Friction and Wear Properties of Si3N4/TiC Ceramic Composite under Nano Lubrication

Abstract

The present research evaluated the tribological behavior of Silicon Nitride based composite reinforced with 1 wt. % of Titanium Carbide under dry and lubrication conditions. The lubricant base oil used in this study is 85W140; with nanoparticles additives poly tetra flouro ethylene and Copper (PTFE & Cu) Nanoparticles were added in the base oil to review the performance of the nanoparticles as additives. Ball-on-disc wear tests were conducted to explore the effects of Nano additive in lubricant for ceramic-ceramic tribo-pair. Results showed that friction and wear decreased using nanoparticle in the lubricant oil, as compared to, dry as well as base lubricant oil conditions. It was reported that 0.1 wt. % of PTFE Nano particles and 0.3 wt. % of Cu Nano particles shows minimum value for the coefficient of friction (COF). Rheological studies were also done on these lubricants samples. The findings from the present work encourage the modification of nanoparticle based lubricant to improve the friction and wear properties and to improve the life of the component.