The combined study of effects of surface roughness and poroelasticity on the squeeze film behavior of bearings in general and that of synovial joints in particular are presented. The modified form of Reynolds equation, which incorporates the randomized roughness structure as well as elastic nature of articular cartilage, is derived. Christensen stochastic theory describing roughness structure of cartilage surfaces is used by assuming the roughness asperity heights to be small compared to the film thickness. A recently developed wavelet-multigrid method is used for the solution of Reynolds equation. The method has the greatest advantage of minimizing the errors using wavelet transforms in obtaining accurate solution, as grid size tends to zero. Based on the results obtained, the influence of roughness and elasticity on bearing characteristics are discussed in some detail. (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc
