Research on the friction behaviors of two rough surfaces covered with boundary film

Boundary film plays an important role in improving the lubricating characteristics of mixed lubrication. But due to the complication of surface profile and the microscale of boundary film, progress made on the boundary lubrication is relatively less than that of fluid film lubrication. A friction model of two rough surfaces covered with the boundary film is studied in the paper. The rough surface is modeled by a collection of spherical asperities with the same curvature radius and the Gaussian height distribution, the shearing force of asperities over the boundary film is expressed by the linear equation, and the plowing force of asperities over the solid flat is modeled by considering the possibility of asperities being sheared off. Then, the friction behaviors are researched by analyzing the effects of boundary film and surface topography in different values. The results demonstrate that the effects of boundary film on the friction coefficient are enhanced with the increase in the thickness of boundary film and are weakened with the increase in the contact load. And surface profile parameters also affect the friction behaviors of boundary lubrication, the smoother the surface is, the more significant the boundary lubricating effect is.