A BOUNDARY ELEMENT FORMULATION FOR THE THERMOELASTOHYDRODYNAMIC CONTACT PROBLEMS .1. THEORY

This paper presents a three dimensional boundary element formulation for numerical treatment of lubricated contact between two deformable thermoelastic solids. A unified approach based on continuum thermodynamics is used to derive the equations governing the thermomechanical behavior of the contacting bodies and their interfacial fluid layer. For the thermoviscous fluid layer (lubricant), we use the full Navier-Stokes and energy equations instead of the usual lubrication equations based on a reduced momentum-continuity equation (Reynold's Equation). This approach is shown to be amenable to standard boundary element formulation of the thermohydrodynamic problem that is easily coupled to the thermoelastic boundary element problem of the contacting bodies. An iterative solution procedure for this solid-fluid interaction problem is then presented.