Model of fluid–structure interaction and its application to elastohydrodynamic lubrication Original Research Article

This paper presents a finite element computational model for a three-dimensional simulation of fluid–structure interactions in an elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) system. Methods on the soft and hard EHL are discussed in detail. To accelerate convergence, multigrid techniques are used to give the initial film thickness. Navier–Stokes equations are applied to describe the flow field in the narrow gaps. The structural dynamics solver is based on the total Lagrangian description of motion. Compared with traditional methods in EHL, this model can reveal the oil behaviors of side leakage and the distribution of stress horseshoe in the structure. It is stable and convenient for cases when the fluid domain is extremely small compared with that of the structure in the hard EHL problems.