Fluid Film Lubrication

Fluid film bearings are machine elements that should be studied within the broader context of tribology. The three subfields of tribology – friction, lubrication, and wear – are strongly interrelated. The last decade has witnessed significant advances in the area of fluid film lubrication and its applications, and this second edition offers a look at some of these advances. This edition adds onto the fundamentals of fluid film lubrication a discourse on surface effects and the inclusion of treatment of flow with significant inertia within the section on turbulence. Basic ideas of the multigrid method are conveyed along with multilevel multi-integration in the treatment of elastohydrodynamic lubrication. The chapter on lubrication with non-Newtonian fluids discusses the impact of the so-named qualitative EHL. This chapter also contains a thorough discussion of blood as a lubricant, with a view of the application of lubrication theory to LVADs. New chapters have been included on ultra-thin films, both liquid and gaseous, and lubrication of articulating joints and their replacement. Some of the most recent literature is discussed.