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The blended composites with ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) as the matrix polymer, sodium polyacrylate (PAANa), and tetraphenyltin (Ph4Sn) as fillers were prepared by hot compression molding process. The friction and wear behavior of GCr15 balls with composites mating pairs under the seawater environment was explored, and the friction and wear mechanism was analyzed. The results show that adding PAANa, a polyelectrolyte material, can effectively reduce the friction coefficient of UHMWPE/PAANa/Ph4Sn composites. The wear resistance of composites increased significantly with increasing Ph4Sn content compared with pure UHMWPE, and the best wear resistance was observed at 1% content. The primary wear mechanism of UHMWPE/PAANa/Ph4Sn composites changed from adhesive wear of pure UHMWPE to plastic deformation at lower PAANa and Ph4Sn contents and finally to adhesive wear and spalling. This work provides a theoretical basis for preparing and applying other polymer blend composites.

A compacted body was fabricated by pulverulent polyimide (PI) block copolymers using solid-like state compression molding (SCM) technique. Polymer heated to solid-like state, i.e. the high-elastic non-melting state above the glass transition temperature ( Tg) and well below melting temperature, could achieve plasticity due to dramatic decreases in elastic modulus. Tensile properties were taken as response values, and the results of single-factor experiments indicated that molding temperature was the dominant parameter on mechanical performances, followed by molding pressure and holding time. Within this context, the SCM process possesses a longer processing time window whereas the processing temperature is narrow. The manufacturing defects induced by inappropriate processing conditions also hurt the tribological performance of PIs. Particles in a solid-like state could coalesce tightly only by exerting both high temperature and pressure in the SCM process. Thermoforming mechanism examined by atomic-scale molecular dynamics simulation indicated that non-bonding interaction forces, especially van der Waals forces play a key role in fusing among polymeric particles. This study is devoted to establishing the interdependence of structure-formability-property for high-temperature polymers that are not melt processible.

Ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) has been extensively used in various tribological systems because of its outstanding tribological properties and excellent overall performance. Compression molding is the main molding method for UHMWPE, and the process parameters of molding have a profound effect on its material properties. In this study, three groups of UHMWPE samples were prepared, and their physical, mechanical, and tribological properties under different molding process parameters were examined—with a particular focus on the frictional and wear behavior of the material under various heating-temperatures, pressing-temperatures and pressures—and the friction and wear mechanisms of UHMWPE were analysed. Studies have shown that the rise in heating-temperature promotes the diffusion of polymer chains, resulting in an increased friction coefficient and wear loss of UHMWPE. The main wear mechanism switches from plastic deformation to fatigue wear. With an increase in the pressuring-temperature, the friction coefficient first increases and then decreases, while the wear loss increases, and the dominant wear mechanism switches from fatigue wear and plastic flow to plastic flow. With an increase in pressure, the friction coefficient and wear loss first decrease and then increase, and the prime wear mechanism changes from plastic deformation and fatigue wear to fatigue wear.

Exposing engineering plastics to UV irradiation can easily destroy the original molecular structure of the materials and consequently affect their tribological properties. This study investigated the effects of UV irradiation on the molecular structure of typical engineering plastics, such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and polyether ether ketone (PEEK), and on their tribological properties under heavy loads (20 MPa). The surface morphology results showed that the appearance of PEEK changed significantly under UV irradiation. However, the change in PTFE was negligible. Under micromorphology, the processing lines of the two materials gradually became lighter with increasing UV irradiation time. The resulting infrared spectra showed that the molecular chains of both materials were broken, and new functional groups were formed under UV irradiation. Tribology testing demonstrated that with prolonged UV irradiation, the average PTFE coefficient of friction remained relatively stable, whereas that of PEEK was approximately 0.55. As the UV irradiation time increased, the wear rate of PTFE increased significantly, whereas that of PEEK showed no significant change.

This study emphasizes the effect of ultrasonic surface rolling (USR) on the surface roughness, hardness, and tribological properties of ductile iron under different normal loads. Results revealed that surface roughness was reduced by 96% and surface hardness increased by 37.8% after USR treatment. By increasing normal load, the average friction coefficient of the USR-treated specimens decreased, but the wear rate of both USR-treated and untreated specimens increased, mainly because the dominant wear mechanism changed. The average friction coefficient of the untreated specimen (~ 0.32) was much higher than the USR-treated specimen (~ 0.24) when the normal load was 30 N. However, the wear rate of the USR-treated specimen was larger than that of the untreated specimen when the normal load was greater than 20 N because the higher hardness abrasive particles on the worn surface of the USR-treated specimen not only accelerated abrasive particle wear, but also caused more severe adhesive wear.

Purpose This paper aims to study the thermal oxidation performance of antioxidant additives in ester base oils deeply. Design/methodology/approach ReaxFF molecular dynamics was used to simulate the thermal oxidation process of butyl octyl diphenylamine and octadecyl 3-(3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl) propanoate as two antioxidant additives act on the Trimethylolpropane trioleate (TMPTO) base oil. Meanwhile, combining with the infrared spectroscopy characterization results of the thermal oxidation test, this paper provides theoretical support for the development of high-performance synthetic lubricants and their antioxidant additives. Findings The results show that butyl octyldiphenylamine easily removes the hydrogen atom on the secondary amine, which promotes the formation of more long carbon chain diene radicals or polyene hydroperoxides from TMPTO. Octadecyl 3-(3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl) propanoate could easily decompose into octadecyl hydroperoxide and 2,6-di-tert-butyl 4-propionylphenol, which could convert into 2-tert-butyl-4-peroxyethyl-6-hydroperoxy-tert-butylphenol in the middle of the thermal oxidation reaction, prompting TMPTO to form more short-chain alkenyl and olefin hydroperoxide or other oxide. Originality/value The main change characteristics of base oil molecules are the first thermal decomposition to form oleic acid groups and ethane cyclopropane methyl oleate. Under the action of butyl octyldiphenylamine and octadecyl 3-(3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl) propanoate, the deep oxidation and decomposition reaction are slowed down. Peer review The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-01-2020-0037/

Ultrasonic surface rolling (USR) process is a novel surface strengthening technique based on the tool head's high-frequency impact on the workpiece. USR can cause severe plastic deformation on the superficial surface of metal material, and greatly improving the mechanical properties of the material. This paper elucidates the effects of USR passes on the surface roughness, sample height, microstructure, microhardness, residual stress, and tribological properties of 4Cr13 stainless steel. The results revealed that multiple USR treatments refined the near-surface layer grain of the sample. Compared with untreated sample, USR treatments significantly improved the surface roughness and microhardness of the samples. Obvious compressive residual stress and plastic deformed with a maximum value of about -723 MPa and a depth of about 229 μm were also introduced into the sample surface. Under a dry friction environment, the samples that underwent the USR treatments exhibited significantly enhanced wear resistance, and six rolling passes were found to be the most suitable treatment.

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the thermal oxidation behavior of trimethylolpropane trioleate (TMPTO) base oil when exposed to Fe surfaces. Design/methodology/approach Samples of TMPTO bulk oil were placed in Fe vessels and heated in an oven to accelerate the oxidation at different time intervals, while others were placed in glass vessels and used as experimental controls. Subsequently, the physicochemical properties of the oxidized TMPTOs, including the kinematic viscosity and acid value, were measured and a structural analysis was conducted using the Raman and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) techniques. Findings The results demonstrate that the TMPTO bulk oil exhibited an exponential increase in the kinematic viscosity along with the increasing acid value over the oxidation time. The Fe surface significantly increased the kinematic viscosity of TMPTO, while only mildly impacting its acid value compared with the experimental controls. The structural analysis results of the TMPTO suggest that the C = C and = C-H bonds were the vulnerable sites. Furthermore, the results suggest that the Fe surface evidently accelerates the chemical reactions of the C = C and the = C-H bonds, and less alcohols and more carbonyl products were identified in the oil samples that were heated in the Fe vessels. Originality/value The results demonstrate that the Fe surfaces affected the oxidation behavior of the TMPTO base oil, and an interaction mechanism between the Fe and the TMPTO is developed.

Tribological properties of AlCoCrCuFeNi high-entropy alloy were studied after annealing at various temperatures. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, microhardness tester and pin-on-disc tribometer analyses were performed to reveal the microstructure, composition, microhardness and tribological behavior variations. With the heat treatment temperature increasing, time taken for friction coefficient going through the rapidly dropping down and then into the stable period increases, the white sheets structures and their size in dendrite area of the AlCoCrCuFeNi alloy becomes bigger, however BCC content declined dramatically. Then, the average friction coefficient of the AlCoCrCuFeNi/Si3N4 sliding friction pair increase from 0.037 to 0.115, and the pin wear loss increase from 3 to 11 µm.

To prepare a high-performance anti-friction and wear-resistant composite material for friction sub-components in marine equipment, a modification was made by adding different amounts sodium polyacrylate (PAANa) to ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE). PAANa/UHMWPE-blended powders were prepared at individual weight ratios of 0/100, 3/97, 5/95, 8/92, 13/87, and 18/82 with hot-press molding. In seawater, experiments of PAANa/UHMWPE composites sliding against GCr15 have been conducted with a ball-on-disk configuration in this study. The results show the surface hardness of composites was almost the same with the increase in PAANa proportion, however, the friction coefficient and wear scars of PAANa/UHMWPE composites/GCr15 sliding pairs firstly decrease and then increase. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results show that wear mechanism of the composites is mainly plastic deformation and spalling. The composites with PAANa content of 3% and 5% achieves better tribological properties than the pure UHMWPE material.

Shock waves and micro-jets generated during the process of bubble collapse lead to cavitation damage on the surface of materials in hydraulic machinery equipment parts, which is attention. However, research on the dynamics of bubble collapse is still unclear. In this work, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are used to study the compression and collapse processes of microscopic bubbles under the impact of different velocities for water molecules. The velocities of the shock wave, time of bubble collapse and shock pressure of collapse were obtained. Results showed that higher the impact velocity, shorter is the time of bubble collapse and the higher velocity of the micro-jet. After the bubble collapse, the micro-jet will form secondary water hammer shocks and a greater shock pressure. The water structure appears to undergo a phase change (ice-VII structure) when the velocity of water molecules is 1.0 km s-1. The shock induces the bubble collapse and the micro-jet significantly increases the chemical activity of water molecules; the degree of ionization of water molecules increases with the shock velocity. In addition, the Hugoniot curve of the shock velocity obtained by molecular dynamics simulations are in good agreement with the experimental data.

Long developing period and cumbersome evaluation for the lubricating materials performance seriously jeopardize the successful development and application of any database system in tribological field. Such major setback can be solved effectively by implementing approaches with high throughput calculation. However, it often involves with vast number of output files, which are computed on the basis of first principle computation, having different data format from that of their experimental counterparts. Commonly, the input, storage and management of first principle calculation files and their individually test counterparts, implementing fast query and display in the database, adding to the use of physical parameters, as predicted with the performance estimated by first principle approach, may solve such setbacks. Investigation is thus performed for establishing database website specifically for lubricating materials, which satisfies both data: (i) as calculated on the basis of first principles and (ii) as obtained by practical experiment. It further explores preliminarily the likely relationship between calculated physical parameters of lubricating oil and its respectively tribological and anti-oxidative performance as predicted by lubricant machine learning model. Success of the method facilitates in instructing the obtainment of optimal design, preparation and application for any new lubricating material so that accomplishment of high performance is possible.

Determining the nature of the microscopic mechanism of tribological properties by experimental methods for a polymer material surface/interface in the sliding friction process is a challenge. Molecular dynamics simulations were conducted by sliding a rigid indenter over the amorphous polyethylene. The results show that the friction is mainly composed of plough force and adhesion force. The average friction of adhesive contact is greater than that of frictionless contact because of the adhesion effect. The difference of average friction between adhesive contact and frictionless contact increases with increasing indentation depth because of the plough force effect. The elastic deformation of amorphous polyethylene in the cohesive zone is related to van der Waals interaction energy, whereas the plastic deformation was mainly dominated by bond angle energy and dihedral energy of the molecular chain for amorphous polyethylene. Molecular chains of amorphous polyethylene extend along the sliding direction and agglomerate along the indentation direction. The flexibility of the molecular chains increases with the increase of temperature and facilitates the molecular chains returning more easily to their original state.

Available model of 3D-quantitative structure-activity relationship (3D-QSAR, the method of TopomerCoMFA) has been used to establish relationship between antioxidant performances of lubricating oil (trimethylolpropane trioleate, TMPTO) with 15 kinds of amine additives and its molecular structure. Correlation coefficient of the cross-validation (include internal q 2 and external q pred 2 ) and conventional correlation coefficient showed the model to be both stable and good predictive. The electron-donating group and larger steric effects group are adopted at the para-position or meta-position of amido on the benzene ring, and suitably decreasing the branch chain near the para-position, these indicate that the antioxidant performance of amine additives can be enhanced. The results not only can help us understanding the rule of antioxidant performance, but also providing guidance(s) to predict antioxidant performance of existing amine additives and to design or modify new amine additives in lubricating oil.

Some constructions of the molecular model for reactive molecular dynamics (RMD) simulations have neglected the effect of molecular weight on the RMD results. A computational methodology for generating structural models of amorphous ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) with different degrees of polymerization was thus proposed. The methodology was then used in RMD simulations of three types of molecular models for UHMWPE with 20, 40, and 80 vinyl monomers. The accuracy of the model has been discussed by comparing the RMD results with experimental data previously available in the literature. Results have confirmed that the atomic model with larger molecular weight allows (i) exact calculations of the diffusion coefficient and (ii) accurate prediction of the cross-linked reaction. The RMD simulations provide the basic data for understanding and further studying the chemical reaction of other interesting macromolecules.

Three-dimensional molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were carried out to study the contact and sliding processes between diamond points with different tip radius of curvature and surfaces of single crystal copper. The material deformation, abrasion mechanism, lattice defects, the force of contact process, and the sliding friction process were investigated. The simulation results show that the contact force, dislocations, and stacking fault defects, increase during the contact process with increasing contact depth or tip radius of curvature. The dislocations emit along the $$ \left[ {10\bar{1}} \right] $$ and $$ \left[ {\bar{1}0\bar{1}} \right] $$ direction and then a glide band is formed. It was also found that a greater tip radius of curvature results in a larger groove and more material deformation. The normal force and friction increase with increasing tip radius of curvature, but the coefficient of friction decreases. The stacking faults spread along the sliding direction and increase with increasing tip radius of curvature. In addition, the number of upheaval atoms increases as the radius of tip curvature or sliding distance increases.

The research of nanoscale contact problem has important significance for the micro-/nano-machinery, especially for micro-/nano-contact problem of material defects, from which deformation and failure mechanism of materials could be revealed. Molecular dynamics method is a valid approach that describes microscopic phenomenon. Taking the rigid hemispherical surface in contact and indentation process with the perfect and defective monocrystalline copper as the research object, the molecular dynamics model of nanoscale contact was established, after solving and simulating analysis. Results showed that the substrates above the square void collapse at contact depths of 0.20 and 0.37 nm when the depths of the square void ( d) are 0.8 and 1.6 nm, respectively. The dislocations and glide band increase as the d increases; at the same time, a larger depth of square void results in a bigger contact force between the hemispherical surface and the substrate surface. In the process of disengagement, there is a sudden drop in the contact force, and unrecoverable plastic deformation of the copper material occurs. Moreover, with the increase in void depth, the number of high-stress atoms increases between the hemisphere and the surface of substrate. The stress is mainly distributed in the diagonal of the square void, and the contact area generates stress concentration.

The ester base oil of dioctyl adipate (DOA) was oxidized in an oven at 200 °C for 30 h, and variations in the physicochemical and tribological properties were studied. To investigate the thermal-oxidation mechanism, the thermal-oxidation products were analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC−MS), and the thermal-oxidation process was simulated using visual reactive force field molecular dynamics (ReaxFF MD). The results indicated that the total acid number (TAN) increased significantly because of the presence of 14% carboxylic acids and low molecular weight monoesters. The tribological properties were improved by the formation of the strongly polar carboxylic acids. Additionally, the increase in kinematic viscosity was limited due to the formation of high molecular weight polymerization products and low molecular weight degradation products. Thermal-oxidative degradation and polymerization mechanisms were proposed by combining ReaxFF MD simulations and GC−MS results.