The influence of partially textured slider with orientation ellipse dimples on the behavior of hydrodynamic lubrication

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate a partially textured slider of infinite width with orientation ellipse dimples in liquid application. Design/methodology/approach – In this paper, the pressure distribution of lubrication between a partially textured slider and a smooth sliding slider is calculated by the multi-grid method. For the same dimple area, the influence of the ellipse dimple with geometric parameters, and distribution and orientation on the hydrodynamic lubrication is evaluated in terms of the dimensionless average pressure for a given set of operating parameters. Findings – In the present work, the magnitude of the dimensionless average pressure seems proportional to the slender ratio. Consequently, the slender ratio may be chosen as large as possible based on fabrication techniques. The longer axes of ellipse dimples placed parallel to the direction of sliding always show the better hydrodynamic effect. Furthermore, the results show that the ellipse dimples can greatly improve hydrodynamic effect of partially surface textured slider of infinite width by proper design of these texturing parameters. Originality/value – This paper develops a partial surface texturing infinitely width slider with orientation ellipse dimples for improving hydrodynamic lubrication.