Interfacial slippage characteristics of traction fluids

A novel measuring scheme for the wall-slippage of lubricant in high pressure non-conformal contacts was developed. The technique traces the movement of lubricant entrapment in the contact of a steel ball and a glass plane. The scheme is used to study two fluids of different molecular groups, i.e., paraffinic and aromatics. The results bring insight to the effect of molecular structure on interfacial slippage at EHL conditions. The movement of the transparent oil was signified using an entrapment, formed by the impact of the steel ball against a layer of oil on the glass disc. An aromatic polymer oil demonstrated a full slip on the glass disc while the paraffinic mineral oil did not. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the 2009 World Tribology Congress (Kyoto, Japan 9/6-11/2009).