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Effect of Water Incorporation on the Lubrication Characteristics of Synthetic Oils

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Abstract

Deterioration of the lubricant performance of oils due to water incorporation is a major cause of failure during prolonged operation of mechanical assemblies. However, early indication of lubricant failure is challenging. In this work, a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) technique was used to sense changes in oil characteristics and degradation upon water incorporation. The results obtained during runs at different temperatures indicate stronger signs of oil degradation with larger amount of water mixed in it. The observations on the lubrication performance of water-containing lubricants were confirmed by evaluating the effect of water incorporation on the tribological performance of steel surfaces immersed in synthetic oil. Macroscale tribological analysis indicated an increase in friction and wear of sliding steel components lubricated with water-containing oil after longer durations of tests. The results of this study provide new insights into how early signs of oil degradation can be sensed using the QCM technique toward minimizing the potential negative impact of such changes on the lubrication characteristics of oils.

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Acknowledgements

This work was performed in part at the University of North Texas’ Materials Research Facility. Support from the Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Processes Institute (AMMPI) at the University of North Texas is acknowledged.

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  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA

    Kelly Jacques, Tasha Joy, Asghar Shirani & Diana Berman

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  1. Kelly Jacques
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  2. Tasha Joy
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  4. Diana Berman
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Correspondence to Diana Berman.

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Jacques, K., Joy, T., Shirani, A. et al. Effect of Water Incorporation on the Lubrication Characteristics of Synthetic Oils. Tribol Lett 67, 105 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11249-019-1217-0

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