Experimental study on line-contact elastohydrodynamic grease lubrication properties of surface-textured rollers

Purpose This paper aims to study line-contact elastohydrodynamic grease lubrication properties of surface-textured rollers as well as the effect of different crown widths (dw) on oil film thickness under textured conditions. Design/methodology/approach The laser processing method was used to make the micro-texture on the surface of GCr15 steel rollers; lithium grease was used as the lubricant, and line-contact elastohydrodynamic grease lubrication experiments under pure sliding conditions were performed on light interference elastohydrodynamic-lubricated experimental table. Findings The results show that the line-contact elastohydrodynamic grease lubrication is closely related to the textured crown width of steel rollers. At low speeds and light loads, texturing has an inevitable inhibitory effect on the formation of the lubricating oil film, and the smaller the width of the crown area, the more obvious the inhibitory effect, which is not conducive to the improvement of the lubrication condition. At high speeds and high loads, the textured roller with dw = 1 mm has the largest oil film thickness and shows better lubrication performance. Originality/value At present, there is little research on the surface texture of line-contact friction pairs. This work explores the effect of different textured crown width on the lubricating properties of line-contact elastohydrodynamic grease lubrication by experiment. It provides a new theoretical basis for the subsequent practical application of surface texture technology.