A numerical investigation of local effects on the global behavior of TEHD highly loaded circular contacts

This paper presents a numerical investigation of the local behavior of highly loaded thermal elastohydrodynamic contacts. The study is a continuation to a previous work of the authors where it was found that neglecting the dependence of lubricantsʹ thermal properties on pressure and temperature leads to an underestimation of friction coefficients under high sliding regime. In this work, the local phenomena behind these observations are investigated. The results suggest that a redistribution of heat from the center of the contact towards the environment is taking place, leading to globally lower temperatures inside the contact, which leads to higher friction coefficients.