Abstract: Boundary slippage is used to generate the load-carrying capacity of the hydrodynamic contact between two parallel plane surfaces. In the fluid inlet zone, the fluid-contact interfacial shear strength on a stationary surface is set at low to generate boundary slippage there, while in the fluid outlet zone the fluid-contact interfacial shear strength on the stationary surface is set at high enough to prevent the occurrence of boundary slippage. The fluid-contact interfacial shear strength on the entire moving surface is set at high enough to prevent boundary slippage on the moving surface. These hydrodynamic contact configurations are analyzed to generate the pronounced load-carrying capacity. The optimum ratio of the outlet zone width to the inlet zone width for the maximum load-carrying capacity of the whole contact is found to be 0.5.

Key words: hydrodynamic contact, load-carrying capacity, boundary slippage