Lubrication process solvent moisture study

Abstract

To characterize the sensitivity of lubricant films to process solvent and moisture, a four-factor matrix study was conducted with solvent type, moisture level, lubricant type and X-1P additive as the variables. Lubricant bonding ratio (LBR), X-1P retention ratio, and water-contact angle measurements were used to characterize the lubricant films, and contact start-stop (CSS) tests were used to evaluate the tribological performance. The differences in LBR and contact angle were relatively small compared with the natural trends over time, but we were able to observe transient effects of water moisture interacting with solvent type and lubricant type. These transient effects could be interpreted as due to the adsorbed layer of water molecules. We also observed differences in the bonding behavior of AM3001 and Z-Dol lubricants that is not related to solvent and moisture. In addition, we found that X-1P has a positive effect on both lubricant bonding and contact angle. CSS tests showed that the transient effects of solvent moisture level have no significant effect on the performance of the lubricant films. We can ensure good tribological performance as long as we are able to precisely control the lubricant and X-1P thickness.