Results of a numerical study of the influence of micro-patterned surfaces in hydrodynamic lubrication of two parallel walls are reported. Two types of parameterized grooves with the same order of depth as the film thickness are used on one stationary wall. The other wall is smooth and is sliding with a specified tangential velocity. Isothermal incompressible two dimensional full film fluid flow mechanics is solved using a Computational Fluid Dynamics method. It is shown that, by introducing a micro-pattern on one of two parallel walls, a net pressure rise in the fluid domain is achieved. This produces a load carrying capacity on the walls which is mainly contributed by fluid inertia. The load carrying capacity increases with Reynolds number. The load carrying capacity is reported to increase with groove width and depth. However, at a certain depth a vortex appears in the groove and near this value the maximum load carrying capacity is achieved. It is shown that the friction force decreases with deeper and wider grooves. Among all geometries studied, optimum geometry shapes in terms of hydrodynamic performance are reported.

A mixed lubrication model that permits real three-dimensional surface topography as input is developed. The theory of computing flow factors within the model is presented, and with a following paper (Part 2) the method of measuring and adapting the surface roughness, and model validation through flow measurements and application to a bearing is shown. A contact mechanics model is used to calculate the elastoplastic displacement of a periodic topography signal. A method based on homogenization is used to calculate flow factors for all lubrication regimes. The flow factors are compared with the Patir and Cheng method. Results indicate that the two methods compare well for longitudinal roughness lay, but differ significantly for a cross-patterned surface roughness due to the more complete flow description of the current model.