A computer program for evaluating surface roughness

The film thickness parameter, LAMBDA, is not indicative of the state of stress around the asperity tips in the partial lubricant film regime. A PC program developed by MRC Bearings relates the film thickness and two measured surface roughness characteristics to the real mean value of the surface pressure, the number of plastic micro-contacts and other indicators of stresses in the contact zone. The program is valuable for specifying the surface roughness so that the microstresses in two surfaces separated by a lubricant film of prescribed thickness will be acceptable. In rolling bearing technology, such an analysis can be performed for a surface separation equal to the calculated film thickness in order to be able to gain a quantitative assessment of the contact conditions. (from authors' abstract)