Experimental investigation of disc partial surface texture on the generation of hydrodynamic lubricating performance under conformal contact condition

A series of experiments is conducted to investigate the hydrodynamic lubricant characteristics of partial surface textured specimens. The specimens are fabricated with partial surface texture. Two dimple shapes are adopted: circular and elliptic. Four kinds of texture arrangements of elliptic dimples are designed. During each test, different rotating speeds and gaps between the tested specimen and the geometric probe are set to explain the relationship between the operation condition and load-carrying capacity. We found that the load-carrying capacity is strongly affected by the operation condition, i.e. by both speed and gap. The surface textured specimens generate large hydrodynamic lift force compared with the untextured specimen. In addition, the texture arrangements exhibit a significant impact on the lubrication property.