Similarities and Differences Between the Flow Factor Method by Patir and Cheng and Homogenization

Different averaging techniques have proved to be useful for analyzing the effects of surface roughness in hydrodynamic lubrication. This paper compares two of these averaging techniques, namely the flow factor method by Patir and Cheng (P&C) and homogenization. It has been rigorously proved by many authors that the homogenization method provides a correct solution for arbitrary roughness. In this work it is shown that the two methods coincide if and only if the roughness exhibits certain symmetries. Hence, homogenization is always the preferred method.