Effect of Transversely Isotropic Elasticity on Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication of Point Contacts

Fiber-reinforced materials or 3D printed parts feature transversely isotropic elasticity. Although its influence on pressures, shapes, and sizes has been studied extensively for dry contacts, the transferability to lubricated contacts is fragmented. This numerical study investigates how the content and orientation of short fibers in fiber-reinforced polymers (FRP) affect elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) of point contacts. Material properties are modeled with Tandon-Weng homogenization. For EHL modeling, a fully-coupled approach based on finite element discretization is used. Results on hydrodynamic pressure and film thickness as well as material stress distribution are analyzed and compared to common approximations using the effective contact moduli. It is shown that the combination of fiber content and orientation defines the effective contact stiffness that determines the contact shape, size, and film thickness. Furthermore, the contact regime can change if a contact-specific stiffness threshold is reached.