The reflection of ultrasound can be used to determine oil film thickness in elastohydrodynamic lubricated (EHL) contacts if the opposing surfaces are fully separated by the liquid layer. The proportion of the wave amplitude reflected depends on the stiffness of the liquid layer, which is a function of its bulk modulus and thickness. However, in many practical applications, boundary or mixed film lubrication is a common occurrence as the nominal thickness of the separating film is of a similar order to the height of the surface asperities. The reflection is then dependent on both the liquid contact and solid contact parts and the total interfacial stiffness is the controlling parameter. In this paper an investigation was carried to study the reflection of ultrasonic waves from the lubricated contact between a sliding steel ball and a flat steel disc when substantial solid contact occurs. To interpret the ultrasonic reflection results, a mixed regime model for a circular point contact was established. The liquid film stiffness was calculated by using a predicted film thickness and a bulk modulus estimated from published rheological models of lubricants under high pressure. Solid contact stiffness was predicted using a statistical rough surface contact model. Under all operating conditions, the prediction of fluid stiffness was found to be much greater than the solid contact stiffness. The total stiffness predicted by the model showed good agreement with experimental measurements for kinematic cases. The model was used to separate the stiffness contributions from the asperity contact part and lubricant layer part from the experimental data. For contact pressures ranging from 0.42 to 0.84 GPa and sliding speed from zero to 2 m/s, the film thickness was found to vary from 0.01 to 0.8 μm, and the proportion of the load supported by asperity contact varied from 50% to 0%.

Spring-like flexible supports promote the liquid repellence of mushroom-like interfacial structures.

Mucus reduces friction between epithelial surfaces by providing lubrication in the boundary and mixed regime. Mucins, the main macromolecule, are heavily glycosylated proteins that polymerise and retain water molecules, resulting in a hydrated biogel. It is assumed that positively charged ions can influence mucin film structure by screening the electrostatic repulsions between the negatively charged glycans on mucin moieties and draw in water molecules via hydration shells. The ionic concentration can vary significantly in different mucus systems and here we show that increasing the ionic concentration in mucin films leads to an increase in lubrication between two polydimethylsiloxane surfaces at sliding contact in a compliant oral mimic. Mucins were found to bind sodium ions in a concentration-dependent manner and increased ionic concentration appears to cause mucin films to swell when assessed by Quartz Crystal hiMicrobalance with Dissipation (QCM-D) analysis. Furthermore, we determined that the removal of negatively charged sialic acid moieties by sialidase digestion resulted in reduced adsorption to hydrophilic surfaces but did not affect the swelling of mucin films with increasing ionic concentrations. Moreover, the coefficient of friction was increased with sialic acid removal, but lubrication was still increased with increasing ionic concentrations. Taken together this suggests that sialic acids are important for lubrication and may exert this through the sacrificial layer mechanism. Ionic concentration appears to influence mucin films and their lubrication, and sialic acids, at least partly, may be important for ion binding.