A low degree of freedom approach for prediction of friction in finite EHL line contacts

•The LDOF approach computes EHL friction thousands of times faster than a fully coupled FE-based model.•The accuracy of the friction prediction is high and the LDOF approach can be used to study edge stress effects.•A low degrees of freedom (LDOF) approach for prediction of friction in finite EHL line contacts is presented.

A low degree of freedom (LDOF) approach for expedient prediction of friction in finite EHL line contact is presented. Friction prediction are in good agreement with existing results for all of the reference cases tested. With the present LDOF approach, friction predictions can be obtained thousands of times faster than if using a fully coupled FE-based model. It can, therefore be used to simulated the tribological contacts in multi-body dynamic (MBD) systems with millions of degrees of freedoms. The model was utilised to study edge stress concentrations due to roller tilt. The results confirmed that increasing the tilting angle increases the maximum pressure and shifts its location towards the edge of roller. An increase in total friction was also observed.