Abstract
An ultrahigh vacuum, ball-on-flat test apparatus has been built to study the performance of candidate oils intended for spacecraft applications. Tests have been conducted on a multialkylated cyclopentane base oil using steel balls and disks. Different results are obtained when this oil is tested under vacuum conditions than when it is tested under a nitrogen environment. These differences are dramatic when the tests are conducted under starved conditions. Analyses of gases evolved during rubbing reveal that large quantities of methane are evolving from the process. A mechanism is proposed whereby oxide-free steel surfaces combine with tribological activity to crack the hydrocarbon oil to produce CH x radicals. These CH x radicals abstract hydrogen from the surrounding oil to produce methane. The increased volatility of the oil fragments remaining after methane formation leads to material loss by evaporation, thereby explaining the differences in vacuum and nitrogen performance of the oil.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
K. Miyoshi, NASA Tech. Memo. TM-1999-209077 (1999).
H.P. Jost, Wear 136 (1990) 1.
P.D. Fleischauer and M.R. Hilton, Aerospace Report TOR-0090(5064)-1, The Aerospace Corporation, El Segundo, CA (1991).
P.A. Bertrand, Aerospace Report TOR-98(1641)-1, The Aerospace Corporation, El Segundo, CA (1998).
C.G. Vernier, Lubr. Eng. 47 (1991) 586.
W.R. Jones, Tribol. Trans. 38 (1995) 557.
W.R. Jones, A.K. Poslowski, B.A. Shogrin, P. Herrera-Fierro and M.J. Jansen, NASA Tech. Memo. TM-1998-208654 (1998).
C. Tamborski, G.J. Chen, D.R. Anderson and C.E. Snyder, Ind. Eng. Chem. Prod. Res. Dev. 22 (1983) 172.
C. Kalogeras, M. Hilton, D. Carré, S. Didziulis and P. Fleischauer, Aerospace Report TR-93(3935)-6, The Aerospace Corporation, El Segundo, CA (1993).
M.R. Hilton and P.D. Fleischauer, Aerospace Report TR-0091(6945-03)-6, The Aerospace Corporation, El Segundo, CA (1993).
R.L. Fusaro, Lubr. Eng. 51 (1995) 182.
B. Cavdar, J. Liang and P.J. John, Tribol. Trans. 39 (1996) 779.
S. Mori and W. Morales, Wear 132 (1989) 111.
S. Mori and W. Morales, Tribol. Trans. 33 (1990) 325.
T.E. Karis, V.I. Novotny and R.D. Johnson, J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 50 (1993) 1357.
D.J. Carré, Tribol. Trans. 31 (1988) 437.
D.J. Carré, J. Synth. Lubr. 6 (1989) 201.
W.R. Jones, M.J. Jansen, L.H. Helmick, Q.G. Nguyen, D.R. Wheeler and H.J. Boving, NASA Tech. Memo. TM-1999-209055 (1999).
P.A. Bertrand, Tribol. Lett. 3 (1997) 367.
C.C.U and P.C. Stair, Tribol. Lett. 4 (1998) 163.
J. Wagner, M. Ramsteiner, Ch. Wild and P. Koidl, Phys. Rev. B 40 (1989) 1817.
M. Bowden, D.J. Gardiner and J.M. Southall, J. Appl. Phys. 71 (1992) 521.
A. Cuesta, P. Dhamelincourt, J. Laureyns, A. Martinez-Alonso and J.M.D. Tascon, Carbon 32 (1994) 1523.
D.S. Knight and W.B. White, J. Mater. Res. 4 (1989) 385.
B.C. Gates, J.R. Katzer and G.C.A. Schuit, Chemistry of Catalytic Processes (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1979).
R.S. Dowie, C. Kemball, J.C. Kempling and D.A. Whan, Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. A 327 (1972) 491.
R.S. Dowie, C. Kemball and D.A. Whan, J. Phys. Chem. 80 (1976) 2900.
A. Cimino, M. Boudart and H. Taylor, J. Phys. Chem. 58 (1954) 796.
R.C. Weast, ed., CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1981).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
John, P., Cutler, J. & Sanders, J. Tribological behavior of a multialkylated cyclopentane oil under ultrahigh vacuum conditions. Tribology Letters 9, 167–173 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018808921623
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018808921623