Rheological response of fatty alcohols in sliding elastohydrodynamic contacts

In this study, the authors investigated the appearance of anomalous film shapes in highly sliding circular contacts when fatty alcohols such as 1-decanol, 1-dodecanol, and 1-tetradecanol were used as lubricants. The film thickness distribution between a steel ball and a glass disc was measured via white-light optical interferometry. The experimental results revealed film thickening under high sliding conditions for all three fatty alcohols. It was observed that for 1-decanol, which has the lowest melting point, the thickened part of the film was the smallest; 1-tetradecanol, which has the highest melting point, produced the largest variation of the film shape.