Optimization of boundary slip region on bearing sliders to improve tribological performance

This study aims at optimizing the boundary slip region on bearing sliders for improving tribological performance. Surface of the bearing slider are divided into a rectangular mesh, in which each rectangular grid is assumed to be local slip region or no-slip region, labeled as 1 or 0. Then, the Genetic algorithm is performed to optimize the shape and pattern of boundary slip area. Stepped trapezoid shapes of slip coverage area located in the inlet of the bearing slider are attained as the optimization result. The influences of convergent ratio, width and slip length on the optimization results are evaluated and discussed. Subsequently, corresponding experiments demonstrated the optimized boundary slip arrangement achieved relatively low friction coefficients.