Abstract
The mechanism of grease replenishment in and around a starved point contact was studied in this work. Greases made of different thickeners and same base oil were tested and compared. Disappearing and re-formation of a dynamic grease reservoir during operation revealed that grease bled oil to replenish contact. However, the replenishment process was slow because of the presence of grease fingers along the track and thickener-deposited film inside the track. The contact angles of base oil on the chromium-coated surface and thickener-deposited surfaces were measured. Results proved that the contact angle on the deposited film remarkably increased compared with that on the chromium-coated surface from 25° to more than 40°. However, the deposited film could be consumed with continuous rolling, and replenishment was then enhanced.
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Acknowledgement
This research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51375255 and 51321092). The authors also would like to thank Shenzhen Hecheng Lubricant Co. for supplying the special lab-made grease samples.
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Dan GUO. She received her Ph.D. degree in 1999 from Department of Solid Mechanics, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. She is now working as an associate professor in the State Key Lab of Tribology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. Her researches are about the mechanical properties of nano-particles and interaction between the nano-particles and the surface, lubrication and failure mechanism under rigorous conditions, and movement behavior of confined-microfluidic.
Lu HUANG. She received her Ph.D. degree in 2016 from State Key Lab of Tribology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. She studied the mechanism of grease lubrication during Ph.D. period. Now she is a post doctor in National Institute of Metrology, Beijing, China. Her research area mainly focuses on the methods of nano-measurement.
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Huang, L., Guo, D., Liu, X. et al. Effects of nano thickener deposited film on the behaviour of starvation and replenishment of lubricating greases. Friction 4, 313–323 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-016-0123-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-016-0123-9