• Tribology and Lubricants
• /
• v.34 no.6
• /
• pp.235-240
• /
• 2018

Superlubricity refers to the lubrication phenomenon that occurs when the friction coefficient is lower than 0.01. In recent years, this phenomenon has received a significant amount of attention because it can greatly contribute to the reduction of economic and environmental losses caused by friction and wear. In the case of acid lubricants, only ceramic materials can be used for superlubricity, and it takes a long running-in period to enter the superlubricity regime. In this work, we investigated the superlubricity effect of vitreous enamel coating on SUS304. We also examined the running-in period of vitreous enamel coating under phosphoric acid lubricant condition with respect to surface treatments. Drying and polishing methods were used to treat the vitreous enamel coating on the specimen. The friction experimental results revealed that superlubricity could be achieved with vitreous enamel coating. It was also found that the drying and polishing methods can significantly reduce the running-in period and improve the wear properties of vitreous enamel coating. In particular, the polishing method shortened the running-in period by approximately 99% and reduced the wear rate by approximately 99%, compared to nontreated vitreous enamel coating.

• Tribology and Lubricants
• /
• v.35 no.1
• /
• pp.30-36
• /
• 2019

The tribological properties of paper-based friction materials are crucial to the performance of a wet clutch system. In this work, the friction and wear characteristics of a paper-based friction material in boundary lubrication state was experimentally investigated using a pin-on-reciprocating tribotester under various normal forces and temperatures. It was found that the wear rate of the friction material increased from $5.8{\times}10^{-6}mm^3/N/cycle$ to $5.5{\times}10^{-5}mm^3/N/cycle$ after 1,700 cycles of testing at $80^{\circ}C$ as normal force increased from 2 N to 7 N. The friction coefficient was also found to increase from 0.135 to 0.155 with increasing normal force from 2 N to 7 N. The increase in contact pressure with increasing normal force may be responsible for these results. In addition, as temperature increased from $20^{\circ}C$ to $80^{\circ}C$, the wear rate of the friction materials increased from $2.0{\times}10^{-5}mm^3/N/cycle$ to $3.6{\times}10^{-5}mm^3/N/cycle$ while the friction coefficient decreased from 0.163 to 0.146. This result may be associated with the decrease in the hardness of friction materials with increasing temperature. Furthermore, plastic deformation on the friction materials was mainly observed after the test. The outcome of this work may be useful to gain a better understanding of the tribological properties of friction materials, and therefore can contribute to the development of friction materials with enhanced performance for wet clutch systems.

• Tribology and Lubricants
• /
• v.34 no.6
• /
• pp.254-261
• /
• 2018

In order to reduce resistance torque and energy loss, minimizing friction between race surface and rolling elements of a bearing is necessary. Recently, to reduce friction in bearing element, solid lubricant coating for the bearing raceway surface has been receiving much attention. Considering the operating conditions of real bearings, verifying the effect of solid lubricant coatings under extreme conditions of high load that is more than 1 GPa is necessary. In this study, we evaluated the friction and wear characteristics of SUJ2 bearing steels deposited by carbon-based coatings (Si-DLC, ta-C), $MoS_2$ and graphite. In case of $MoS_2$ and graphite coatings, different surface treatments were applied to the coatings to verify the effect of surface treatment. A pin-on-disc type tribotester was used to evaluate the tribological characteristics of the coatings. It was possible to quantitatively estimate the friction and wear characteristics of solid lubricant under dry and lubrication conditions. The carbon-based coatings improved the friction and wear properties of SUJ2 bearing steels under the high load condition, but $MoS_2$ and graphite coatings were not suitable for high load conditions due to its low hardness. Different friction and wear behaviors were found for different substrate surface treatment method. Also, it was confirmed that solid lubricant coatings had a more positive effect than just applying the lubricant for improving the tribological characteristics.

• Tribology and Lubricants
• /
• v.37 no.5
• /
• pp.151-163
• /
• 2021

Since the discovery of single-layer graphene, exploiting graphene's excellent physical/chemical properties in tribology systems has been a topic of interest in academia over the last few decades. There is no doubt that understanding the underlying friction mechanism of graphite should precede this. Even now, new properties of graphene are being reported in academia, and based on this, studies exploring the origins of graphene's surface properties and friction characteristics in a wide range of scales are also being performed. From the perspective of lubrication engineering, graphene research can be largely divided into studies that 1) reveal its basic friction mechanism at the nanoscale and 2) explore its application in macroscale sliding systems. At the nanoscale, the basic friction mechanism of graphene is mainly due to its atomic thickness. In this paper, the various research on the nanoscale friction and surface characteristics of graphene is reviewed. Graphene surface properties, such as wettability and surface energy and the basic friction mechanisms of graphene attributed to adhesion, electronphonon scattering, bending stiffness, and the underlying substrate, are summarized. Further, we provide the research outcomes on the superlubricity of graphene. Finally, the potential application and challenges of the superlubricity of graphene are highlighted. Through this, we intend to provide summarized information to researchers interested in the tribological properties of graphene and help set the direction of future research.

• Tribology and Lubricants
• /
• v.37 no.5
• /
• pp.172-178
• /
• 2021

An injector is a mechanical device present inside the engine. Its main function is to supply an appropriate volume of fuel into the combustion chamber, which is directly related to the overall engine efficiency of a car. During the operation of an injector, a magnetic force lifts the parts of the injector from closed position to open position which generates a horizontal force on the needle. The horizontal force acts on a different position from that of the center of mass of the needle. Therefore, this causes eccentricity in the needle and the generation of a tilting motion during the lifting operation which can result in wear. However, appropriate selection of clearances for these parts can prevent wear. In this study, lubrication analysis is conducted to determine the optimum clearance of parts with sliding motion inside the injector. The height functions are derived considering the dynamic behavior and relative velocity of the parts. Using the derived height function, the pressure profiles are calculated for the lubricated surfaces from the Reynolds' equation. Subsequently, the fluid reaction forces are calculated. The equations of motions are applied to the fluid reaction forces and external forces are solved to calculate the minimum film thickness between each part with variation in the clearances. Finally, the optimum clearances are determined. The effect of the clearances on the behavior of the moving parts is presented and discussed.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
• /
• v.46 no.11
• /
• pp.737-746
• /
• 2008

Mechanisms of sticking phenomena occurring during hot rolling of a modified STS 430J1L ferritic stainless steel have been investigated in this study by using a pilot-plant-scale rolling machine. As the rolling pass proceeds, the Fe-Cr oxide layer formed in a reheating furnace is destroyed, and the destroyed oxides penetrate into the rolled steel to form a thin oxide layer on the surface region. The sticking does not occur on the surface region containing oxides, whereas it occurs on the surface region without oxides by the separation of the rolled steel at high temperatures. This indicates that the resistance to sticking increases by the increase in the surface hardness when a considerable amount of oxides are formed on the surface region, and that the sticking can be evaluated by the volume fraction and distribution of oxides formed on the surface region. The lubrication and the increase of the rolling speed and rolling temperature beneficially affect to the resistance to sticking because they accelerate the formation of oxides on the steel surface region. In order to prevent or minimize the sticking, thus, it is suggested to increase the thickness of the oxide layer formed in the reheating furnace and to homogeneously distribute oxides along the surface region by controlling the hot-rolling process.

• Tribology and Lubricants
• /
• v.37 no.3
• /
• pp.106-111
• /
• 2021

There are several studies on reducing the friction that occurs on the relative sliding contact surface of moving parts under extreme environments. In particular, a solid lubricated bearing is studied to solve the tribological problem with friction reduction and durability parts using solid lubricants (lead or silver) in a vacuum atmosphere. Galinstan is mainly used as a liquid metal lubricant, but it is inevitable to have limited tribological applications owing to its high coefficient of friction. Many researchers work on surface texturing for surface modification and precision processing methods. To increase durability and low friction, DLC coating with hydrophobicity is applied on the contact surface texture. Therefore, using an untextured specimen, a dimple specimen, and a DLC-coated dimple specimen under liquid metal lubrication, this paper presents the following experimental sliding friction characteristics in the sliding friction test. 1) The average coefficient of friction of the DLC-coated dimple specimen and dimple specimen are lower compared to that of a non-patterned specimen. 2) In the DLC-coated dimple specimens, the average coefficient of friction changes according to the change in the dimple density. 3) DLC-coated dimple specimens with a density of 12.5 have the lowest average coefficient of friction under 41.6 N of normal load and 143.3 RPM.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
• /
• v.20 no.5
• /
• pp.111-120
• /
• 2021

A tractor is an agricultural machine that performs farm work, such as cultivation, soil preparation, loading, bailing, and transporting, through attached working implements. Farm work must be carried out on time per the growing season of crops. As a result, the reliability of a tractor's transmission is vital. Ideally, the transmission's design should reflect the actual load during agricultural work; however, configuring such a measurement system is time- and cost-intensive. The design and analysis of a transmission are, therefore, mainly performed by empirical methods. In this study, a tractor with a measurement system was used to measure the actual working load in the field. Its hydro-mechanical transmission was then analyzed using the measured load. It was found that the velocity factor, load distribution factor, lubrication factor, roughness factor, relative notch sensitivity factor, and life factor affect the gear strength of the transmission. Also, loading conditions have a significant influence on the reliability of the transmission. It is believed that transmission reliability can be enhanced by analyzing the actual load on the transmission, as performed in this study.

• Tribology and Lubricants
• /
• v.37 no.6
• /
• pp.246-252
• /
• 2021

Among the engine components of an internal combustion engine, the valve train is a series of systems that supply intake gas to the combustion chamber and operate intake and exhaust valves that discharge exhaust gas. If excessive wear occurs in the valve train system, the suction and exhaust valves do not open and close on time, which leads to abnormal combustion and exhaust gas. In this study, we conduct experiments and analyses on friction and wear characteristics of the valve train system. Moreover, we experimentally study the correlation between the pinball and pinball cap on engine oil lubrication, friction experiment, wear amount analysis, and surface analysis. Specifically, we experiment using Ball on reciprocating tribo-tester and apply commercial engine oil sold on the market engine oil. We construct the experimental conditions for each new oil and oil. Accordingly, the completed specimen was subjected to a confocal microscope to check the wear volume, observe the surface of the specimen, and confirm the elemental components using a scanning microscope (SEM) and an energy dispersion X-ray spectrometer (EDS). Through this experiment, we analyze the friction and wear characteristics of valve train components according to engine oil grade, and the obtained data serve as an effective engine oil management method.

• Tribology and Lubricants
• /
• v.38 no.1
• /
• pp.15-21
• /
• 2022

Diamond reinforced Cr-based coating has been proposed as wear-resistant materials. In this study, the friction and wear characteristics of diamond reinforced Cr-based coating are experimentally assessed. The experiments are performed using a pin-on-reciprocating plate tribo-tester under various normal forces with boundary lubrication. The stainless-steel ball is used as a counter material. Prior to the experiments, mechanical properties such as elastic modulus and hardness are determined using nanoscale instrumented indentation. The hardness of the specimen is further determined using a Vickers hardness tester. The specimens before and after the experiments are carefully observed using a confocal microscope to understand the wear characteristics. In addition, the wear volume and wear rate of the specimens are determined based on the confocal microscope data. The results show that the friction coefficients are 0.096-0.100 under 20-40 N normal forces. Furthermore, the wear rates of the diamond reinforced Cr-based coating and the stainless steel ball under 20-40 N normal forces are found to be 12.8 × 10^-8 mm³/(Nm)-15.5 × 10^-8 mm³/(Nm) and 1.9 × 10^-8 mm³/(Nm)-3.9 × 10^-8 mm³/(Nm), respectively. However, the effect of the normal force on wear rates is not clearly observed, which may be associated with the flattening of the ball. The results of the study may be useful for the tribological applicability of diamond reinforced Cr-based coating as wear-resistant materials.