ABSTRACT
In the last chapter, lubrication in conformal contacts is discussed. In most conformal contacts, the size of the surface interaction zone is comparable to those of the components, thus, the interfacial characteristics are dependent considerably upon system structures and environmental conditions. The pressure at the interface is relatively low due to large interaction area, typically in the orders of magnitude of 1–10 MPa or even less in most conformal contact components. Moreover, it may be difficult to separate the pressure or stresses caused by surface interaction within the contact zone from those by other types of load applied to the macro structure. Therefore, as discussed previously, in most cases, conformal contact problems found in engineering reality must be specifically solved case by case, unless they are greatly simplified.
