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Title: Superlubricity in rolling/sliding contacts

Abstract

Rolling element bearings and gears are critical components of mechanical systems such as wind turbines and automotive engines and transmissions that use oil-based lubricants. Oil-based lubricants used in these applications many times need periodic replacement, which not only adds more cost but also affects overall productivity. More importantly, the used oil generates hazardous waste creating huge environmental problems. In this study, we demonstrated that nanomaterials can be employed as solid lubricants in combination with diamond like carbon (DLC) films in a dry nitrogen environment under rolling/sliding contacts. Using a micropitting rig which is generally used to test and qualify materials and lubricants for bearings and gear systems for industrial applications, we have tested diamond like carbon (DLC) material pairs in an oil-free, dry nitrogen environment along with two-dimensional MoS2 combined with nanodiamond as a solid lubricant. We show that superlubricity (traction coefficient of friction is 0.003) was achieved through the formation of a carbon rich superlubricious tribolayer at the interface reducing the overall friction by a minimum of 20 times, and no surface damage was observed as compared to Steel-Steel contacts lubricated with oil (0.06–0.07). The current work paves the way for developing oil-free solid lubricants in a variety ofmore » applications involving rolling/sliding contacts.« less

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [1]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
  2. Univ. of Akron, OH (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE)
OSTI Identifier:
1560540
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1560710
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-06CH11357; AA9040200
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Applied Physics Letters
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 115; Journal Issue: 10; Journal ID: ISSN 0003-6951
Publisher:
American Institute of Physics (AIP)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE

Citation Formats

Mutyala, Kalyan C., Doll, Gary L., Wen, Jianguo, and Sumant, Anirudha V. Superlubricity in rolling/sliding contacts. United States: N. p., 2019. Web. doi:10.1063/1.5116142.
Mutyala, Kalyan C., Doll, Gary L., Wen, Jianguo, & Sumant, Anirudha V. Superlubricity in rolling/sliding contacts. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5116142
Mutyala, Kalyan C., Doll, Gary L., Wen, Jianguo, and Sumant, Anirudha V. Mon . "Superlubricity in rolling/sliding contacts". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5116142. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1560540.
@article{osti_1560540,
title = {Superlubricity in rolling/sliding contacts},
author = {Mutyala, Kalyan C. and Doll, Gary L. and Wen, Jianguo and Sumant, Anirudha V.},
abstractNote = {Rolling element bearings and gears are critical components of mechanical systems such as wind turbines and automotive engines and transmissions that use oil-based lubricants. Oil-based lubricants used in these applications many times need periodic replacement, which not only adds more cost but also affects overall productivity. More importantly, the used oil generates hazardous waste creating huge environmental problems. In this study, we demonstrated that nanomaterials can be employed as solid lubricants in combination with diamond like carbon (DLC) films in a dry nitrogen environment under rolling/sliding contacts. Using a micropitting rig which is generally used to test and qualify materials and lubricants for bearings and gear systems for industrial applications, we have tested diamond like carbon (DLC) material pairs in an oil-free, dry nitrogen environment along with two-dimensional MoS2 combined with nanodiamond as a solid lubricant. We show that superlubricity (traction coefficient of friction is 0.003) was achieved through the formation of a carbon rich superlubricious tribolayer at the interface reducing the overall friction by a minimum of 20 times, and no surface damage was observed as compared to Steel-Steel contacts lubricated with oil (0.06–0.07). The current work paves the way for developing oil-free solid lubricants in a variety of applications involving rolling/sliding contacts.},
doi = {10.1063/1.5116142},
journal = {Applied Physics Letters},
number = 10,
volume = 115,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Sep 02 00:00:00 EDT 2019},
month = {Mon Sep 02 00:00:00 EDT 2019}
}

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Cited by: 19 works
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Works referencing / citing this record:

Iron‐Nanoparticle Driven Tribochemistry Leading to Superlubric Sliding Interfaces
journal, September 2019

  • Berman, Diana; Mutyala, Kalyan C.; Srinivasan, Srilok
  • Advanced Materials Interfaces, Vol. 6, Issue 23
  • DOI: 10.1002/admi.201901416