Aeration in Lubrication With Application to Drag Torque Reduction

The aeration of an oil film flowing between the faces of two closely spaced circular plates (one stationary, and one rotating) is examined experimentally, numerically, and with an improved lubrication model. The gap between the plates is small compared to their radii, making lubrication theory appropriate for modeling the flow. However, standard lubrication boundary conditions suggested by Reynolds (1886, "On the Theory of Lubrication and its Application to Mr. Beauchamp Tower’s Experiments, Including an Experimental Determination of the Viscosity of Olive Oil," Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London, 177, pp. 157-234) of p = 0 and p_n = 0 (Dirichlet and Neumann conditions on pressure) at the gas-liquid interface do not allow for the inclusion of a contact line model, a phenomenon that is important in the inception of aeration. Hence, the standard theory does not adequately predict the experimentally observed onset of aeration. In the present work, we modify the Neumann boundary condition to include both interfacial tension effects and the dynamics of the interface contact angle. The resulting one-dimensional Cartesian two-phase model is formulated to incorporate the prescribed contact line condition and tracks the interface shape and its motion. This model is then implemented in an axisymmetric, two-dimensional model of the rotating disk flow and used to predict the onset of aeration for varying surface tension and static contact angles. The results of the modified lubrication model are compared with experimental observations and with a numerical computation of the aerating flow using a volume of fluid method.