from the sliding speed, viscosity coefficient of the lubricant, and surface pressure, and the placement and dimensions of the texturing that result in lower friction are evaluated. The results show that in the oil film pressure distribution generated by the slider without texturing, friction loss is reduced by applying texturing at the location where the maximum value of this oil film pressure occurs. In this case, under the conditions analyzed in the present paper, the texturing reduces friction loss by 5 to 7%.

Keywords

• tribology
• surface texture
• hydrodynamic lubrication
• friction reduction
• reciprocating motion