Author:
Zhang Jie,Wong Janet S. S.,Spikes Hugh A.
Abstract
AbstractA sealed reciprocating tribometer has been used to study the influence of different gaseous environments on the friction and wear properties of AISI52100 bearing steel at atmospheric pressure and 25 °C. Helium, argon, hydrogen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen all give high friction and wear, suggestive of very little, if any tribofilm formation under the conditions studied. Dry air and oxygen also give high friction, slightly lower than the inert gases, but produce extremely high wear, much higher than the inert gases. This is characteristic of the phenomenon of “oxidational wear”. The two gases ammonia and carbon monoxide give relatively low friction and wear, and XPS analysis indicates that this is due to the formation of adsorbed ammonia/nitride and carbonate films respectively. For the hydrocarbon gases studied, two factors appear to control friction and wear, degree of unsaturation and molecular weight. For the saturated hydrocarbons, methane and ethane give high friction and wear but propane and butane give low friction after a period of rubbing that decreases with molecular weight. The unsaturated hydrocarbons all give an immediate reduction in friction with correspondingly low wear. Raman analysis shows that all the hydrocarbons that reduce friction and wear form a carbonaceous tribofilm on the rubbed surfaces.
Graphical Abstract
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Reference43 articles.
1. Bowden, F.P., Hughes, T.P.: The friction of clean metals and the influence of adsorbed gases. The temperature coefficient of friction. Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. A172, 263–279 (1939)
2. Soda, N., Sasada, T.: Mechanism of lubrication by surrounding gas molecules in adhesive wear. Trans. ASME J. Lub. Tech. 100, 492–497 (1978)
3. Mishina, H.: Atmospheric characteristics in friction and wear of metals. Wear 152, 99–110 (1992)
4. Mishina, H.: Chemisorption of diatomic gas molecules and atmospheric characteristics in adhesive wear and friction of metals. Wear 180, 1–7 (1995)
5. Wilson, J.E., Stott, F.H., Wood, G.C.: The development of wear-protective oxides and their influence on sliding friction. Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. A369, 557–574 (1980)