Friction and Wear Properties of Sintered Cu Alloy Impregnated with Thermo-Reversible Gel-Lubricant

Abstract

The friction and wear properties of a sintered porous Cu alloy impregnated with either Thermo-Reversible Gel-Lubricant (TR Gel-Lube) or base fluid (PAO) were investigated. Friction tests were conducted under a wide range of normal loads (0.98 N, 9.8 N, and 19.6 N) and sliding velocities (0.2 m/s, 0.5 m/s, 1.0 m/s, and 2.1 m/s), using a high-carbon chromium steel (JIS-SUJ2) bearing ball with 8 mm diameter as a ball specimen. The friction coefficients of the sintered Cu alloy impregnated with TR Gel-Lube were lower than those of the alloy impregnated with the base fluid under a wide range of normal loads and sliding velocities. Particularly, the friction coefficient of the sintered Cu alloy impregnated with TR Gel-Lube had extremely low value - less than 0.05 at high normal load and high sliding velocity. The specific wear rates of the sintered Cu alloy impregnated with base fluid and that impregnated with TR Gel-Lube had low values - less than 10-8 mm2/N under a wide range of normal loads and sliding velocities. There was no significant difference in wear rates between the two impregnants.

Keywords

• friction
• sintered bearing
• tribology
• thermo-reversible gel-lubricant
• wear