Mathematical modeling of gas lubrication problems

After a brief review of the origin and development of gas lubrication as a branch of modern engineering, the principles of mathematical modeling of gas lubrication theory are formulated. It is shown that the gas lubrication theory is underlain by the boundary layer equations for gases, although the boundary conditions differ substantially from those used in external flow problems. Numerical solutions are constructed for stationary and nonstationary gas lubrication problems, including those taking into account rarefaction and the elastic properties of the boundary surfaces. Numerical examples are given.