Many machine components are operated under transient conditions that can cause the lubrication film breakdown. In such a case, surface interactions can lead to wear and significantly reduce life of these components. Start-up of the machine components to the relative motion is one of the transient phenomenon where surfaces are not fully separated by a continuous layer of lubricant. This article summaries relevant studies and extends it with experiments. The evaluation of the experiment was made by chromatic interferometry. This method is used to measure thin lubrication films. Measurements were carried out using an additive-free paraffinic base oil. An experimental study on lubrication film formation during start-up of smooth non-conformal contacts operated under pure rolling conditions was carried out. Experiments for different values of low acceleration quite good agree with theoretical and experimental results.
Science Journal 