• Tribology and Lubricants
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• 제33권5호
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• pp.220-227
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• 2017

In this work, carbon nanotube and nano-size alumina particle are exploited as additive for lubrication experiment. We used pin-on-disk type tribometer to investigate the tribological characteristics of lubricants with respect to additives and rotational speed. We conducted more than 15 trials of tribotests for two hours for each specimen to obtain stable and accurate frictional force and to create measurable wear track on the substrate. We conducted tests at the boundary/mixed lubrication regime to evaluate the influence of additives on the tribological characteristics. We found that the friction coefficient decreased as the rotational speed increased and as additives were added. In particular, the reduction of friction by adding additives was more significant at low rotational speed than at high rotational speed. We speculate that the additives helped to separate and protect the two contacting surfaces at low speed, while the influence of additives was not significant at high speed since sufficiently thick lubricant film was formed. The wear of the substrate was also reduced by adding additives to the lubricant. However, in contrast to friction, the amount of wear at high rotational speed was less when alumina particles were added to the lubricant than the amount of wear at low speed. We speculate that the increased wear at low rotational speed is as a result of the intermittent abrasive wear caused by alumina particles with uneven shape, while the reduced wear at high speed is as a result of sufficient film thickness which prevented the abrasive wear.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• 제39권3호
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• pp.87-93
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• 2023

Nanofluids are dispersions of particles smaller than 100 nm (nanoparticles) in base fluids. They exhibit high thermal conductivity and are mainly applied in cooling applications. Nanolubricants use nanoparticles in base oils as lubricant additives, and have recently started gathering increased attention owing to their potential to improve the tribological and thermal performances of various machinery. Nanolubricants reduce friction and wear, mainly by the action of nanoparticles; however, only a few studies have considered the rheological properties of lubricants. In this study, we adopt a parallel slider bearing model that does not generate geometrical wedge effects, and conduct thermohydrodynamic (THD) analyses to evaluate the effect of higher thermal conductivity and viscosity, which are the main rheological properties of nanolubricants, on the lubrication performances. We use a commercial computational fluid dynamics code, FLUENT, to numerically analyze the continuity, Navier-Stokes, energy equations with temperature-viscosity-density relations, and thermal conductivity and viscosity models of the nanolubricant. The results show the temperature and pressure distributions, load-carrying capacity (LCC), and friction force for three film-temperature boundary conditions (FTBCs). The effects of the higher thermal conductivity and viscosity of the nanolubricant on the LCC and friction force differ significantly, according to the FTBC. The thermal conductivity increases with temperature, improving the cooling performance, reducing LCC, and slightly increasing the friction. The increase in viscosity increases both the LCC and friction. The analysis method in this study can be applied to develop nanolubricants that can improve the tribological and cooling performances of various equipment; however, additional research is required on this topic.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• 제31권1호
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• pp.1-5
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• 2015

In this study, we apply an ultrasonic nanocrystal surface modification (UNSM) technique to radial journal bearings (JBs) and disks made of SUJ2 and SCM440, respectively. We investigate frictional properties of untreated and UNSM-treated specimens using a ball-on-disk tester. We construct the Stribeck curve at the boundary, under mixed and full hydrodynamic lubrication conditions for the specimens using friction data obtained from JB tests. The friction at the boundary lubrication condition and the transition period to mixed lubrication condition on the UNSM-treated specimens is reduced, which improves the service life of JBs. The major effects of this reduction in the three lubrication regimes can be explained in the terms of improved mechanical properties and the presence of micro dimples. Moreover, we estimate the friction and fatigue properties of SCM440 specimens using a ball-on-disk specimen under dry and oil-lubricated conditions. Friction test results reveal that the UNSM-treated specimens show lower friction coefficient than the untreated specimens under both dry and oil-lubricated conditions. We evaluate the fatigue properties of SCM440 specimens by calculating the Hertzian stress with respect to the failure cycles. Fatigue tests results also reveal that the UNSM-treated specimens possess a longer fatigue life than the untreated specimens. The improved properties are effective in increasing the energy efficiency of bearings.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• 제27권4호
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• pp.193-197
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• 2011

Friction behavior of nanoporous anodic aluminum oxide(AAO) film was investigated. A 60 ${\mu}m$ thick AAO film having nanopores of 45 nm diameter with 105 nm interpore-diatance was fabricated by mild anodization process. The AAO film was then saturated with paraffinic oil. Reciprocating ball-on-flat sliding friction tests using 1 mm diameter steel ball as the counterpart were carried out with normal load ranging from 0.1 N to 1 N in an ambient environment. The morphology of worn surfaces were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy. The friction coefficient significantly increased with the increase of load. The boundary lubrication layer of paraffinic oil contributed to the lower friction at relatively low load (0.1 N), but it is less effective at high load (1 N). Plastic deformed layer patches were formed on the worn surface of oil-enriched AAO at relatively low load (0.1 N) without evidence of tribochemical reaction. On the other hand, thick tribolayers were formed on the worn surface of both oil-enriched and as-prepared AAO at relatively high load (1 N) due to tribochemical reaction and material transfer.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• 제11권4호
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• pp.21-27
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• 1995

The effects of interface boundary strength on wear and wear transition during sliding have been investigated in silicon carbide ceramics. Three different microstructures, i.e., solid state sintered silicon carbide, liquid phase sintered silicon carbide and liquid phase sintered silicon carbide composite reinforced with TiB$_{2}$ particulates, were designed by hot pressing. Examinations of crack patterns and fracture modes indicated that interface boundaries were relatively strong between silicon carbide grains in the solid state sintered silicon carbide, intermediate in the liquid phase sintered silicon carbide and weak between silicon carbide grains and TiB$_{2}$ particles in the composite. Wear data and examinations of worn surfaces revealed that the wear behavior of these silicon carbide ceramics could be significantly affected by the interface strength. In the solid state sintered silicon carbide, the wear occurred by a grooving process. In the liquid phase sintered silicon carbide and composite, on the other hand, an abrupt transition in wear mechanism from initial grooving to grain pull-out process occurred during the test. The transition occurred significantly earlier in the composite than in the carbide.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• 제39권1호
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• pp.21-27
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• 2023

Surface texturing is widely applied to friction surfaces of various machine elements. Most of the theoretical studies have focused on isothermal (ISO) analyses which consider constant lubricant viscosity. However, there have been limited studies on the effect of oil temperature increase owing to viscous shear. Following the first part of the present study that investigated the effects of film-temperature boundary condition (FTBC) and groove number on the thermohydrodynamic (THD) lubrication characteristics of a surface-textured parallel thrust bearing with multiple rectangular grooves, this study focuses on the effect of groove depths. Current study numerically analyzes the continuity, Navier-Stokes, and energy equations with temperature-viscosity-density relations using a commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software, FLUENT. The results of variation in temperature, velocity, and pressure distributions as well as load-carrying capacity (LCC) and friction force indicate that groove depth and FTBC significantly influence the temperature distribution and pressure generation. The LCC is maximum near the groove depth at which the vortex starts, smaller than the ISO result. For intense grooves, the LCC of THD may be larger than that from ISO. The frictional force decreases as the groove becomes deeper, and decreases more significantly in the case of THD. The study shows that groove depth significantly influences the THD lubrication characteristics of surface-textured parallel thrust bearings.

• 한국정밀공학회지
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• 제25권10호
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• pp.137-143
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• 2008

The objective of this study was to characterize the role of synovial fluid and hyaluronan in the frictional response of bovine articular cartilage. Seven cylindrical cartilage specimens were harvested from three fresh bovine humoral heads (4-6 months old). Reciprocal sliding motion (1mm/s) was provided by a custom-made friction testing apparatus with a normal load of 22.3 N. From the measured time-dependent normal and frictional forces, the minimum and maximum frictional coefficients were calculated. Synovial fluid reduced the minimum frictional coefficient by ${\sim}75$ % and maximum frictional coefficient by ${\sim}11%$, while the reduction of the minimum and maximum frictional coefficients with hyaluronan was ${\sim}42%$ and ${\sim}24%$, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this experimental study investigates the first such comparisons of frictional response of articular cartilage with and without synovial fluid and hyaluronan, and provides significant insights into their role in the articular cartilage friction and lubrication.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• 제22권5호
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• pp.243-251
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• 2006

Molecular dynamics simulations of nanoimprint lithography NIL) are performed in order to investigate effects of process parameters, such as stamp shape, imprinting temperature and adhesive energy, on nanoimprint lithography process and pattern transfer. The simulation model consists of an amorphous $SiO_{2}$ stamp with line pattern, an amorphous poly-(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) film and an Si substrate under periodic boundary condition in horizontal direction to represent a real NIL process imprinting long line patterns. The pattern transfer behavior and its related phenomena are investigated by analyzing polymer deformation characteristics, stress distribution and imprinting force. In addition, their dependency on the process parameters are also discussed by varying stamp pattern shapes, adhesive energy between stamp and polymer film, and imprinting temperature. Simulation results indicate that triangular pattern has advantages of low imprinting force, small elastic recovery after separation, and low pattern failure. Adhesive energy between surface is found to be critical to successful pattern transfer without pattern failure. Finally, high imprinting temperature above glass transition temperature reduces the imprinting force.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• 제16권1호
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• pp.39-45
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• 2000

In this paper, the effects of shaft and bearing flexibilities are investigated for the accurate modeling of a shaft-bearing system supported by ball bearings. Generally, rolling bearings are modeled by simple rigid pin-joint in the mechanical design. However, they can no longer be modeled by ideal boundary conditions in the advanced applications because the rigid pin-joint model cannot satisfy the current trends of mechanical design decreasing mass and reducing volume. Consequently the flexible support model of ball bearing is investigated using the static analysis module developed by A .B. Jones and T. A. Harris. A simple two-bearing system, supported by two deep groove ball bearings and radially loaded on the shaft midway between the bearings, is utilized to validate the coupled model of shaft-bearing system. Numerical computations using the model indicate that the shaft span length, locating/floating bearing arrangements and applied bearing size are significant factors in determining the mechanical behaviors. The flexible support model of ball bearing can be escaped to over-estimate in the bearing fatigue life. The proposed simple design formulation obtained by numerical simulations can approximately predict a rate of bearing life reduction as a function of shaft span length/shaft diameter (L/d).

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• 제24권3호
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• pp.122-128
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• 2008

To reduce the friction losses and the wear amounts in the piston assembly two methods were proposed. One is the modification of surface profile of the skirt part. The surface coating is another method to protect the sliding surfaces. To modify the profile of the skirt surfaces the surfaces were ground to have three different shapes of profiles. Also, several coatings, such as graphite, TiN, and $MoS_2$, and DLC, were used to protect the surfaces of the piston skirts. The specimens of the skirt and the cylinder bores were tested with the reciprocating wear tester. SAE 5W40 engine oil was used in boundary lubrication regime. Among several coatings the graphite and DLC coatings were very effective to reduce the friction forces. Especially, DLC film represented much better tribological performances than the others. The friction coefficient of the graphite coating was the lowest, but the graphite coating was not effective to protect the surfaces.