Study on effect of dimples on friction of parallel surfaces under different sliding conditions

The influence of rectangle dimples with flat bottom on the friction of parallel surfaces at different sliding conditions is investigated based on lubrication equations. The elastic deformation of rough surfaces is evaluated using continuous convolution fast Fourier transform (CC-FFT). The friction coefficients for dimpled and non-dimpled parallel surfaces by simulation are compared with experimental results. Results show that this kind of dimples can reduce the friction coefficient for cases with the smaller ratio of film thickness to roughness (h/Rq), small roughness or large applied load. The friction force for the parallel surfaces can decrease due to the dimple effect over the range of the larger sliding speed, larger load or smoother surfaces.