Surface roughness attenuation in line and point contacts

Abstract

Surface roughness effects in line and point elastohydrodynamically lubricated contacts are compared and it is shown that the underlying behaviours in both types of contact are identical. Long wavelength components of roughness are attenuated; short wavelength components pass through the conjunction unaltered. It is also shown that the roughness attenuation, plotted against a non-dimensional wavelength, follows almost identical curves in both cases.