Effect of surface texturing on organic carbon nanotubes tribological performance on sliding contact lubrication

Abstract

The tribological effect of organic anti-wear additive on a sliding steel plate of different surface texture (plane and dimple surfaces) was investigated. The organic Eichhornia crassipes carbon nanotubes (EC-CNTs) was formulated from biomaterial of Eichhornia crassipes (EC). The experiment for tribological enhancement was conducted in terms of friction coefficient, wear resistance and tribo-film mechanism. The effect of surface texturing on EC-CNTs towards reducing friction and wear was investigated using Pin on flat tribo-tester employing base rapeseed oil (BRO) as virgin lubricant. The results evidently showed that surface texturing significantly contribute in reducing friction and wear. The findings further revealed that, a dimple surface with EC-CNTs and without EC-CNTs minimizes friction and wear compared base oil under plane steel texture. Under 100 N and 5 Hz, lubricated surface with EC-CNTs + BRO (dimple surface), effectively reduced friction coefficient to about 52% and 38% against base oil under plane and dimple surfaces respectively. The wear scar diameter reduction for EC-CNT + RO sliding on dimple surface under 100 N and 5 Hz was 44.4% and 34.9% compared to BRO under plane and dimple surfaces respectively. The key reason for the friction and wear reduction when using surface texturing is attributed to its micro-trap for wear debris and the micro-reservoirs for lubricant retention.