Interplay between wall slip and cavitation: A complementary variable approach

In this work a stable and reliable numerical model based on complementary variables is developed to study lubricated contacts characterised by slip at one or both surfaces and in the presence of cavitation. This model can be used to predict surface behaviour when cavitation induced by e.g. the presence of surface texture, slip, or a combination of the two is encountered, with varying surface parameters. For this purpose, two different algorithms are coupled to predict the formation of cavitation, through a mass-conserving formulation, and the presence of slip at the wall. The possible slippage is described by a limiting shear criterion formulated using a Tresca model. To show the flexibility of our model, several bearing geometries have been analysed, such as a twin parabolic slider, a cosine profile used to mimic a bearing, and a pocketed slider bearing employed to study the effect of surface texture. We observe that the lubrication performance (i.e. low friction coefficient) can be improved by using materials that promote slippage at the moving wall. The location of the slippage region can be optimised to find the lowest value of friction coefficient. Our theoretical developments and numerical implementation are shown to produce useful guidelines to improve and optimise the design of textured superoleophobic surfaces in the presence of lubricated contacts.