Grease lubrication in isothermo‐elastohydrodynamic line contact

Elastohydrodynamic analysis is conducted and a numerical solution is presented for the film thickness in grease lubrication in isothermal, fully‐flooded rolling line contact with or without slip. By making use of a perturbational method, a modified Reynolds equation is established, which can be used with various constitutive equations if the equivalent viscosity can be expressed as a function of the shear rate. Verification of this analysis is carried out by experimentally determining the minimum film thickness with an X‐ray transmission technique, with satisfactory agreement. The effect of temperature on the apparent viscosity of grease is also discussed.