EHL squeeze at pin–pulley interface in CVTs: Influence of lubricant rheology

In this paper we analyze the influence of fluid rheology on the strongly non-stationary squeeze process of an oil film sandwiched between the chain-pin and pulley in continuously variable transmission. As recently demonstrated [Carbone G, Scaraggi M, Soria L. The lubrication regime at pin–pulley interface in chain CVT transmissions. ASME Journal of Mechanical Design 2009;131(1)], the spatial pressure distribution is characterized by a non-central annular pressure peak, which first appears in the external region of the contact region and moves toward the center of the pin with rapidly decreasing speed. In this paper we show that the non-Newtonian viscoelastic rheology of the lubricant plays a crucial role in determining the actual value of pressure peaks and leads to a strong reduction of such pressure spikes in comparison to a perfect Newtonian lubricant. Even more, if the threshold value of shear stress τlτl, which characterizes the transition from Newtonian to non-Newtonian behavior of the lubricant, is sufficiently small the annular pressure peak may even disappear. In this case the squeeze process occurs faster, the film thickness distribution is reduced and the lubricant may not be able to avoid direct asperity contact between the two approaching surfaces.