Lubricants, Volume 8, Issue 5 (May 2020) – 12 articles

Tribocorrosion, as the interaction between mechanical wear and electrochemical corrosion, has been found to be the main problem causing the failure and limiting the lifetime of metal-on-metal artificial hip joints. Better understanding of the tribocorrosion mechanisms of CoCrMo alloys is needed in order to reduce the degradation of this alloy, especially in the presence of proteins as one of the organic components present in synovial fluid. In this study, tribocorrosion tests of a low carbon CoCrMo alloy in phosphate buffer solution (PBS) with and without bovine serum albumin (BSA) in two different concentrations at different applied potentials (passive and cathodic) were carried out. The results show that the effect of proteins on wear and friction was concentration and potential dependent. In the cathodic domain (absence of very thin passive film), wear was very low in all solutions and the friction was significantly reduced by the addition of BSA to PBS even at low BSA concentrations. However, in the passive domain, the friction and wear were found not to be affected when the BSA concentration was 0.5 g/L, while they were reduced when increasing the BSA concentration to 36 g/L. The tribocorrosion results were rationalized through an existing tribocorrosion model and the effect of BSA on wear and friction was explained by the consideration of physical factors such as changes in viscosity and double layer structure, because in the present results no tribofilm formation was observed. Full article

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