Mixed lubrication problems in the presence of textures: An efficient solution to the cavitation problem with consideration of roughness effects

• A mass conserving model with roughness is presented for mixed lubrication.
• Both the JFO cavitation theory and the flow factor methodology are incorporated.
• The computational efficiency is similar to that when cavitation is not considered.
• Local surface properties such as textures or roughness can be deeply studied.
• It shows including the roughness effect can ensure the accurate predictions.

In order to consider the effect of the local surface properties, such as textures and roughness, a mass-conserving model is specifically developed based on the Elrod–Adams model. The classic flow factor methodology is incorporated in this model to deal with the roughness scale. Meanwhile, by reformulating the cavitation conditions according the Fischer–Burmeisster equations, the system of discretized equations for this model is changed to be unconstrained. The computational efficiency of the developed model is similar to that when cavitation is not considered. Finally, this model is evaluated in the predicting the performance of the textured ring/liner system under the start-up process.