An Investigation for Minimizing the Wear Loss of Microwave-Assisted Synthesized g-C3N4/MoS2 Nanocomposite Coated Substrate

Abstract

Mechanical components frequently come into contact against one another causing friction that produces heat at the contact area and wear of the components that shortens part life and increases energy consumption. In the current study, an attempt was made to optimize the parameters for the pin-on-disc wear tester. The experiments were carried out in ambient thermal conditions with varying sliding speeds (0.5 m/s, 0.75 m/s, and 1.0 m/s) and applied loads (5 N, 10 N, and 15 N) for pure molybdenum disulfide with 9% and 20% weight percentage of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) in molybdenum-disulfide (MoS2)-nanocomposite-coated steel substrate. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine the outcome of interaction between various constraints. To identify the minimum wearing conditions, the objective was defined as the criterion ‘smaller is better’. The maximum impact of the applied load on the coefficient of friction and wear depth was estimated to be 59.6% and 41.4%, respectively, followed by sliding speed. The optimal condition for the minimum coefficient of friction and wear was determined to be 15 N for applied load, 0.75 m/s for sliding speed, and weight percentage of 9 for g-C3N4 in MoS2 nanocomposite. At the 95% confidence level, applied load was assessed to have the most significant effect on the coefficient of friction, followed by sliding speed and material composition, whereas material composition considerably impacts wear, followed by loading and sliding speed. These parameters show the effect of mutual interactions. Results from the Taguchi method and response surface methodology are in good agreement with the experimental results.