Abstract
The role of viscosity index improver's(Ⅶ) additives for modem engine lubrication is complex. Under the condition of atmosphere or low shear rate, the characteristics of Ⅶ added lubricant is verified and quoted frequently for mathematical model of lubricant behavior. However, recent research shows that added lubricant has the characteristics of shear thinning at high shear rate condition although it performs well enough over the whole range of working temperature. At high shear rate, they show significant decrease of apparent viscosity irrespective of temperature. Many experimental researches verify that Ⅶ added lubricant shows boundary film layer formation on the solid surface as well as shear thinning effect by its polymeric molecular characteristics. The intend of our research is to verify the effects of Ⅶ from the viewpoint of continuum mechanics, because conventional Reynolds'equation with only pressure-viscosity relation cannot fully predict the lubricant behavior under the Ⅶ added condition. In these aspects, Reynolds'equation of Newtonian fluid model lacks the reflection of real fluid behavior and there is no way to explain the non-linear characteristics of Ⅶ added lubricant. In this research, we mathematically modeled the Ⅶ added lubricant behaviors which are the characteristics of non-Newtonian fluid behavior at high shear rate and boundary film formation on the solid surface. The consideration of elastic deformation in the contact region is also included in our computation and finally the converged film pressure and the film thickness with elastic deformation are obtained. The results are compared with those of Newtonian fluid model.