Interferometry-based measurements of oil-film thickness

Abstract

Measurement of the thickness of thin lubricant films separating rotating surfaces in elastohydrodynamic experiments presents some challenging problems. The nature of the experimental apparatus inhibits the use of most commonly applied interferometric phase measurement methods. Also the absolute thickness of the separating film must be determined, as opposed to relative distances that would be sufficient in most other measurement scenarios where interferometry methods are used. In this paper, computer-based analysis of interferograms recorded using an elastohydrodynamic lubrication Fitzeu interferometer (a so-called ball-and-disc apparatus) is discussed, the main objective being to extract the absolute oil-film thickness. Intensity based methods (most importantly, calibration look-up procedures where colour parameters from recorded dynamic interferograms are compared with table values corresponding to known film thicknesses, but also a phase measurement approach based on multi-channel interferometry using trichromatic light) are described. A discussion regarding compensation for measurement errors due to the pressure dependence of the refractive index of the lubricant is also included.