On Self-Adaptive Surface Grooves

Self-adaptive, microscale grooves improve the load-carrying capacity of the lubricated surfaces by providing a "flexible surface texturing." These grooves use mechanical deflection to change the surface texture based on the loading condition. To accurately predict the behavior of a self-adaptive groove, the surface deformation is computed by treating the classical plate deflection equation simultaneously with a mass conservative formulation of the Reynolds equation. The results of a series of simulations reveal that the self-adaptive groove provides a greater load-carrying capacity in comparison with conventional grooved surfaces. Comparisons between the mass conservative formulation and Reynolds boundary condition for small length-to-width ratios show that the Reynolds boundary condition largely underestimates the cavitated area, leading to inaccuracies in the prediction of the load-carrying capacity.