Conclusion

It is relatively well-established that the mixed lubrication regime appears as a partition of the contact between a fraction of the surface working in the presence of a thin film with fluid-like behavior, and the rest of the contact working in the presence of a boundary film with the order of a few fluid molecules in the thickness. This partition is caused by variations in the altitude of the microgeometric surface of the parts.

Observations of the overall tribological behavior of the contact (friction and wear) show that the mixed lubrication mechanism is governed by a mixing law between the respective behaviors of these two mechanisms. Because of the many difficulties involved in modeling the lubrication mechanism, the empirical approach is still the preferred one, and this article gives ample space to this type of methodology. However, new modelling avenues seem...