Many trials have been conducted to develop petroleum-based oil alternatives in response to oil reserves and the harm that excessive utilization of oil causes to the environment. Due to reduced pollutants and increased lubricating effectiveness, the use of vegetable-based lubricant has thus been thoroughly explored. The examined nanoparticles can be introduced to base lubricants as additives to provide the greatest tribological capabilities owing to their unique qualities, such as sphericalness and high surface area along with low environmental risk. Vegetable oils, due to their potentiality can be employed as a base stock for these lubricants when combined with the appropriate additives. Nano powders are mixed with vegetable oils like sunflower and soybean oils. Nano powder ZnO (zinc oxide) is added to vegetable oil to apply it as a lubricant. The tiny interactions between surfaces that come into mechanical contact and rub against one another are the determining factors for the frictional coefficient of friction (COF) and wear. The objective of the ongoing study is to investigate EN-8 steel’s durability in the presence of nano lubricant. Speed, time, and load are among the input parameters that are variable. The study examined the wear and frictional qualities of an EN-8 steel disc using a pin-on-disk tribometer with varying loads ranging from 10 – 90 N and speeds ranging from 100 – 900 rpm over predetermined operation period. ZnO nanoparticles are synthesized with the precipitation process to achieve a particle size of 20 – 30 nm, and are then applied to EN-8 steel discs in the experiments utilizing aluminum, brass, and copper pins. The results are compared to those of another nano lubricant consisting of sunflower oil and aluminum oxide. The comparison shows that the soybean + ZnO is having less fluctuations in frictional force and wear when the copper pins are used under various input factors (load, time, and speed).

PDF (Download Full text)

Download Citation (XML)