Effect of amide type modified rapeseed oil as lubricating additive on friction and wear behavior of steel-steel and steel-aluminum alloy systems

A new type of environmentally friendly lube additive-amide type modified rapeseed oil was synthesized and characterized by infrared spectrum. Its effect on the friction and wear behavior of steel-steel and steel-aluminum alloy systems were investigated with a four-ball machine and an Optimol SRV friction and wear tester respectively. The morphographies of the worn surfaces were analyzed by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The worn surfaces of the 2024Al alloy block were analyzed by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results show that the modified rapeseed oil as additives can obviously decrease the wear rate and friction coefficient of steel pair and steel-aluminum frictional pair. Its lubrication mechanism is inferred that a high strength complex protection films form on the worn surface of the Al alloy due to the adsorption or tribochemistry reaction of a long chain additive molecule and high reaction activity of N element.