Fractal descriptions of rough surfaces are widely used in tribology. The fractal dimension, D, is an important parameter which has been regarded as instrument and scale independent, although recent findings bring this into question. A thrust bearing is analyzed in the mixed lubrication regime while considering the fractal nature. Surface data obtained from a thrust bearing surface are characterized and used to calculate the fractal dimension value by the roughness-length method. Then these parameters are used to generate different rough surfaces via a filtering algorithm. By comparing the predicted performance between the measured surface and generated fractal surfaces, it is found that the fractal dimension must be used carefully when characterizing the tribological performance of rough surfaces, and other parameters need to be found.
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