2


FRICTION AND LUBRICATION REGIMES

E. Ciulli
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Meccanica, Nucleare e della Produzione
University of Pisa
Pisa - Italy

J
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 1/40
 SUMMARY
1 STRIBECK AND LAMBDA CURVES

2 EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION

3 FLUID FILM RESULTS

3.1 Nonconformal contacts
3.2 Conformal contacts
3.3 Comparison with theory

4 MIXED AND BOUNDARY RESULTS

4.1 Experimental nonconformal data
4.2 Wear and other problems
4.3 Theoretical observations

5 CONCLUSIONS

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 /40
1 STRIBECK AND LAMBDA CURVES

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 -/40
 1 STRIBECK AND LAMBDA CURVES

General considerations

å Friction related problems are very important for engineering

systems, in particular for a good design as regards elements
life and energy savings.

å Friction losses can be measured directly on real machines, but

a preliminary tribological research, experimental and/or
theoretical, can be very useful for time and costs reduction.

å One of the most required data for design is the friction

coefficient, also employed in simulation programmes useful to
reduce the number of experimental tests.

å Unfortunately it is not always easy to find a realistic friction

coefficient because there is a large number of variables (such
as lubricant, velocity, load, geometry, roughness and
materials) influencing its value.

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 4/40
 1 STRIBECK AND LAMBDA CURVES

Lubrication regimes

å The evolution of the friction coefficient is especially influenced by

the parts of load supported by the lubricant and by the surface
asperities of the solids, essentially depending on load, speed and
lubricant viscosity values.

å Three different lubrication regimes, ranging from fluid-film to

boundary, are usually considered:
fluid-film (or full fluid) lubrication
mixed lubrication
boundary lubrication

å Useful ways to represent the evolutions of the friction coefficient f,

evidencing the transition between the different lubrication regimes,
are the so-called ´Stribeck curvesµ and ´lambda (i) curvesµ.

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 ·/40
 1 STRIBECK AND LAMBDA CURVES
Stribeck curve
 
   



 
  
 
  
 
 
| |
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| | |
| | ] |

 | ]  |
fs friction coefficient in boundary
lubrication (Coulomb)
fh friction coefficient for full
lubricated conditions
F total load
Fs part of the total load carried by
the asperity contacts
Fh part of the total load carried by
the full lubricated zones
T total friction force

Sommerfeld number

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 Ë/40
 1 STRIBECK AND LAMBDA CURVES

Influence of some parameters under mixed lubrication

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 6/40
 1 STRIBECK AND LAMBDA CURVES

Altezza adimensionale del meato

w Per avere bassi attrito e usura è importante che la coppia funzioni in regime di
lubrificazione completa. Questo si verifica per un·altezza del meato sufficientemente
grande rispetto alla rugosità superficiale.
w Ai fini dell·efficacia della lubrificazione è pertanto più significativa un·altezza
adimensionale del meato, indicata spesso con i, funzione dello spessore del meato [ e
delle rugosità quadratiche medie delle superfici dei corpi a contatto, 1 e .

[
i
 
1 ] 

Il valore di i per cui si ha il cambio

di regime dipende dal tipo di
accoppiamento lubrificato.
Valori indicativi sono comunque:

i´ i

i< 0.1 ÷ 1 lubrificazione limite

1 i  ÷ · lubrificazione mista
O
   




 

  
i>· lubrificazione completa
 
 
  i 
 

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 M/40
 1 STRIBECK AND LAMBDA CURVES

Inclusion of the effects of different

surface roughness: i curve

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 /40
2 EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION

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 10/40
  EXPERIMENTAL WORKS

Experimental rig

specimens
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 11/40
  EXPERIMENTAL WORKS

discs

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 1/40
 3 FLUID FILM RESULTS

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 1-/40
3.1 Nonconformal contacts

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 14/40
 - FLUID FILM RESULTS - -.1 Nonconformal contacts

Test conditions
² non conformal
contacts

 
      
  
 
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 1·/40
 - FLUID FILM RESULTS - -.1 Nonconformal contacts

Friction coefficient for a spherical specimen

against a glass disc for two lubricant temperatures

           
 
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i>
i> i>
i>
  

 

 

         



(spherical specimens S4, with diameter ö=41.6· mm and roughness Rq=0.0- m)

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 1Ë/40
 - FLUID FILM RESULTS - -.1 Nonconformal contacts

Friction coefficient for a spherical specimen

against steel discs for two lubricant temperatures

           
i>
i> i>

 
     

  
 !

 

 

         
 

(spherical specimens S4, with diameter ö=41.6· mm and roughness Rq=0.0- m)

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 16/40
 - FLUID FILM RESULTS - -.1 Nonconformal contacts

Friction coefficient for a

cylindrical specimen against a glass disc

 
  
    
  
  

        ! 
i i!

 

 


           
   

(cylindrical specimens C4, with diameter ö=4 mm and roughness Rq=0.14 m)

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 1M/40
- FLUID FILM RESULTS - -.1 Nonconformal contacts

Line contacts

2

 
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 1/40
 - FLUID FILM RESULTS - -.1 Nonconformal contacts

Different specimens ² same test conditions

Surface roughness of the cylindrical specimens

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 0/40
- FLUID FILM RESULTS - -.1 Nonconformal contacts

Lambda diagram

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 1/40
 3.2 Conformal contacts

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 /40
 - FLUID FILM RESULTS - -. Conformal contacts

Test conditions
² conformal contacts

 
      
  
 
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 -/40
 - FLUID FILM RESULTS - -. Conformal contacts

Friction coefficient for a tilting pad tested

against a glass disc

iai

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iai

i#
iai

i#

iai

iaii
iai ia ia
ia ia ia
x" 

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 4/40
3.3 Comparison with theory

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 ·/40
 - FLUID FILM RESULTS - -.- Comparison with theory

Nonconformal contacts: friction coefficient formulas

w isothermal conditions
w Newtonian behaviour of the lubricant
w mean viscosity calculated introducing the mean

Hertzian contact pressure in the Barus formula 


 2
w mean velocity gradient u/hc (with u=S u [
sliding speed and hc central film thickness)

w Hertzian contact area as a reference surface

  
  

By introducing one of the
  

most used formulas for hc  @  @ 

 2
 
      



For Eyring fluids  


 



(Jacod-Venner-Lugt formula)   [  2±
  [ ±
ASME Journal of Tribology, 1- (001)  
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 Ë/40
 - FLUID FILM RESULTS - -.- Comparison with theory

Nonconformal contacts: experimental friction

coefficient compared with numerical results
(Newtonian and Eyring behaviour of the lubricant)

ii
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ii

ii

ii

iii
i i i i i
x 

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 6/40
 - FLUID FILM RESULTS - -.- Comparison with theory

Conformal contacts: friction coefficient for a

tilting pad against glass and steel discs
compared with numerical results


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 M/40
4 MIXED AND BOUNDARY RESULTS

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 /40
4.1 Experimental nonconformal data

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 -0/40
4 MIXED AND BOUNDARY RESULTS - 4.1 Experimental nonconformal data

Friction coefficient for the spherical specimen

S4 against a steel disc at 30°C

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 -1/40
 4 MIXED AND BOUNDARY RESULTS - 4.1 Experimental nonconformal data

Comparison of friction trends for different

specimens (S=0.5)

0,16 0,16
4 sphe%ca , 41.275 mm
4
3 sphe%ca , 24.606 mm Πsee dsc 5
Œ
0,12 4 cy & %ca , 8 mm 0,12 C4
2 cy & %ca , 4 mm

0,08 stee sc A9 0,08

0,04 0,04

0 0
0 1 2 3 4 0,0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0
i i

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 -/40
4.2 Wear and other problems

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 --/40
4 MIXED AND BOUNDARY RESULTS - 4. Wear and other problems

Evolutions of friction coefficient for two

cylindrical specimens under mixed conditions
in presence of wear




 
 
 
 


 

      

  
  
  
  
  
  



  

    





  

 

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 -4/40
 5 CONCLUSIONS

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 -·/40
 · CONCLUSIONS

Considerations on the friction trends

ia 

!i
!i
!

ia 

steel disc A8
ia  
s 'xs 
sx  
s
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s x 's s

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s
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s  s
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ss  
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iai

iai

i
i ia ia ia ia ia
ia ia ia ia
x" s

Specimen S4 against disc AM  2 





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 -Ë/40
 · CONCLUSIONS

Generalized lambda (i) diagram with

lubrication regimes

destructive wear

predominant
turbulence effects
conformal

nonconformal predominant
thermal effects

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 -6/40
 · CONCLUSIONS

Final remarks
å The evolutions of the friction coefficient, in particular for
nonconformal contacts, can be very different from the one of
the typical Stribeck or i diagram. Many variables such as
shape and dimension of the lubricated contact, roughness,
materials, characteristics of the lubricant and thermal effects
influence the friction trends.

å Many lubricated pairs of the most common machines do not

work under steady-state but under transient conditions.
Stationary results can be extended to real conditions only with
a certain degree of approximation.

å Investigation under transient conditions show the presence of

a loop on the Stribeck diagram.

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 -M/40
 · CONCLUSIONS

Friction coefficient in variable speed conditions

  i   
  i  
   

i  i 

i 
i 
cylindrical specimen i 

i           i 
  i     
i i

i     i 
i   i  

i 
i  i 

i i 

i i  i i 

i i
i
  i i
  i i
  i

    
    
   

  i    
  i   
    

i  i  i 

i  i 
spherical specimen i 
  i

  i
i     i i

i   i   i      

  i
   
i  i  i 

i i  i i  i i 

i i i
i
  i i
  i i
  i

    
  
   

f (multiplied by 10) as a function of time for specimen C4 (top) and S4 (bottom) for three values of the slide-to-roll ratio S
(S=0.·, 0.·, 1, left to right). Test frequency 0.1 Hz. The trend of the rolling speed is also shown on each diagram.

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 -/40
 · CONCLUSIONS
Summary of results under variable speed conditions

     
 i     

       
     i           

      
                 

i i  i i  i i 

i i  i i  cylindrical specimen i i 

i i i i i i

     
i i   i i   i i  





i i  i i  i i 

i i i  i i i  i i i 
 i    i 
 i    i    i 
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 i i i   i i i   i i i 
i i i  i  i   i i i i  i  i   i i i i  i  i   i
               

      
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 i 
i i  i i  i i   i 
 i 

i i i  i i i  i i i 

i i
spherical specimen i

 i i i   i i i   i i i 
i i i  i  i   i i i i  i  i   i i i i  i  i   i
             

Filtered values of the friction coefficient f as a function of the rolling speed u for three values of the slide-to-roll ratio S
and three values of the test frequency (0.1, 0.· and 1 Hz, from left to right).

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 40/40
|




 
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 4·/40
  EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS

Stribeck curves for specimen C3 for different loads

and temperatures

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 4Ë/40
 Rotational speed of specimen and disc for S=0 and S=1
2 - frqu nz  provino  io - 2
i 2 - frqu nz  provino  io - 2


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 46/40
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 4M/40