TEM studies of anti-wear films/wear particles generated under boundary conditions lubrication

Friction and wear performance of engine oil were studied in presence of Zinc-dialkyldithiophosphate (ZDDP) and ZDDP–iron fluoride (FeF₃) combination using a ball-on-ring wear testing device under boundary conditions. Friction and wear performance of engine oil improves in presence of ZDDP–FeF₃ combination. In order to understand the wear mechanisms the microstructure and the chemical composition of wear debris generated during wear process were investigated using TEM together with EDX analyzes. Novel observations on the wear debris generated at different testing loads are presented. Independent of normal loads, amorphous debris containing P, O, Fe and Zn elements and crystalline debris of Fe₂O₃ are formed. No trace of S is present in amorphous debris under low load (2.32 GPa) conditions while S is a dominating element under high loaded (3.68 GPa) conditions. On the other hand, at lower loads a few iron oxide is formed while at higher loads larger sizes of iron oxides are formed resulting in larger friction and wear.