Lubricants — Open Access Journal

A metallic particle passing through concentrated rolling-sliding contacts is often linked to surface damage for particles larger than the available gap. At the instant of particle pinching, force balancing dictates particle entrapment and passing through the contact or rejection. It is vital to include all major forces in this process. This study revisits the analytical entrapment model previously published by the author for spherical micro-particles by incorporating a force so far overlooked in related studies, namely the van der Waals intermolecular force and, additionally, surface roughness effects. In conjunction with particle mechanical and fluid forces, this provides an almost complete set to use for correct force balancing. A parametric analysis shows the effect of several geometrical, mechanical, rheological, and surface parameters on spherical particle entrapment and reveals the significance of the van der Waals force for particles smaller than about 5–10 μm in diameter. Full article

The complex nature of slip-rolling contacts in many applications such as gear tooth flanks, rolling bearings, and heavy machinery often makes determining the friction and wear properties, as well as the fatigue resistance, of tribosystems difficult. The establishment of the tribological profile of a tribocouple under high Hertzian contact pressure and under slip-rolling will allow for the measurement and comparison of friction and wear coefficients as well as slip-rolling resistance by continuously monitoring the wear rate, coefficient of friction, temperature, oil film thickness, and/or electrical contact resistance using high-resolution signal analysis (HRA). A twin disc system can provide insight into the adhesive behavior of material and lubricant products such as alternative base oils and additives, ceramics, alloys, and thin film coatings. The strength and endurance of these products are often characterized through fatigue and resistance tests, which apply high Hertzian contact pressures to the rolling contact until seizure or failure is obtained. The further observation of the formation of tribofilms on the surface of contact yields information about the reactivity and thermochemical properties of additives. This review aims to illustrate how the implementation of different screening methodologies can be used as a meaningful tool for assessing the aforementioned tribological profile properties for the development of slip-rolling tribosystems. Full article

Increasing efforts to reduce frictional losses and the associated use of low-viscosity lubricants lead to machine elements being operated under mixed lubrication. Consequently, wear effects are also gaining relevance. Appropriate numerical modeling and predicting wear in a reliable manner offers new possibilities for identifying harmful operating conditions or for designing running-in procedures. However, most previous investigations focused on simplified model contacts and the wear behavior of application-oriented contacts is relatively underexplored. Therefore, the contribution of this paper was to provide a numerical procedure for studying the wear evolution in the mixed elastohydrodynamically lubricated (EHL) roller/raceway contact by coupling a finite element method (FEM)-based 3D EHL model with surface topography changes following a local Archard-type wear model, a Greenwood–Williamson-based load-sharing approach and the Sugimura surface adaption model. This study applied the operating conditions of an 81212 thrust roller bearing, considering realistic geometry and locally varying velocities. The calculated wear profiles in the raceway featured asymmetries, which were in good agreement with the experimental results reported in the literature and could be correlated with the velocity and slip distribution. In addition, the effects of speed, load and oil viscosity were investigated by means of four load cases and two lubricants, demonstrating the broad range of applying the numerical approach. Full article

As aerostatic bearings are used in high-speed metal-cutting machines to increase machining accuracy, there is the need to improve their characteristics, including compliance, which is usually high. In practical applications, a significant reduction of bearing compliance is often necessary, sometimes down to zero and even negative values, to ensure automatic compensation of the elastic deformation in the machine technological system. A decrease in compliance leads to deterioration in the dynamic performance of the bearing, so it is necessary to develop new designs that meet the above requirements. This article considers an aerostatic bearing, in which decrease in compliance is ensured by the use of air throttling with elastic orifices. To ensure its stability, the principle of combined external throttling was applied, which can substantially improve the dynamics of conventional aerostatic bearings. A mathematical model of the elastic orifice deformation was developed, together with the flow rate performance calculation method. The method ensured full qualitative and satisfactory quantitative agreement with the experimental data. The model was used in the mathematical modeling of the aerostatic bearing movement. The article also proposes a method to calculate the static load capacity and compliance of a bearing, as well as a numerical method for fast computation of its dynamic performance, which allows for real-time multi-parameter optimization by the bearing dynamic performance criteria. The study showed that there is an optimal set of design parameters for which low, zero, and negative static compliance of the bearing is ensured, with the necessary stability margin, high speed, and the non-oscillatory nature of the transient processes. Full article

The submitted contribution deals with the wear of thin coatings applied to convex–concave gearings for gear made from C45E steel. The influence of the tribological characteristics (friction coefficient, wear, adhesion and hardness) of the TiN, TiCN coatings and the combined coating of TiCN + MoS₂ on convex–concave gearing is described, from the aspects of scuffing formation. Scuffing tests were done on C–C gears. Coatings were applied by arc–ion-plating (AIP) and magnetron sputter-ion-plating (MSIP) methods. The thickness of the deposited coating and its chemical composition were determined by SEM and EDX analysis. Load-bearing capacity was evaluated by a Niemann tester. The TiCN + MoS₂ combined coating with the MoS₂ layer on the top reached the lowest coefficient of friction. However, after a rapid wearing of the MoS₂ layer, this value dropped to a comparable value of TiCN. The nano-hardness of the TiCN layer was higher in comparison with TiN. Thin and soft MoS₂ layers cracked already at lower load levels and separated from the substrate at the 5th load stage. The formation of scuffings for selected coatings documented in this article was solved for convex–concave gearing working also in interaction with Biogear S 150 and Biohyd MS 46 oils. Full article

Under tribological conditions in aqueous medium, the contact of materials does involve some degradations of materials. Especially friction under small reciprocal displacement, i.e., fretting corrosion, is occurring; this topic has been highlighted since the 80′s regarding hip implants. Hip prosthesis is assembled from three parts: femoral stem, neck and head. Fretting corrosion or friction corrosion between metallic parts first involves some degradation of the oxides layers. This step is governed by mechanics and it is related to some few minutes. Afterwards the corrosion occurrs enhanced by mechanical degradation. As well focused some oxides and some metallic ions are related to biocompatibility issues. Some strategies are available in order to avoid metal against metal friction and/or fretting. Some hard coatings and some smooth coatings were investigated. The first one is diamond-like carbon (DLC), and the second is a polyetheretherketone (PEEK), polymeric one. The investigations were focused on fretting corrosion solicitations of Ti-6Al-4V vs. Ti-6Al-4V + coating. DLC as a coating delays the corrosion degradation. The PEEK coating does not promote any corrosion degradation of the metallic counter part and more generally any wear. Full article

Additives are essential in lubricant development, improving their performance by the formation of a protective film, thus reducing friction and wear. Some such additives are extreme pressure additives. However, due to environmental issues, their use has been questioned because their composition includes sulfur, chlorine, and phosphorus. Nanoparticles have been demonstrated to be a suitable substitute for those additives. This paper aims to make a comparison of the tribological performance of conventional EP additives and oxides nanoparticles (copper and zinc) under boundary lubrication conditions. The additives (nanoparticles, ZDDP, and sulfur) were added to mineral and synthetic oils. The lubricant tribological properties were analyzed in the tribometer HFRR (high frequency reciprocating rig), and during the test, the friction coefficient and percentual of film formation were measured. The wear was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that the conventional EP additives have a good performance owing to their anti-wear and small friction coefficient in both lubricant bases. The oxides nanoparticles, when used as additives, can reduce the friction more effectively than conventional additives, and displayed similar behavior to the extreme pressure additives. Thus, the oxide nanoparticles are more environmentally suitable, and they can replace EP additives adapting the lubricant to current environmental requirements. Full article

Total Joint Replacement (TJR) devices undergo standardized wear testing in mechanical simulators while submerged in a proteinaceous testing solution to mimic the environmental conditions of artificial joints in the human body. Typically, bovine calf serum is used to provide the required protein content. However, due to lot-to-lot variability, an undesirable variance in testing outcome is observed. Based on an earlier finding that yellowish-orange serum color saturation is associated with wear rate, we examined potential sources of this variability, by running a comparative wear test with bilirubin; hemin; and a fatty acid, oleic acid, in the lubricant. All these compounds readily bind to albumin, the most abundant protein in bovine serum. Ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) pins were articulated against CoCrMo discs in a pin-on-disc tribometer, and the UHMWPE wear rates were compared between lubricants. We found that the addition of bilirubin increased wear by 121%, while hemin had a much weaker, insignificant effect. When added at the same molar ratio as bilirubin, the fatty acid tended to reduce wear. Additionally, there was a significant interaction with respect to bilirubin and hemin in that UHMWPE wear rate decreased with increasing fatty acid concentration. We believe the conformational change in albumin by binding bilirubin makes it more likely to form molecular bridges between UHMWPE and the metal counterface, thus increasing adhesive wear. However, fatty acids compete for binding sites on albumin, and can prevent this conformational change. Hence, the protein is stabilized, and the chance for albumin to form bridges is lowered. Ultimately, UHMWPE wear rate is driven by the competitive binding of bilirubin and fatty acid to albumin. Full article

The acoustic emission method is one of few contemporary non-destructive testing techniques enabling continuous on-line health monitoring and control of tribological systems. However, the existence of multiple “pseudo”-acoustic emission (AE) and noise sources during friction, and their random occurrence poses serious challenges for researchers and practitioners when extracting “useful” information from the upcoming AE signal. These challenges and numerous uncertainties in signal classification prevent the unequivocal interpretation of results and hinder wider uptake of the AE technique despite its apparent advantages. Currently, the signal recording and processing technologies are booming, and new applications are born on this support. Specific tribology applications, therefore, call for developing new and tuning existing approaches to the online AE monitoring and analysis. In the present work, we critically analyze, compare and summarize the results of the application of several filtering techniques and AE signal classifiers in model tribological sliding friction systems allowing for the simulation of predominant wear mechanisms. Several effective schemes of AE data processing were identified through extensive comparative studies. Guidelines were provided for practical application, including the online monitoring and control of the systems with friction, characterizing the severity and timing of damage, on-line evaluation of wear as sliding contact tests and instrumented acceleration of tribological testing and cost reduction. Full article

The development of EHL theory from its tentative beginnings is outlined, with an account of how Ertel explained its relation to Hertz contact theory. The problems caused by the failure of the early numerical analysts to understand that the film thickness depends on only two variables are emphasised, and answers of the form $H=F(P,S)$ given. Early methods of measuring the film thickness are described, but these became archaic with the development of optical EHL. The behaviour of surface roughness as it passes through the high pressure region and suffers elastic deformation is described, and the implication for the traditional $\mathsf{\Lambda }$ -ratio noted. In contrast, the understanding of traction is far from satisfactory. The oil in the high pressure region must become non-Newtonian: the early explanation that the viscosity reduction is the effect of temperature proved inadequate. There must be some form of shear thinning (perhaps according to the Eyring theory), but also a limiting shear stress under which the lubricant shears as an elastic solid. It seems that detailed, and difficult, measurements of the high pressure, high shear-rate behaviour of individual oils are needed before traction curves can be predicted. Full article

Both Group 4 poly-α-olefin (PAO) and Group 5 ester oil basestocks are used in formulations of synthetic engine oils, transmission fluids, and lubricants with leading characteristics such as low viscosity (providing fuel saving), high stability, and environmental safety. The modern technologies of the production of PAOs use catalytic oligomerization of α-olefins, which is complicated by the formation of low-molecular-weight α-olefin dimers (methylenealkanes) as imminent side products. The use of methylenealkanes as raw materials for the synthesis of Group 5 base stocks appears to be highly promising. In the present work, we report the use of methyl 3-butylnonanoate and methyl 3-hexylundecanoate, the products of catalytic methoxycarbonylation of hex-1-ene and oct-1-ene dimers, in the synthesis of two series of branched isomeric esters. These esters demonstrated excellent rheological behavior and may be considered as low-viscosity engine oils with leading characteristics. Full article

Molybdenum disulfide is one of the most common lubricant coatings for space systems but it displays enormous susceptibility to environmental conditions making it hard to predict performance throughout the entire lifetime. The majority of mechanisms for space operate in low Earth orbit where temperatures typically reach 120 °C along with exposure to highly reactive atomic oxygen which can be detrimental to lubricant performance. In the present study, a MoS₂ lubricant coating is tested using friction force microscopy under different environmental conditions including air and dry nitrogen environments with temperatures ranging from 25 °C to 120 °C. The increased temperature was found to be beneficial for friction behaviour in air up to 100 °C as ambient humidity is removed from the contact, but higher temperatures become detrimental as increased reactivity leads to oxidation. These competing effects resulted in a minimum coefficient of friction at 110 °C in the air environment. The high temperature also increases the wear of the coatings as the intrinsic shear strength decreases with thermal energy which in turn disrupts tribofilm formation leading to increased friction. The run-in duration and magnitude are both found to decrease with temperature as the energy barrier to optimal reconfiguration is reduced. Finally, contextualization of the present findings for mechanisms operating in low earth orbit is discussed. Full article

This paper deals with the development of an original apparatus called TRIBOLUMEN designed specifically for friction experiments on transparent materials. The friction measurement is synchronized with an acoustic emission (AE) sensor and the device is also equipped with a high-speed camera offering a direct view at the interface to gain a deeper understanding of tribological mechanisms. The TRIBOLUMEN device is in ball-on-flat contact configuration with a range of strokes from 5 to 500 µm and an oscillation frequency from 5 to 600 Hz. The experiments showed that this device has an adequate rigidity and can detect subtle friction modifications of the oscillating contacts. The observation of a steel-on-glass contact in real-time highlighted the initiation of Hertzian cracks followed by the formation of debris in the contact. Using the synchronous measurement, these mechanisms were clearly associated with different stages in the friction measurement and in the AE signals, which permitted to identify the AE signature of Hertzian cracks. Full article

Efficiency improvement is the new challenge in all fields of design. In this scenario the reduction of power losses is becoming more and more a main concern also in the design of power transmissions. Appropriate models to predict power losses are therefore required from the earliest stages of the design phase. The aim of this project is to carry out lubrication simulations of several variants of a cylindrical roller bearing to understand the lubricant distribution and the related churning power losses. Several strategies to reduce the computational effort were used. Among them the sectorial symmetry and three innovative meshing strategies (purely analytical with and without interfaces and analytical/subtractive) that were implemented in the OpenFOAM^® environment. The results of the different approaches were compared among them and reasonable savings in terms of computational effort were shown. Full article

The microstructuring of surfaces is a highly researched field that is aimed at enhancing the tribological behavior of sliding surfaces such as artificial joints, which are subject to wear. Lubrication of the joint interface plays a key role in the wear process, although the mechanisms of lubrication are quite complex. In order to improve the lubrication, the surfaces of the articulating components can be modified by pulsed femtosecond-laser microstructuring. Through microstructuring, the apparent dynamic viscosity of the synovial fluid between the artificial joint can be increased due to its non-Newtonian properties. This may lead to better hydrodynamic lubrication and, therefore, reduced particle abrasion. Femtosecond laser-induced microstructures were investigated in a modified rheometer setup featuring a reduced gap size in order to reproduce and measure the interface between fluid and implant surface more accurately. As a test fluid, a synovial fluid substitute was used. The study has shown that an increase in the viscosity of the synovial fluid substitute can be achieved by microstructuring. Compared to a smooth implant surface, the apparent viscosity of the synovial fluid substitute increased by over 30% when ring-shaped microstructures of 100 µm diameter with an aspect ratio of 0.66 were implemented. Full article

Tribochemistry, the study of chemical reactions in tribological interfaces, plays a critical role in determining friction and wear behavior. One method researchers have used to explore tribochemistry is “reactive” molecular dynamics simulation based on empirical models that capture the formation and breaking of chemical bonds. This review summarizes studies that have been performed using reactive molecular dynamics simulations of chemical reactions in sliding contacts. Topics include shear-driven reactions between and within solid surfaces, between solid surfaces and lubricating fluids, and within lubricating fluids. The review concludes with a perspective on the contributions of reactive molecular dynamics simulations to the current understanding of tribochemistry, as well as opportunities for this approach going forward. Full article

Friction-induced vibrations (brake squeal) produced during braking applications have been one of the major problems in the transportation for many years. It can be the most troublesome for passengers because of its high frequency and acoustic pressure. The role of frictional contact surface geometry on the occurrence of squeal was investigated recently by some researchers. However, it has never been systematically studied at different scales simultaneously. Contact localizations are induced on the one hand by macro effects such as thermal dilatation (macroscopic scale) and on the other hand, by the heterogeneity of third body (tribolayer) generated by friction (mesoscopic scale). The aim of this paper is to investigate the effect of contact localization at both scales through stability analysis on a simplified pad on disc system. The model has been developed numerically by the finite element method (FEM) to introduce a non-uniform contact at macroscopic and mesoscopic scales. The results showed a strong dependency between squeal frequencies and effective contact zone at macroscopic and mesoscopic scales for the investigated configuration. Especially, it is found that squeal frequencies depend on the contact area at a macroscopic scale whereas the probability of occurrence of squeal frequency strongly relies on mesoscopic contact distribution. Full article

In the framework of green materials, in recent years, natural fiber composites attracted great attention of academia and industry. Their mechanical and tribological characteristics, such as high strength, elasticity, friction, and wear resistance, make them suitable for a wide range of industrial applications in which issues regarding a large amount of disposal are to be considered since their environmental friendliness gives them an advantage over conventional synthetic materials. Based on the recent and relevant investigations found in the scientific literature, an overview focused on the tribological characteristics of composite materials reinforced with different types of natural fibers is presented. The aim is to introduce the reader to the issues, exploring the actual knowledge of the friction and wear characteristics of the composites under the influence of different operating parameters, as well as the chemical treatment of fibers. The main experimental tribological techniques and the main used apparatus are also discussed, with the aim of highlighting the most appropriate future research directions to achieve a complete framework on the tribological behavior of many possible natural fiber composite materials. Full article