Advances in thin film lubrication (TFL): From discovery to the aroused further researches

Thin film lubrication (TFL) is known as a mode of fluid-film lubrication regime bridging the gap between elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) and boundary lubrication (BL). Since the first recorded literature published in 1995, TFL has become one of the landmarks in the development of lubrication theory over the last twenty years. This article presents an overview of the advances in the research of TFL regime. We first begin with a brief introduction of the discovery of the phenomenon, followed by the discussion of the relevant essential aspects, such as the performing approach, theory and physical model. The state-of-the-art studies on both the theoretical and experimental fields are also presented, also latter with emphasis on the review of researches in several promising applications.