Sliding wear response of zinc based alloy as affected by suspended solid lubricant particles in oil lubricant

Abstract

Wear behaviour of a zinc based alloy has been studied in partially lubricated condition. The test environment comprised a mixture of oil plus graphite/talc particles. The composition of the lubricant mixture was varied by changing the concentration of the solid lubricant particles suspended in the oil lubricant. Wear response of the alloy was noted to improve in terms of decreased wear rate, frictional heating and friction coefficient initially with the increasing concentration of the solid lubricant particles suspended in the oil lubricant. A critical content of the solid lubricant led to the best wear performance of the samples. This was followed by a reversal in the trend at concentrations of the solid lubricant particles in the lubricant mixture that were greater than the critical one. Wear behaviour of the alloy has been substantiated through the characteristics of wear surfaces, subsurface regions and debris particles.