ON THE MECHANISM OF HYDRODYNAMIC LUBRICATION FILM BREAKDOWN

The paper makes an overview of the previous researches concerning hydrodynamic lubrication film breakdown. Overall film breakdown and local film breakdown often simultaneously occur resulting in the failure of the lubricating film in an actual hydrodynamic lubricated contact. There are a lot of factors causing these two sorts of film breakdown such as the lubricant non-Newtonian shear thinning effect, the contact surface roughness effect, the contact frictional heating effect, the contact surface plastic deformation effect, the surface pressure effect, the boundary lubrication effect and the lubricant side leakage effect. The combined effects of these factors form a worsening cycle destructing hydrodynamic film and finally result in hydrodynamic film failure. Considering hydrodynamic film breakdown, an advanced mode of mixed lubrication is re-emphasised.