A dynamic variational principle for elastic-fluid contacts, applied to elastohydrodynamic lubrication theory (Q756503)

This paper examines the fundamental line contact problem between an elastic medium and a viscous fluid. It starts from the assumption that the equations for the elastic deformation in the material and the flow of the viscous fluid are determined from a elastic energy function E and a power functional P. A variational formulation is then constructed for the combined system. The equations in the interior of both the elastic solid and the viscous fluid, together with the balance of forces on the interface, are all shown to be obtainable from the power functional \(P+(de/dt).\) Accordingly, time dependent deformations are considered for which the velocity in the elastic solid vanishes, but for which the acceleration of particles on either side of the interface is equal. The paper finishes with an application of the method to a typical problem taken from elastohydrodynamic lubrication theory. The application is simplified by considering a natural restriction to small deformations and by making full use of the characteristic length scales of the problem. It is shown that the approximation leads to a genuine variational principle and to the correct differential expressions.