Abstract
Environmentally adapted synthetic base oils of polyalkylene glycols (PAGs) and polyol esters (POEs) show a high polarity because of their functional groups containing oxygen atom. The lubricating performance of these polar base oils was investigated by using a four-ball tribometer under boundary lubrication condition. Four polyalkylene glycols and five polyol ester base oils were used as sample base oils of high polarity. A mineral oil (MO) and alkylnaphthalene (AN) were used as low polarity base oils. Tricrecylphosphate (TCP) was added to all the base oils, in the range of 10 mmol/L-2000 mmol/L, as an antiwear additive. All the TCP-for-mutated base oils showed optimum concentration characteristics for minimizing wear. The order of optimum concentration of all the base oils was in a good accordance with the order of relative stability of TCP in base oils. The interaction model on solvation between additive and different polar base oils can expect the stability order of TCP. Thus, the model on solvation can explain well the order of optimum concentration of all the base oils, by using the effect of polarity (dielectric constant, $\varepsilon$) and molecular size (molecular weight, MW) of them on stability of TCP in polar base oils. Finally, a good correlation of the optimum concentration for all the base oils was obtained when it was arranged as a function of C∝(M $W_{Base Oil}$/M $W_{TCP}$)$^{-2}$.71/.($\varepsilon$$_{Base Oil}$)$^{3.38}$ by these two parameters.s..