This paper presents new results on the effects of surface
roughness in a point EHL contact. For several lubricants, abnormal
lubricant aggregations were observed in the area of artificial
roughness feature under rolling–sliding conditions. In these cases,
compared to known roughness effects, the aggregated lubricant
causes enhanced deformation of roughness feature producing a
higher average separation of surfaces and presumably higher local
pressure variations. The lubricant aggregation led to the maximum
film thickness increase of 70–240 nm above the smooth surface
profile.