Tribology Letters

, Volume 45, Issue 3, pp 379–385 | Cite as

EHL Properties of Polyalkylene Glycols and Their Aqueous Solutions

  • Chen Hui Zhang
  • Ying Chun Zhao
  • Marcus Björling
  • Yan Wang
  • Jian Bin Luo
  • Braham Prakash
Original Paper
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

Polyalkylene glycols (PAGs) are a type of synthetic lubricants widely used as compressor lubricants, gear oils, hydraulic fluids, and metal working fluids. The PAGs with typical molecular structure can dissolve in water, which makes it a candidate for the base stock of water-based lubricants. Till now, most of the investigations on the water-based lubrication have focussed on the additives. In this work, the potential of PAGs aqueous solutions to replace water as base stocks has been investigated. Four types of PAGs with different molecular weight and their aqueous solutions with different concentrations were studied to reveal their elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) behavior. It has been found that the PAGs solutions can form EHL film like traditional oils. The film-forming capability depends on the viscosity, the pressure–viscosity coefficient, and the molecular weight of PAGs. The results indicate that the PAGs aqueous solution can be employed as base stocks of water-based lubricant.

Keywords

EHL Polyalkylene glycols (PAGs) Aqueous solution Water-based lubrication 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

The work is financially supported by NSFC of China (51021064, 51075227) and the foundation of SKLT. The authors thank DOW chemical for providing PAGs lubricants. One of the authors (Chenhui Zhang) also acknowledges the postdoc scholarship from the Kempe Foundation of Sweden.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011

Authors and Affiliations

  • Chen Hui Zhang
    • 1
    • 2
  • Ying Chun Zhao
    • 1
  • Marcus Björling
    • 2
  • Yan Wang
    • 1
  • Jian Bin Luo
    • 1
  • Braham Prakash
    • 2
  1. 1.State Key Laboratory of TribologyTsinghua UniversityBeijingChina
  2. 2.Division of Machine Elements, Department of Applied Physics and Mechanical EngineeringLuleå University of TechnologyLuleåSweden

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