The lubrication approximation of the friction force for the simulation of measured surfaces

Simulations of a measured honed surface are then reported using the conservative time-dependent Elrod-Adams model with spatial resolutions as fine as 0.25 μm per cell (4000×800 mesh). Mesh convergence of the numerical method is observed. Cell sizes between 0.5 μm and 1 μm appear as a reasonable compromise of accuracy and cost for the simulation of honed runners. The significance of each term of the friction formula is discussed, so as to assess the error involved in neglecting terms of the friction formula.