Flow behaviour at high pressures in lubrication gaps of machine elements

• Applicant: Professor Dr.-Ing. Bernd Sauer
• Subject Area: Engineering Design, Machine Elements, Product Development
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 559427925

The aim of this project is to investigate the flow behaviour of lubricants in lubrication gaps of machine elements and at high pressures. The flow behaviour of lubricants in contacts of machine elements is often characterised by extremely high pressures. The possibilities available to date limit the available data compared to real conditions. The project aims to develop and implement an improved measurement method that allows the measurement range of viscosities and shear rates to be extended by around three to four powers of ten. There is currently no method for quantifying viscosities in orders of magnitude above 10^6 Pas under high pressure, which makes it difficult to reliably design and simulate the contact conditions (gap heights: < 1 µm). To determine the flow behaviour, a test system is to be developed in the form of a new viscometer with which lubricants can be tested both at high pressures and with high viscosities and shear rates. The fact that these possibilities do not exist today shows the difficulty of the task, especially as it is known that corresponding lubricant data is required for the safe design of machine elements with high contact pressures. The project results can contribute to conserving resources.

• DFG Programme: Reinhart Koselleck Projects
• Co-Investigator: Professor Dr.-Ing. Oliver Koch