Lubricants, Volume 9, Issue 5 (May 2021) – 12 articles

Surface texturing is an effective method to reduce friction without the need to change materials. In this study, surface textures were transferred to rubber samples in the form of dimples, using a novel laser surface texturing (LST)—based texturing during moulding (TDM) production process, developed within the European Project MouldTex. The rubber samples were used to experimentally determine texture-induced friction variations, although, due to the complexity of manufacturing, only a limited amount was available. The tribological friction measurements were hence combined with an artificial intelligence (AI) technique, i.e., Reduced Order Modelling (ROM). ROM allows obtaining a virtual representation of reality through a set of numerical strategies for problem simplification. The ROM model was created to predict the friction outcome under different operating conditions and to find optimised dimple parameters, i.e., depth, diameter and distance, for friction reduction. Moreover, the ROM model was used to evaluate the impact on friction when manufacturing deviations on dimple dimensions were observed. These results enable industrial producers to improve the quality of their products by finding optimised textures and controlling nominal surface texture tolerances prior to the rubber components production. Full article

This paper presents a formulation of point contact elastohydrodynamic lubrication analysis for an isothermal, non-Newtonian flow. A coordinate system of the pressure gradient was employed herein. A Couette flow and a Poiseuille flow were considered along the directions of the zero and non-zero pressure gradients, respectively. The Poiseuille flow velocity was assumed to be represented by a 4th-order polynomial of z along the film thickness direction. The Couette flow velocity was assumed to be represented by a linear function of z. Subsequently, the modified Reynolds equation, which contains an equivalent viscosity, was obtained. Using Bauer’s rheological model, the formulation presented in this study was applied to a grease that has been previously experimented upon. The results of previous studies were compared with those of the present study and a reasonable agreement was noted. The distribution of the equivalent viscosity showed a notable difference from that of Newtonian flow. The formulation can be incorporated easily to the usual elastohydrodynamic lubrication calculation procedure for Newtonian flow. The method can be easily applied to other non-Newtonian rheological models. The equivalent viscosity can be calculated using the one-parameter Newton-Raphson’s method; as a result, the calculation can be performed within a reasonable time. Full article

Even though the behavior of aerostatic bearings has for long been the topic of extensive research, there are still many aspects that require further investigation. Among these, the identification of the discharge coefficients is one the most crucial. This paper presents a hybrid method to identify the discharge coefficients of aerostatic bearing orifices. The method is termed as hybrid since it exploits experimental data and the equations of the analytical model of a circular and centrally fed aerostatic pad. The obtained results demonstrate the accuracy of the method. The proposed method further offers practical advantages compared to the conventional methods. Full article

Wear of nonstandard involute gears with two types of coatings, AlCrN and CrAlSiN, was studied. The coatings were applied by cathodic arc deposition. The gears were tested using a Niemann tester at a graduated load up to the 12th load stage and were compared to noncoated gears. Both Biogear S150 gear oil and PP90 universal hydraulic oil were applied during these tests. The thickness of deposited coatings and wear of gear teeth were studied by SEM and their chemical compositions were determined by EDS analysis. Maximal contact pressure of 1350 MPa was calculated in the region of the tooth flank at the 12th load stage. Maximal frictional stress was also calculated on the tooth flank. The resistance against wear of gears was evaluated based on the critical weight loss and mainly based on the critical surface roughness of gears. The critical roughness was exceeded at the 10th load stage for noncoated gears. For the gears with AlCrN and CrAlSiN coatings, the critical roughness was exceeded at the 11th load stage. Wear of AlCrN and CrAlSiN coatings was nonuniform along the height of tooth. Wear on the tooth flank was characterized by fragmentation of thin coatings and subsequent detaching of fragments from the steel substrate. The steel substrate was worn by microcutting, which caused the highest roughness on the tooth surface. On the tooth pitch, surface protrusions of coatings were smoothed, and coatings cracked and locally detached subsequently. On the tooth face, surface protrusions were also smoothed but coatings remained compact without crack initiations. Both experimental oils, Biogear S150 and PP90, proved to be suitable during Niemann tests as their temperatures did not exceed the limit value of 80 °C. Full article

Friction and wear are responsible for around 23% of the energy consumption in transportation, manufacturing, power generation, and residential sectors. Employed components are exposed to a wide range of operational conditions, therefore a suitable material design is fundamental to decreasing tribological issues, energy consumption, costs, and environmental impact. This study aims to analyze the effect of different solid lubricants on the suitability of copper matrix composites (CuMCs) as a potential solution to reduce the depletion of sliding electrical contacts working under extreme conditions. CuMCs samples are produced by cold-pressing and sintering to merge a high electrical conductivity with the lubricant effect supplied by different species, namely tungsten disulfide micro-powder (WS₂), inorganic fullerene-like (IF) tungsten disulfide nanoparticles, and graphene nanoplatelets (GNP). The crystalline structure of the pristine and composite materials is characterized via XRD. The electrical tests show a small decrease of conductivity compared to pure copper, due to the insulating effect of WS₂; however, the measured values are still adequate for conduction purposes. Micro-scratch and wear tests highlight the positive effect of the combination of WS₂ structures and GNP. The friction coefficient reduction leads to the possibility of extending the lifetime of the components. Full article

Due to its accelerated, uncontrollable, and unpredictable nature, pitting is one of the most common failure modes in pipelines used for oil and gas exploration. A comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms of pitting under conditions involving both abrasion and corrosion is currently lacking. This research investigated the effects of mechanical rubbing on the development of pitting of a widely used Type 2205 duplex stainless steel. Tribocorrosion experiments were conducted under mildly abrasive conditions where there is pitting but no significant material loss. Results showed that passivation was accelerated by rubbing, even though pitting was simultaneously formed. The length-to-width aspect ratio of the pits increased exponentially when the normal load during corrosive wear tests was increased. This phenomenon could lead to catastrophic failure in industrial applications such as underground and deep ocean pipes in the oil and gas industry. Full article

The objective of the present investigation is to analyze the tribological performance between the union of the cylinder liner and the compression ring under the influence of surface texturing and different lubrication boundary conditions. The analysis is carried out by developing a numerical model, which involves hydrodynamic pressure, lubrication film thickness, textured surface, dynamic forces, and lubrication boundary conditions (starved lubrication and fully flooded lubrication). MATLAB^® software (The MathWorks Inc., Natick, MA, USA) is used to solve the equations developed. The results show that the application of a textured surface on the cylinder liner allows obtaining a reduction of 20% and 5% in the asperity contact force and in the total friction force. Additionally, the textured surface allows for a 4% increase in MOFT. In this way, it is possible to reduce the power loss. The implementation of a boundary condition of fully flooded lubrication produces an overestimation in the total friction force due to the greater prominence of the lubrication film. Implementing a textured surface in the ring profile is an alternative way to reduce power loss. The results show that this alternative allows an 8% reduction in power loss. Full article

For a tribological experiment involving a steel shaft sliding in a self-lubricating bronze bearing, a semi-supervised machine learning method for the classification of the state of operation is proposed. During the translatory oscillating motion, the system may undergo different states of operation from normal to critical, showing self-recovering behaviour. A Random Forest classifier was trained on individual cycles from the lateral force data from four distinct experimental runs in order to distinguish between four states of operation. The labelling of the individual cycles proved to be crucial for a high prediction accuracy of the trained RF classifier. The proposed semi-supervised approach allows choosing within a range between automatically generated labels and full manual labelling by an expert user. The algorithm was at the current state used for ex post classification of the state of operation. Considering the results from the ex post analysis and providing a sufficiently sized training dataset, online classification of the state of operation of a system will be possible. This will allow taking active countermeasures to stabilise the system or to terminate the experiment before major damage occurs. Full article

Materials used in biomedicine for purposes of long-time stay inside the body presents diverse sort of problems like cytotoxicity, wear, biocompatibility, and ion liberation along time. This paper presents the characterization of corrosion-wear combined phenomena on Nb₂O₅, TiO₂, and Nb₂O₅ + TiO₂ coatings with future applications as biomaterials. After the films’ production process using magnetron sputtering technique, they were characterized through an optic, scanning electron, and atomic force microscopy to evaluate their morphology, structure, and surface damage suffered by the synergy between wear and corrosion phenomena. The life in service of the implant was evaluated in terms of the coating behavior against inside body conditions like charge, wear, and electrochemical degradation. This test was made with electrochemical measurements in simulated biological fluid combined with the wear characterization implementing a potentiostat and a tribometer in a linear wear configuration with a bone pin. As a result, the different electrochemical responses of the films were evidenced by polarization curves and equivalent circuits of the systems. The coefficient of friction and surface degradation were also obtained and evaluated. Comparing the properties of the systems, we conclude that TiO₂ coatings have better behavior in terms of the wear-corrosion synergy phenomena while the systems with Nb present pitting corrosion. Full article

Shear stress at the cilia wall is considered as an imperative factor that affects the efficiency of cilia beatings as it describes the momentum transfer between the fluid and the cilia. We consider a visco-inelastic Prandtl fluid in a ciliated channel under electro-osmotic pumping and the slippage effect at cilia surface. Cilia beating is responsible for the stimulation of the flow in the channel. Evenly distributed cilia tend to move in a coordinated rhythm to mobilize propulsive metachronal waves along the channel surface by achieving elliptic trajectory movements in the flow direction. After using lubrication approximations, the governing equations are solved by the perturbation method. The pressure rise per metachronal wavelength is obtained by numerically integrating the expression. The effects of the physical parameters of interest on various flow quantities, such as velocity, pressure gradient, pressure rise, stream function, and shear stress at the ciliated wall, are discussed through graphs. The analysis reveals that the axial velocity is enhanced by escalating the Helmholtz–Smoluchowski velocity and the electro-osmosis effects near the elastic wall. The shear stress at the ciliated boundary elevates with an increase in the cilia length and the eccentricity of the cilia structure. Full article

Because of their distinctive characteristics, aerostatic bearings are particularly suitable for high-precision applications. However, because of the compressibility of the lubricant, this kind of bearing is characterized by low relative stiffness and poor damping. Compensation methods represent a valuable solution to these limitations. This paper presents a design procedure for passively compensated bearings controlled by diaphragm valves. Given a desired air gap height at which the system should work, the procedure makes it possible to maximize the stiffness of the bearing around this value. The designed bearings exhibit a quasi-static infinite stiffness for load variation ranging from 20% to almost 50% of the maximum load capacity of the bearing. Moreover, the influence of different parameters on the performance of the compensated pad is evaluated through a sensitivity analysis. Full article

The constant utilization of petroleum-based products has prompted concerns about the environment, hence a replacement for these products must be explored. Biolubricants are a suitable replacement for petroleum-based lubricants as they provide better lubricity. Biolubricant performance can be improved by the addition of graphene. However, there are reports that graphene is unable to form a stable suspension for a long period. This study used a graphene-ionic liquid additive combination to stabilize the dispersion in a biolubricant. Graphene and ionic liquid were dispersed into the biolubricant via a magnetic stirrer. The samples were tested using a high frequency reciprocating rig. The cast iron sample was then further observed using various techniques to determine the lubricating mechanism of the lubricant. Different dispersion stability of graphene was observed for different biolubricants, which can be improved with ionic liquids. All ionic liquid samples maintained an absorbance value of three for one month. The utilization of ionic liquid was also able to decrease the frictional performance by 33%. Further study showed that by using the ionic liquid alone, the frictional could only reduce the friction coefficient by 13% and graphene could only reduce the friction by 7%. A smooth worn surface scar can be seen on the graphene-IL sample compared to the prominent corrosive spot on the IL samples and abrasive scars on graphene samples. This indicates synergistic behavior between the two additives. It was found that the ionic liquid does not only improve the dispersion stability, but also plays a role in forming the tribolayer. Full article