Tribologic properties of vegetable and mineral oils with suspended nanoparticles

Abstract

Wear of the surfaces results in substantial levels of metal nanoparticles in lubricants during their service life. Prefabricated Fe, Cu and Zn nanoparticles were characterized and then added to several vegetable and mineral oils, inhibited with antioxidant. Friction, wear and heat emission of 0.1 to 1% suspensions were tested on Four-ball AW tribotester at 150N load. Fe nanoparticles did not affect the performance of mineral oils, but reduced wear tendencies of rapeseed oil. Zn nanoparticles have somewhat beneficial effect on mineral oil, without affecting rapeseed oil significantly. Blends with 1.8% ZDDP showed excellent AW performance, which was not affected by 1% Fe nanoparticle addition. In oils with other lubricity additives, the nanoparticles were generally detrimental to wear prevention, they also resulted in higher static friction coefficient and higher test sample temperatures. Inclusion of pre-fabricated nanoparticles into bench tests can accelerate evaluation of lubricant tribologic propertiesVytauto Didžiojo universitetasŽemės ūkio akademij